May 1st Meeting Rescheduled

On Friday, Marisol and I were supposed to meet, however I had a lot of work to do so I called her to postpone until this Thursday. She was extremely understanding which helped out a lot.

I forgot to post last week.. 5th Meeting

Our meeting last Friday went well. We reviewed different tenses of verbs and how to form questions from statements. She had a lot of trouble in forming questions, however, after I gave her some tips, she got the hang of it. Following the workbook exercises, we moved to the computer station and created a Yahoo email address for Marisol. Unfortunately, Univision's emails require a subscription and monthly fee, something that I was not expecting. I felt really bad when this happened because I know Marisol was really excited about getting health food updates emailed to her.

As our meeting drew to a close, we spoke about how many meetings we had left together. I informed her that next week (the 1st) would be our last meeting. However, I told her that I wanted to continue helping her next semester and continue to make an impact in her life. I could tell she was excited about the continuing of her English education. Hopefully things will work out next semester and I can continue to tutor Marisol.

April 17th Meeting- Univision!

Today was a good tutoring session with Marisol. We went over our usual workbook activities but today, she wanted to learn more about computers. I decided to split the time in half. While in the midst of her workbook activities, I met some of Marisol's house keeping supervisors. Both men were very funny and joked around with Marisol. She then explained to me how nice they are to her and how her past supervisor was well, rude.

I've talked about it before but I will say it again. I don't understand how so many people can be so rude to Marisol. I know she is always working and when she is on the job I'm sure she is doing her best, however some people just don't care. She told me about her old boss and how she got all of the other housekeepers in trouble if they sat down for a minute, etc. They are human too... I don't understand why the boss could be so rude.

We then switched over to computer exercises. I showed her how to log on and how to access the internet. I asked her what she wanted to read about and she said that she wanted to learn about health and healthy foods. I went to "univision.com", one of her favorite TV channels and let her surf the website a bit. I showed her how to move the mouse and how to scroll up and down the page. She was so intrigued by this and she always got so excited when the page moved really fast. It was a lot of fun showing her how to use a computer.

We were going to set up an account on univision.com but she doesn't have an email address so we decided that we would set up a Yahoo account next week. This way she can get weekly recipes and health tips. She is a very fit woman and she always works out after our sessions. I know she will love the emails and hopefully she will be able to learn how to log on and check her email without me there. Until next time!

Getting to know Marisol- 4th meeting

My last meeting with Marisol was different. We went over the normal things, did a couple of lessons in the comprehension book, but for the majority of the time, we just talked. We talked about her life and her kids. She told me she has 4 kids: 18, 16, 14, and 10. She is divorced but has a boyfriend. She has been working two jobs for the past 19 years of her life. I could not believe that... I complain about having to study too much or write a paper but Marisol, she works 2-3 jobs every week and only gets about 4 hours of sleep a night.

We really got to know each other on a greater level after this last meeting. She talked to me about her past relationship with her ex and she told me how he doesn't pay child support on a regular basis, making it tough for her to pay bills. This really touched me. She is such a hard working woman and the motivation behind her is her kids. She told me how she wants to have money to buy her kids things and have a roof over their head and food to put on the table.

One of the interesting things we talked about was her two other jobs. She cleans houses for a lawyer and a judge. She told me about each one and the type of things she has to do. She told me how disrespectful they are to her sometimes and how demanding they are. A lot of the time, they don't appreciate what she does and how hard she works. This made me think about how meaningful a simple "thank you" can be. In any situation, if you really thank someone for doing something, it can mean the world to them. Everyone likes to be appreciated and there isn't an exception for that.

Marisol also told me how she is not embarrassed to tell people she cleans houses and buildings for a living. She simply said, "why should I be?" She is a hardworking woman who is just trying to provide for her children. She has no shame in what she does. I can only hope to have the same outlook on life when I am her age. Oh, another thing! She said she is 37 years old... She doesn't even look 30! She tried to say that all of her hard labor makes her look really old but I quickly corrected her and said she looked a lot younger than her age. I know this flattered her.

Next time we are going to go over some computer usage and a little more grammar. That's all for now.

Actual 3rd meeting with Marisol

Today I met with Marisol for the 3rd time. It was a good session and I felt like I taught her and helped her a lot more. I used the new books given to me by Dr. Williams and they were much more effective. They are simple and easy for her to understand, unlike the GED book we had been using before. We went over prepositions and plural and singular verbs. She had a lot of trouble with the prepositions, but by the end of the meeting she was grasping the concept better.

After meeting with Marisol today, I really noticed how never going to school has affected her life. Not only has she never been taught formally, she doesn't know exactly how to learn. I don't know if that makes sense but it is evident that she doesn't understand concepts well at all. This is really hard for me because I have to do my best to explain things. I always just want to say "this is how is it just because" or "it just sounds right" but I prevent myself and do my best.

Nevertheless, Marisol is trying her hardest, as am I. She has already learned a lot and will continue to do so.

3rd meeting with Marisol

On the Friday before spring break (the 20th), I was supposed to meet with Marisol again. I was sitting in my room studying for a test I had later that day and glanced at my watch. It was 12:30. I then looked to the left of my desk and saw the GED books sitting there. I immediately knew I had forgotten to meet with Marisol. I had been studying all morning for my test and completely forgot. The feeling that came over me was terrible. I sat there thinking about her sitting in the Rec, looking at her watch waiting for me to come around the corner. I had let her down and I hated myself for it.

I quickly picked up my phone and dialed her number, trying to get a hold of her so I could beg her to accept my apology. She didn't answer. I left a long message apologizing profusely and telling her I would meet with her 3 times the first week back in order to make up for it. I was legitimately upset. I had let Marisol down and I had let myself down. The feelings that overcame me were awful. I thought about it for the rest of the day, blaming myself for being inconsiderate and a terrible person.

I really hope Marisol can forgive me and does not hate me for missing our session. I will just have to wait to find out...

2nd Meeting with Marisol

Today I met with Marisol for the second time. This time I had a GED book to get her started. We went over the writing portion of the exam and she completed the pretest for that section. She struggled with a lot of it and had trouble with the concept of correcting sentences in English.

After a short while, she began to ask me questions saying "do you think you can help me?" and "do you think I can learn English?" My obvious answer was yes. I know she is capable of learning and getting her GED because she is a hardworking person. She then went on to tell me about getting her American Citizenship and how it took her 3 months to pass the test. I asked her a question that I thought I knew the answer to, but I was wrong: I said "how far did you go in school? 8th grade?" and she replied in saying "no, I have never gone to school. My father taught me at home". Marisol has never had any education in her life. This shocked me. I really did not know what to think at first. She expressed so much desire to learn English because she wants to have a better life. She told me she is tired of cleaning dorms and offices till 1 in the morning. She wants to teach some day. This really sparked my motivation. I have an opportunity to help this amazing lady obtain her dream.

I know she appreciates what I am doing for her. She thanks me every 5 minutes and always looks at her watch and makes sure we aren't going over an hour (which I do not care about at all). When I am helping her, I don't think about anything else. Her telling me she has never gone to school in her life and her telling me her dream of being a teacher really opened my eyes. So many people in the world have little to no education and are just regarded as lazy or ignorant. I for one can say that that is absolutely false. Even though Marisol has no education, she is an intelligent woman who has picked up all the English she knows by just listening. I look forward to my next meeting with her because now I know what I have to do in order to get her where she wants to be. This is an amazing opportunity and I am going to take full advantage of it.