By Krista Craig
krista@thenewsobserver.com
It is mission accomplished for four area natives, Shaun Allen, Shannon Goode, Caleb Green and Valerie Harper, who graduated with their General Education Diploma (GED) from North Georgia Technical College (NGTC) May 18.
Thanks to the Adult Education and GED programs at NGTC in partnership with the Fannin Literacy Action Group (FLAG), as well as the instructors, tutors and volunteers at FLAG, the future is brighter for these four graduates.
Caleb Green began his GED journey when he was 16 years old.
Green had been home schooled beginning in the second grade, but when he turned 16, his mother took him to FLAG in Blue Ridge so that he could begin working on obtaining his GED.
When Green turned 18, he was able to take the first portion of the GED exam over Science and passed it. That success was followed up with passing the Social Studies portion of the GED exam.
The Math part of the exam was the next obstacle. Green took several practice tests, but did not score high enough, or feel confident about passing the Math portion of the GED exam.
“Math was my mortal enemy. When I started struggling with math, I became discouraged. I thought I wasn’t smart enough. I can’t do this,” Green said.
But, struggle turned into perseverance when Green buckled down, asked for help, and passed the Math portion of the exam.
“I celebrated that night,” said Green.
The final hurdle was to pass the Language Arts portion, so Green spent hours practicing his typing skills for the essay he would have to write. Alas, he passed this portion of the exam as well.
The advice that Green would give those individuals who may be struggling in school, or may have dropped out of school for any reason is “get your education.”
Shannon Goode would agree with Green’s advice since she was someone who dropped out of high school at 17 years old due to being bullied at school and family struggles at home.
Goode then started working at the Ocoee Animal Hospital in Blue Ridge and realized that she needed to obtain a GED in order to be able to become a veterinary technician.
But, Goode doubted herself. She said, “I had to get over the feeling of failing. I had to get out of my own head.”
That is when Goode made the decision to enroll in the NGTC GED online program in August 2020 so that she could “work at my own pace and do it when I was able to,” she said.
Goode was able to finish the online program in March 2021, and says to anyone who may be considering getting their GED, “just try. You have nothing to lose.”
Shaun Allen’s biggest hurdle was being able to balance working full-time with his father doing construction and having time to attend GED classes.
Allen was able to attend morning class at FLAG so that he could work in the afternoon.
Allen was home schooled beginning in the ninth grade, and was not fond of taking tests.
Allen said, “I’m not the best of test-takers, so that was a bit of a challenge” to overcome as well.
But, Allen felt like “a weight had been lifted off his shoulders” when he graduated with his GED, and that he would be able to achieve his ultimate goal of becoming a Firefighter and Emergency Medical Technician (EMT).
“I am very excited about being able to start what I want to do and that is becoming a firefighter and EMT,” Allen said.
Allen’s advice is “there’s no point in not getting (a GED) and missing out on career opportunities that you wouldn’t be able to get without it. It’s a lot easier than you think it would be.”
Graduation day has come and gone, but goals accomplished and lessons learned will last a lifetime.
Goode said on graduation day, “I can’t describe how I felt. It was so surreal.”
Green, Goode and Allen are very appreciative and grateful for the GED programs offered at NGTC in partnership with FLAG, especially for the support they each received from FLAG Director Teresa Ross and NGTC instructor Donna Earl.
“I love Teresa and Donna. They really care about me,” Goode said.
Green’s future plans are to attend NGTC Clarksville campus in the fall and enroll in the welding program, while Goode’s plans are to go to Ashworth College in Norcross, Georgia, to complete the veterinary technician program. Allen will be attending the Cherokee County Fire Training Academy in Holly Springs, Georgia, and hopes to also obtain his EMT certificate from NGTC.