National Adult Literacy Database

February 11, 2013

The following story was written by Anisha, from Pointe-Claire in Quebec. Anisha is enrolled in literacy classes at Literacy Unlimited, in Pointe-Claire. Literacy Unlimited celebrated 30 years in 2011, and they offer many services, such as: One-On-One Tutoring, School Literacy Program, Computer Skills Training, Classroom Assistance and Tutor Training Workshops.

My First Day at Work

by Anisha

I had never gone to work in Sri Lanka, where I was born. After I came to Canada, I found a job at a factory that made charms for key-chains for cars. The first day, I took the metro but I didn’t know how to put the metro pass into the machine. So I pushed at the barrier to enter, but it didn’t move. The people who were standing behind me were wondering what I was doing. The guard made signs to show me how to put the pass into the machine, but I didn’t understand what he was showing me. I moved away to let the people go first and watched how they used the pass. Then I did the same.

Then I reached the company where I was going. I was really nervous. The boss told me to get to work. I didn’t know what I had to do. He showed me how to paint charms for the key chain. I did the work well but slowly, slowly, at first. The boss told me to go faster. He was standing beside me. I was very worried and thought “If I don’t go faster, he’ll fire me.” I worked very carefully and a little faster. I didn’t make any mistakes, and did very neat work. The boss said, “Good! Keep on like this.” Then he told me to come back every day.

I was really excited and happy. So then I thought to myself, “Thank God!”

[This story was taken with permission, from Write On! Student Literature - Expressing our thoughts and opinions – 2012 edition ,  p. 20 - published by Literacy Unlimited.]