Greater Columbus Learning Center

As an adult, finding time to handle daily responsibilities is difficult enough without having to also find time to pursue educational goals. I was recently encouraged to continue my education because of one of our students who had shown great courage and determination to pursue her education.

Dianna Sanders has faced quite a few challenges and remains focused on her and her children’s education. Dianna was forced to leave high school at age seventeen to give birth to her first child. Even though parenthood raised its on set of challenges, it would pale in comparison to what was coming. At eighteen, Dianna was involved in an auto accident that left her hospitalized for 8 months. Doctors had told her she would never be able to walk again. Dianna wouldn’t let that stop her, so she began classes at Greater Columbus Learning Center in order to achieve her GED. Over the next few months, not only did she receive her GED, she also began walking.

Surviving her accident and getting her GED seemed to fuel Dianna’s desire to continue her education. She enrolled at East Mississippi Community College and later received her Associate’s Degree in Industrial Electricity. After working for six years at Weyerhauser and Baldor Electric, Dianna decided to enroll at Greater Columbus Learning Center again to study for her ACT. Her desire for education had encouraged her to move from the role as “student” to the role of “teacher.” Dianna enrolled at the Mississippi University for Women to pursue her Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education.

While continuing to pursue her degree in teaching, Dianna continues her role as mother to three children, wife, and volunteer at Greater Columbus Learning Center , The Humane Society and Raven’s Hope Animal Refuge. Her future goal is to become a Biology or Math teacher at the secondary education level and based on what she has accomplished so far, I have no reason to doubt she will achieve it.

Linda Harris is an example of a person who put her life back on track after derailing early in life. Linda felt it was necessary to leave high school in the eleventh grade because of her pregnancy. It would be ten years before she would continue her education, but she was determined to finish what she had started. Also, Linda had realized that without a high school diploma or GED, she would be unable to advance and compete in the work place. So, Linda set her goals. First, she wanted to get her GED. Second, she wanted to own her own business. Third, she wanted to give back to the community that had helped her.

Linda started realizing her goals by attending Greater Columbus Learning Center, an Adult Basic Education Center, in Columbus, Mississippi. She worked diligently for six months while keeping a job and attending to her 2 small children. Shortly after completing her GED, Linda fulfilled her second goal and started her own cleaning business called Lynn’s Home and Business Beautification. “Without having the skills I received while preparing for my GED, it would have been impossible to do the everyday tasks of running a business,” said Linda. “You have to have it even if you’re going to be doing janitorial work,” she said.

Linda’s third goal is realized on a daily basis as she continues to volunteer and give back to her community. She volunteers as a counselor for the CONTACT Hotline. She has started a support group for families with incarcerated loved ones called Circle of Comfort. She acts as a proctor for the GED test. And, she still has hopes of starting a care facility for the elderly.

After facing many obstacles, Linda Harris has proven that determination brings reward. Her advice to anyone who has goals of completing their education and furthering their career: “Get started, and stick with it until it’s done.”