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Featured Student of the Month:
Annette Sessions March, 1999  What are the early life circumstances that create adult non-readers? The story of Annette Sessions' childhood reads like a Civil War novella, and yet it takes place in the 1950s. In her own words she eloquently tells of the struggles of an adult non-reader. When I was a young girl, my mother was ill, and needed help caring for her eight children. At age 10, I went into the cotton and tobacco fields to earn money to feed my family. I was paid $3.50 per 100 lb. bag of cotton. As an adult, I found work in a coat factory as a seamstress. I thought that I had hidden my inability to read from my employer, and secretly dreamed of a day when I would no longer be forced to work in harsh factory conditions. I was tired of always feeling pushed around. The factory closed each year over the December holiday. Wanting to make a change in my life, I told my boss that he wouldn't be seeing me in the new year. He responded, "You will come back because you are an illiterate." I didn't know the meaning of the word illiterate, and thought that my boss had made a racial slur. Hearing that word and not knowing its meaning pierced my heart. My boss went on to explain that he knew I lacked basic literacy skills because I had been offered promotions several times, but I never followed through with the paperwork. That day, I left the coat factory. With a gut desire to help myself and other adults like me, I went to a Literacy Volunteers of America program in Connecticut and sought tutoring in 1985. A friend told me of an older tutor, Margie Watson, who had tutored her for many years. Unfortunately, now she was thinking of retiring as she had suffered three strokes and two heart attacks. I was introduced to this woman, who instantly saw my potential. I thank God that she took me on. Others saw my potential and believed in me, too. I became a VISTA volunteer in LVA of Greater New Haven, CT because the affiliate director, Lee Nelson, realized that students can reach other students. With my foot in the door, I quickly moved through the organization. Before my LVA tutor passed away, she had premonitions of what the my future would hold. At the time, I didn't believe her and thought she was crazy. You see, she envisioned a time when I would become a spokesperson for the literacy cause. My tutor lived long enough to see me become a national spokesperson for LVA two and a half years later, and serve as a member of the National Board of Directors. I credit much of my success to my family. They always tell me, "We've got the best Mom and wife in the whole world." With their motivation, I can't let them down. After completing their own school work, my children would spend one hour each night to help me to become a better reader. My children were always "A" students. But when my children would bring home their glowing report cards, I would fumble over the words I couldn't read. It wasn't until my husband came home that I could listen to what the teacher's comments really said. I could not celebrate fully without my husband's assistance. When my children asked me to read bedtime stories, I would read the words I could. I'd fill in where I couldn't read by making up other details of the story based on the book's illustrations. My son loved my stories. Once, after many months, he asked me to re-read his favorite story. When I finished, he said, "That's not how the story ends." I had forgotten the ending that I had made up many months ago. In a moment, I told a small white lie. I said that I was just testing him � to see if he had remembered the true ending to the story. He kissed me and said, "I love you. Good night." After years of tutoring, I am proud to say that I received my high school diploma. I sent a copy of my diploma to my former boss at the coat factory. He called me up and asked me to come back to work for him at $10 an hour. I politely declined his offer. With the love of my family and the help of Literacy Volunteers of America, my life has been unbelievably blessed. Now, when I speak before audiences about what it was like to be an adult non-reader, I realize that I am just like every one else in the room � except that as a child I wasn't fortunate enough to have learned how to read.
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