Q & A with Helena<\/p>\n
Q: Why did you come to Action Read?<\/p>\n
A: I couldn\u2019t read. I tried for 17 years and nothing was working for me. <\/p>\n
Q: What do you do at Action Read?<\/p>\n
A: I have a very good tutor who helps me write my memoirs. When I started here four years ago, I could only write my own name and address. I used to tell my tutor about my life. She wrote it and I\u2019d type it on the computer. I could copy anything that someone wrote down. I couldn\u2019t even use the computer back then, but she helped me learn how to do it. It was so difficult. I\u2019d get so angry when something went wrong that I would get up and leave. But I\u2019m proud of myself that I kept it up, that I didn\u2019t quit. Now I can write my story on the computer by myself and my tutor helps me fix it up. I try to stay ahead of my tutor. I even have a computer at home now.<\/p>\n
Q: What excites you about Action Read?<\/p>\n
A: The environment. I never dreamed I\u2019d come to a school like this. People are not judgmental and they don\u2019t make fun of the way you read or write. I was a little nervous when I first came here but the staff, volunteers and learners are so positive. Everyone\u2019s here because they want to \u2013 nobody tells them they have to go to Action Read. I\u2019m an adult and I want to be treated like an adult. You don\u2019t get a gold star for doing a good job here, you get to learn something you can use out in the world.<\/p>\n
Q: How has Action Read changed your approach to learning?<\/p>\n
A: If I hadn\u2019t gone through this program, I would be crying, telling you when I was in the orphanage and all the terrible things that happened to me. Writing my life story changed how I look at things. I can talk about my ex-husband and I\u2019m not crying about it. As a matter of fact, I joke around. I had long hair and at one point I cut my hair. Well I joked in my story that he left me because my hair was too short (laughs). I made a joke of it. And I feel wonderful. I\u2019ve learned so much.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Q & A with Helena Q: Why did you come to Action Read? A: I couldn\u2019t read. I tried for 17 years and nothing was working for me. Q: What… Continue Reading Helena<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":28,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-14","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.actionread.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.actionread.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.actionread.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.actionread.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.actionread.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.actionread.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.actionread.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/28"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.actionread.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}