Hugo Ventura

The New Community Corporation is a not for profit organization which housed adult education programs in Newark, New Jersey. During my period there, mainly as a GED instructor; I developed long lasting bonds with students and staff members.

The student population was constituted roughly of 90% African American, 8% Hispanic (mostly undocumented immigrants) and about 2% white; ranging from seventeen to eighty years old. Some were required to attend by the New Jersey unemployment agency, others were sent from their halfway houses, and then there were those who were taking advantage of the cheap $35 enrollment fee, in order to fulfill a lifelong dream of achieving a High School diploma. Each individual brought a story with them, a story I had to become a part of.

I had to find ways of connecting with these adults, while at the same time, design a program that would develop the skills necessary to pass the GED test, within a group of adults with a wide range of literacy levels. I had to find ways to motivate them to believe they were capable of achieving more than what their current lives had set out for them.

Throughout the four years that I participated in this program, retention rates improved significantly. I experienced stories of varying successes and failures. A lot of them abandoned before the end of the ten week program. But for instance, Linda, whom at seventy, became the first in her family to achieve a High School Diploma. Or Haitian Immigrant, Bertange, whose dedication and hard work carried her from barely being able to read and write in English, to winning a communitywide writing contest, among adult in Newark. Like them, many others went beyond their own and my expectations.

As I served them, they in return have also inspired me with their ability to grow and transcend adversity. This proved to be one of the most significant growing experiences of my life.

Hugo Ventura

Students from The GED Prep Program. Newark, NJ