What is Your GED^® Journey?

start the next semester of college, but I could sit for my GED. My friends and family all stood behind me in my decisions and congratulated my efforts and successes. I hope to gain my masters degree in business admin eventually.

I entered a computer systems technology course at Eastern Maine Community College and gained my Associates in Applied Science with High Honors. From there I did an internship at Sebasticook Valley Hospital in Pittsfield, ME. I now work at Husson University in Bangor as a Tech Support Specialist and plan to enter the computer information systems degree program in the fall of 2013. This is part of a 5 year MBA program offered here at Husson.

From the GED Academy: It sounds like you’re doing very well for yourself! Congratulations on all of your successes thus far, and thank you for sharing your story. It’s wonderful that you’ve overcome all of the obstacles that have stood in your way. You’re truly an inspiration, and we wish you the best of luck in all your future endeavors.

class. I’m also taking a GED class, and need help with the English in it.

From the GED Academy: Becoming a nurse is a great aspiration. Since you speak a second language, that will help you in that field. Taking ESL classes will also help you with your GED. You’re on the right track! Keep going, and good luck!

started to homeschool. It was not easy for her, she was the youngest of 3, and my dad was the middle of 3 kids. I loved the outdoors, and every chance I got I was out helping my dad on the farm. I was small for my age and always looking for ways to grow up faster. School came easy for me, but I never felt a real need for it as i always had so much to do. I mean why would I want to sit in my mom’s classroom, crunching numbers, when I could be out getting big like dad? By the age of 12, I was working a full–time job as well as working 40–50 hours on my dad’s farm.

Now you may say this is crazy! Who in their right mind would let a kid work that many hours? Well, before you start jumping to conclusions, let me explain. My Dad is a very successful farmer. Looking back, he never overworked any of us kids. In fact, he tried to make me stay in the house with mom and do my schoolwork. My dad is very laid back, and has a heart of gold. He would do anything for his family. It was I that wanted to work! I was the one who went out looking for a job and took it.

You see, I was trying to get big fast! At age 17, I took a summer job in WA state working for a custom harvesting Co. I worked there for three summers in a row and ended up moving to WA in 08?. I’ve lived there since. I left the harvest crew Jan 1st this past year to go to school and ended up starting my own business (Clean Cuts Inc.) instead. It has been a very good experience for me. After 8 months of owning my own business, I now know without a shadow of a doubt that I need a higher education than 6th grade.

I am a very smart young man with lots of ambition. Everywhere I turn my head, I have a job offer (far more than most of my college friends, who have there master’s). Only I want to be able to get away from farm life! I have lived on my own now for three years in WA. I feel like it’s my home. My family, on the other hand, live in Ohio, so there is a very big pull back East! I don’t have a GED. I only went trough the sixth grade, and feel very polled as to where to even begin. What’s the right school? What’s the best way to start at 22? I have always worked hard, saved my money, and gotten where I wanted to get without any school. I invested all my money in my business, and am unable to get it back out. So am at ground zero? I have no support from my family whatsoever in my endeavor to go to college. They say that I am way too smart to go to school: it’s a waste of time and money. The job I want is in the flight field. Any suggestions? Looking for answers from the wise that’s gone before!

From The GED Academy: You’ve led a very full life for someone who is only 22! You’ve also shown that you are smart. Incredibly smart! To start a business with only a 6th grade education—that takes something they can’t teach in schools. You’ve also got good grammar and writing skills (better than many college students). Because of this, because you’re smart, it may often seem like school is unnecessary. And for the average person, it could be. But the thing about being exceptional is that you won’t be able to settle for anything less than the exceptional for yourself, right?

Getting your GED and going to college afterward will not do for you what it’s done for your college graduate friends. It will do more. It takes a lot of different things to be successful. First, it takes an education. One may be smart, but that won’t stop them from being ignorant. Imagine all of the mistakes you may have made during your years owning a business that you could have simply been taught in a single class session. Many people have come and gone before us, and that’s what an education is all about: starting from where they left off and building upon it.

