Forty-two years after I left school I walked back into a classroom.
During the summer after my 11th grade in Gravette High School I got married. Back then it wasn’t rare for high school sweethearts to marry young. Most of those couples are still together, or were until death parted them.
Lacking a high school diploma never seemed to keep me from succeeding at anything I attempted. I worked as a secretary, in credit, became a published writer and seminar speaker, did budget counseling and even managed a successful furniture store for 13 years at a salary many high school graduates would envy.
When the community college opened nearby I thought I might want to take some courses. But I’d never graduated. Maybe a degree might be useful now. My sister Joy had married young but later got her GED so I decided I’d try to get a diploma also.
I knew it wouldn’t be easy after all those years of being out of school. The Adult Education Center informed me that perhaps I could bypass that study time. Instead they advised me to take a couple of preliminary tests and, if I scored well in them, I could forego class and take the GED test immediately.
I was skeptical of my ability to pass any test, especially math, a subject I’d always done poorly in. But I did surprisingly well in the preliminary tests. Ironically, in the one area where I had confidence in my knowledge and ability as a writer - the essay test - I did poorly. The teacher phoned me the next day and informed me the essay was well written, I just hadn’t followed instructions. I felt like a teenager being reprimanded by her teacher. That’s the trouble I had in school - following instructions.......and studying.
The evening I walked in to the classroom to take my GED test a very younggirl sat near me. Memories of insecurity haunted me. I felt like a child once more, back in my small classroom. When the teacher entered I hurriedly threw my gum in a nearby trash can.
As I took the five tests, I fiercely felt the need to compete and finish within the allotted time. I needed to prove to myself, and the young fellow students, that I wasn’t old and senile.
The science and social study tests looked foreign. Luckily they were multiple choice so I could guess at the answers I didn’t know. I asked the teacher how many questions I could miss and it was a great relief to find I only had to get half of them right to pass.
My husband, the same guy I’d married 42 years before, was a whiz at math. He spent days helping me with long-forgotten decimals and fractions. While take the math test at one point I had to figure the length of a line in a triangle. I had no idea of the answer so I just measured it with my pencil. I later learned I had selected the correct answer. Many of the questions related to money and my past experience in retail sales helped immensely.
I saved the writing test for last and took great pains with the “surprise” question of which I was to write the essay. This time I carefully read the instructions.
When the results of my test arrived in the mail I quickly opened the envelope and pulled out my Arkansas High School diploma with its gold seal, signed by the Chairman of the State Board of Vocational Education. I was surprised at how good it felt and discovered I’d gotten 96% on the writing skills. I even passed math with 59%.
I realized those past years had been my school room. I’d never really quit learning. And now I have my diploma to prove it!
Marie Putman, a onetime Gravette resident, shares her thoughts with our readers twice every month.
Opinion, Pages 4 on 04/28/2010