Smiles, handshakes and sighs of relief could be seen and heard Thursday night at the Habersham Central High School performing arts auditorium in Mt. Airy during North Georgia Technical College’s most recent GED graduation ceremony. Fifty of this year’s graduating students took to the stage to receive their general equivalency diplomas. Among them, Irene Ensley of Fannin County.
Ensley spent twelve years working toward her GED. NGTC Adult Education teacher Donna Earl says Ensley entered the Adult Ed program in Fannin County when she was laid off from her job at a local plant. A native of the Phillippines, Ensley first had to overcome language barriers. “Her English skills were weak, and she had to work on those at first,” Earl says. “Once she learned enough academic English, she started GED classes.”
Ensley continued her studies during intermittent work layoffs and last October passed her final GED test. Ensley used her GED as a launching pad and this past May enrolled in classes at the NGTC Blairsville campus. She’s now in her second semester working toward a degree in accounting. Earl says, “We couldn’t be prouder!”
The circumstances surrounding Ensley’s GED quest are different than those of her fellow graduates – they all have a story to tell – but they are indicative of the challenges adult ed learners face when returning to school. Jobs, financial obligations and family responsibilities can often distract from classroom time and studying and make the overall process of learning much harder.
Michael Harding of Habersham knows just how hard it can be. He earned his GED earlier this year. Harding says he dropped out of high school when he was 15 to help take care of his family after his father committed suicide. He says it wasn’t until he was laid off from his job at Fieldale that he finally returned to the classroom to finish what he started. “It’s hard,” Harding says, “but I’m glad I did it.”
Harding and Ensley are among 353 students who received their GEDs from North Georgia Technical College this year. The college offers free GED classes on its three campuses – Clarkesville, Currahee and Blairsville – and in adult learning centers in Cornelia, Cleveland, Clayton, Blue Ridge and Toccoa. They accept students ages 16 and up. While there are costs associated with taking the GED test – $40 per test for five tests – there are scholarships available. NGTC offers scholarships to eligible students and Volunteers for Literacy of Habersham County (VFL) also has a GED scholarship program that is open to all residents of Habersham County enrolled in certified GED programs, regardless of where that program is located.
For more information about GED classes at NGTC click here. For more information about the VFL GED scholarship program visit www.vflhabersham.com.
For more photos from Thursday night’s graduation visit the NGTC Facebook page.
