Thomas Walker started coming to Southeast Ministry in 2012 with a goal of turning his life around, “I gave up my street life and decided to come to SEM and take Adult Basic Education (ABE) and Byte Back classes.” After taking a pretest, Mr. Walker completed the ‘PC For Beginners’ and ‘Microsoft Office Track’ classes offered by Byte Back at Southeast Ministry. While taking SEM’s ABE course, his work ethic and the increases in his post-test results in the classroom led our Educational Coordinator, Diane Harris, to recommend that Mr. Walker get his high school diploma through the National External Diploma Program (NEDP).
The NEDP provides a unique way for adults to earn a high school diploma. The NEDP allows adults to demonstrate their high school level skills by applying their life and work experiences in real life contexts. NEDP programs have entrance criteria equivalent to about the 8th grade level.
“I’m happy that Mrs. Harris recommended that I get my diploma, I was doing well in the classes, she saw that and believed in my ability to pass the test.” After earning his diploma, Thomas earned full-time employment, but unfortunately got injured and needed a hip replacement. “I have recently been in the hospital from June to December, but I will not let that stop me. My injury left me unable to walk for an extended period of time, but during that time I have started to study for a telecommunications and wiring certification. My goal is to become a computer technician.”
When asked what role Southeast Ministry has played in his successes, Thomas said, “Southeast Ministry has been a big help. The instructors here are patient, they always push you, and make it comfortable to come here. Mr. Ruffins worked with me a lot. If you want to make a change, this is where you should start. I recommend Southeast Ministry to anyone; they put you in the right mind frame to do better. I always come back here, this is where I study, and I’m never going to stop, this is my new family.”
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