Learning to learn
SouthArk GED graduate takes on challenges of college education
EL DORADO — Cynthia Marie Landaverde started college South Arkansas Community College last month, but that moment was three years in the making.
Landaverde was raised by her late grandparents Charles and Charlene Gray, who she affectionately calls Mom and Dad. She dropped out of Bernice (La.) High School in her teens, but she always wanted to pursue a higher education. Three years ago, she started GED classes in SouthArk’s adult education department.
“I knew a Hispanic lady who was in (English language learner) classes. I went up there and looked into it. I wanted to do it before, but I couldn’t go through with it,” she said. “They had me go in there and take a TABE test to see where I stand because I wasn’t in school for a while and see what I needed to study more on.”
Struggles with health and finances got in her way many times, she said, but with the support of SouthArk staff and family, she didn’t give up.
“I did mine in steps. I was low in math so I worked my way up, but after the Christmas holiday in 2014, they changed the system to computers,” Landaverde said. “You have to meet certain criteria to continue. I was working and I missed the time where I could continue or they’d separate me. They separated me, but when I came back all the hours I put in stayed.”
Landaverde’s main inspiration for pursuing her education is her twelve-year-old son, Charles Wrangler Landaverde. Wrangler is a young scholar who lives with his grandparents in Louisiana.
“I (have) two boys, but my older son lives out of the country. My twelve-year-old goes to school in Louisiana and he’s got of the GPAs in his class,” she said. “I know if I did this I could give him a better life for the future and that it’s better to have an education. When he found out I was doing this, he got really happy. He supports me.”
Her goal after getting a GED was attending South Arkansas Community College as a college student. She hopes Wrangler will go to college as well, she said.
“I think seeing me going to school gives him inspiration,” she said. “While I was working on my GED, I told him, ‘You’re going to college. You’ve seen all the struggles I’ve gone through during the twelve years you’ve been on this earth. I don’t want you to go through what I’ve gone through.’”
The mother of two credits family, friends and staff at SouthArk’s East Campus for her success so far, but there were a few people she decided to highlight.
“Ms. Drummond helped me a lot with my math. All of the teachers at the east campus were a big support system. They all really put a very positive impact on my life. Lena Wood was the director when I started in 2013. Even to this day, she’d send me message to say she’s proud of me,” she said.
After six years of work in several positions in the adult education, Wood retired from an adult education position position in January. She keeps in touch with Landaverde and sends best wishes to the college student.
“A lot of students have obstacles that come up. The last time she started, she worked and came everyday. She progressed really quickly. I think she realized could do it. She was so motivated,” Wood said. “I kept in touch with her. I retired, but I attended graduation because she was graduating. She’s a success.”
Landaverde’s fiance Cesar Carrillo also gave her that extra push to continue her studies in the GED program. Carrillo’s brother’s girlfriend also came from Ruston, La. to see if Landaverde needed help with her classwork.
She said, “He’s been behind me 100 percent since we met a little over a year and half ago. I can honestly say there was days I didn’t want to go to class and he’d wake
me up and say ‘You need to get up and go to class.’ He would make me go.”
Landaverde got her official diploma days prior to the graduation ceremony, she said. On May 26, Landaverde and several others marched across the stage signifying their completion of their GED studies.
“I didn’t just get my GED. I went out there and learned how to learn. If you wanted to do this interview that day, there would’ve been no way. May 26, other than (the day) my twelveyear-old being born, was probably one of the happiest days of my life. That was so emotional. It was so much happiness, I didn’t know what else to do but cry,” she said.
She was also elected to be a student keynote speaker during the graduation ceremony this spring. That moment was also very emotional, she said.
“I had done a speech. When I got up to do my speech, it took me a few minutes to get through it because there were parts that may have touched people more than others,” she said.
Landaverde didn’t let a week go by before she started the college registration process at South Arkansas Community College, she said. SouthArk’s present adult education director Amy Sturdivant helped her come to a decision regarding her undergraduate education.
“I was up here meeting with my advisor and registering right after I graduated. I was ready to get started so I could get in there to get what I needed done. I always wanted to do something medical,” she said. “I guess (Sturdivant) hasn’t been out of school that long. She understands what I was looking for. She was more than willing to get all of the medical programs that they offer here and explain them all to me. She just really helped me understand what it required.”
On August 22, Landaverde started her first day of classes toward a physical therapist assistant certification.
“The more I looked (at the physical therapist assistant program), it was telling me ‘that’s what you want to do right there.’ If I see somebody who needs help, I like to be able to help them do or get what they need. If I’m a physical therapy assistant, that means I can help this person go through their therapy,” she said. Maybe they have a family, got hurt at work and they had to do therapy in order to get back to work. If could help this person get over what happen to him or her to support their family, that makes me feel good.
The GED graduate went to Facebook to inform friends, family and former teachers about her first day as a college student.
“(My) first day of classes are going good so far. As interesting as it may be, I do believe I’m gonna really like it. I like getting into new things,” she wrote. “I did like going to school when I was younger. I like learning new things. First class of the day was (a) South Ark Success, now waiting for my Elementary Algebra class. Can’t wait.”
This is a new journey for her, but she said she’s ready for the challenges that come with being a college student.
“We got the option to go online and do our class or go to class and sit in front of a teacher. I’d rather sit in a class. I would rather write my hand off. I take a lot of notes,” she said. “For me, it’s a challenge to be in class. That’s something new, something get into. Everybody has a different explanation for everything and I like to interact with other students and the teacher.”
In addition to her college studies, Landaverde is also working toward an industrial Workforce Alliance for Growth in the Economy (WAGE) certification. This certification would help her get a job at one of the industrial plants in the Union County.
She said, “Jobs around here are very few without your diploma, your WAGE card or some type of certification. It was hard to find work and I need to work. I couldn’t go to college to do what I wanted to do. That was part of the reason why I took the time to get (my GED), to come here.”
Sturdivant explained what the WAGE program is and how getting a WAGE certificate can help with the unemployed and underemployed population in Union County.
“We have six different certificates. The most popular WAGE certificate is the industrial certificate. We have different partners around Union County that require you to have a certificate before they interview you or possibly hire you for a position,” Sturdivant said. “It’s basically an educational program that proves to employers that you perform at a certain grade level in reading, language and mathematics. There are competencies required for WAGE such as typing at a certain speed and reading a ruler.”
Landaverde’s road toward a higher education has been a rough one, but she challenges others to enroll in GED classes at SouthArk’s East Campus.
“I encourage anybody who doesn’t have their high school diploma to go out to east campus, enroll and do what you got to do to get in. You have all the support out there that you need. It’s a safe place,” she said. “They help with you with anything and everything no matter what. May it take three months, three weeks or three years, how it did for me, I highly recommend going out there and getting your GED. It’s worth the time.”