National Adult Literacy Database

January 13, 2003

The following story was written by Racheal Joseph, from Duncan, BC. Racheal is a member of the Cowichan Tribes and is a student at The Reading and Writing Centre, which is part of Malaspina University-College, Cowichan Campus.

Anybody Can Change

by Racheal Joseph

My name is Racheal Joseph. I'm 28 years old and I started at the Reading and Writing Centre in April of this year. Before that, I'd had one month of school since grade seven. I didn't know how to read much or write stories or do math but I felt excited to start on the first day.

We work as a group at the Centre and everyone makes decisions together. People listened to me and my opinion counted. I got more confident. I believed I could have conversations with anyone because I had something to say and I'm not totally out there about what was said.

I'm enjoying being here expanding my mind. I love to learn new things. I like the teachers because they really encourage me to do things on my own. They see potential in me that I don't see for myself.We have choices. The teachers don't give us pressure - it's up to us. No one demands that we work.

There have been a lot of changes for me since I came back to school. I used to stay up until three or four a.m. and get up late. Now I'm in bed by 10:00 p.m. so I can get to the Centre at 9:00 a.m. Before I came to the Centre, I didn't know how to communicate with my peers and I swore every other word. The teachers made me think about treating people as I would like to be treated and behaving in an appropriate manner. Soon my language was cleaned up. Who wants to listen to someone swearing all the time?

I didn't like reading. At first, I didn't like that I was supposed to read one book a week. Once I got started, I was excited and I wanted to read more. I've read eleven books so far. My favourite is called Three Sacks of Truth. When I first came, I hated writing things down - a letter or anything. Now I'm learning how to write and spell better so people understand what I've written. I'm eager now to write my daughter's notes for school. I still hate Math! - but I'm doing it every day.

My self-esteem has been boosted up. I feel like I can talk to anybody about anything. At the Centre everyone seems happy and I get a safe feeling being there. I'm not scared. It's a good atmosphere.

So, if anyone wants to go back to school, I would encourage them to do so. Anybody can change. I did.

[This story was taken with permission, from Learners in Action, Fall 2002, published by Movement for Canadian Literacy (MCL).]