Dogged Determination
A dozen years after dropping out, this Wisconsin mother of three dropped back in
As a mom, Donna Helser knows that young children imitate their parents. So when Helser finally passed the GED, her deepest satisfaction came less from earning that piece of paper than from knowing that her children will benefit from her example some day.
Still, after two unsuccessful tries, Helser was tempted to start dancing on tables the day she finally received her certificate.
"I was jumping up and down," Helser recalls. "I was really excited and couldn't wait to tell everybody."
Helser was 30 when she received her GED. If she had stayed in high school, she would have graduated about 12 years earlier, but she lacked the motivation at the time and dropped out when she became pregnant. When her son Zac was born, Helser became determined to finish her diploma and sought help from Literacy Volunteers of Chippewa Valley in Eau Claire, Wis.
Helser's motivation was sorely tested several times while trying to pass the GED. She spent several years preparing, then took the test for the first time but came up six points short. The second time, she missed passing by one point. Two entire years went by during which an angry Helser considered quitting. But she thought about how her behavior would influence Zac and his little sisters, Krystal and Chellisy. Helser persevered and finally passed the test in December 2003. Because she also passed tests in health and civics, Helser received a special Wisconsin certificate called a High School Equivalency Diploma (HSED).
Helser thinks her achievement shows what anyone can accomplish who is willing to invest time and effort. "For me, earning a GED shows that it doesn't matter what age you are, you can still accomplish any goal in life," she says. She's also grateful to her math tutor, John Graaskamp, who she says believed in her even when her own faith was weak: "I can't believe he stuck with me as much as he did."
Math was never Helser's strong suit, but Graaskamp helped overcome her uneasiness using a simple lesson from everyday life. One day he arrived for a lesson at the family literacy center in Eau Claire with an empty box of oatmeal. The lid carried a recipe for oatmeal raisin cookies. Graaskamp posed a learning challenge: he asked Helser to double the recipe.
"She looked at me like I was crazy," Graaskamp recalls. "But she proved to me at that point that she could do ratios. And that meant she could also do algebra and geometry. That was when I knew we would succeed."
"I laughed at him," Helser recalls, "because I didn't think I could double a recipe. But he broke it down for me, teaching me how to multiply using fractions. Then we progressed from there."
Now Helser uses her math skills to total checks for her fiance's Internet sales business. She used to add a stack of checks once and hope for the best. Today, she knows to add them three separate times to make sure the totals match.
"I'm doing really well, because the bank hasn't said the balance is wrong," Helser says.
If another adult is looking for guidance about returning to high school, here is what Helser would advise:
"You're going to get frustrated, but do it anyway, because you'll find the outcome is so much more fulfilling than if you said it's too much work. If you stick with it, you can accomplish anything."
Susan Barber, a reporter for the Leader-Telegram in Eau Claire, contributed to this report.
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