Second, to become successful, you must have tenacity. You must have an unquenchable thirst for something greater than what you have. It seems like you have this! And so, it’s apparent that if you got your GED—if you went to college and got a degree—you would be a force to be reckoned with. You could have anything you wanted, with no limits. Really, no limits. You could be the CEO of the next Fortune 500 company if you wanted to.

But where to start? That part is not so hard. First, get your GED. You can take online practice tests, or find them in book stores. Take one, and see if you already know enough to pass. If not, study the parts that you don’t know. There are many GED preparation courses out there. We have both a practice test and a prep course online at passged.com.

Once you’ve gotten your GED, find a local college and get answers! Colleges always have staff who can answer all your questions about future goals, financial assistance, etc. Then, once you’re enrolled, use your classes not only to learn, but to find out what you like. What you want to be when you “grow up” so to speak. And don’t just take the classes passively. That’s why many college students graduate with the question, “Was that worth it?” You must be an active learner. Ask questions in class. Get to know your teacher. Networking with teachers and other students is where the real magic happens. As they say, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.”

Again, you’ve done a lot with your life in such a short time. Keep it up, and you’re going to do just fine. Good luck! And keep us updated with your story!

thought of not making something out of myself in my later years. I really think getting a GED will open a lot more doors for me to support myself.

How have your friends and family helped you? My family isn’t very put together, so I can’t say they’ve done much to help. However, that’s just another reason to do something for myself so that one day, I can support my own family and make the best of what I’ve got.

What problems have you faced? Problems I’ve faced have been things like my parents financially struggling, getting evicted, and their divorce. I want so badly to not struggle the way my parents do. I know everyone has hardships, but I want to know that I did something to make my troubles a little less harsh. I think by getting my GED, I have a better shot at achieving that goal.

What do you hope to gain from getting your GED? In the future, I really want to travel and see parts of the world I’ve never seen before. Before I settle down and make a family, I want to have as many different expierences as I possibly can, because I really want to see everything for what it really is and not just because that’s what I heard about it. I want to be able to tell my own stories about what I’ve lived through. Then when I decide that I want a family, I want to live on a farm with lots of open land. I almost want two different parts to my life—one part being the more social side of me: going out in the cities and being able to buy what I want without worrying too much about affording bills—another side being the side I can let go: own a few horses, go camping, fishing, swimming, quading, and biking. I love animals, so maybe I’ll open a pet shop. However, my overall dream is to be happy with my life. I want to feel the satisfaction that I have made my life everything I want it to be.

Do you have more to your story? I have really big dreams that seem so far away. I just hope I get the GED so I can reel in those dreams and make them my reality. I have strong thoughts that getting my GED will open doors for me, allowing myself to make it happen.

From The GED Academy: You sound like you really know what you want, and have the drive to definitely go get it! Having strong, clear visions of exactly what you want for yourself is one of the best ways to succeed in getting them. The only question to ask yourself at this point is if dropping out and getting your GED is the best course of action. While the GED is equivalent to a diploma, sticking with high school is generally the best course of action. Sticking with difficult things teaches an invaluable life lesson, because life often hands us difficult things we simply must stick with in order to get ahead in the world. However, if having switched to so many different high schools throughout the years has set you back so far that you’re having to do more than the average student just to get through, then perhaps a GED is the best thing for you. Naturally, the choice is yours to make. Just remember that high school has lessons to be learned outside the classroom as well. But, no matter what choice you make, you know what you want and are determined to get it, and that’s going to get you through to the end. Good luck!

part-time (almost full-time) job, and I want out of school for now so that I can do nothing but work because my mother is a mom of 3 and single and I would like to help her as much as possible. I just can’t seem to motivate myself to do my school work anymore. I’m very smart if I try hard enough and I think that getting a G.E.D. will help in the long run. After 18 I want to go to college to be a nurse or a vet but as for the here and now I need all the work hours I can get. I don’t have time for school.

How have your friends and family helped you? My mom is my biggest support and also my best friend. She said that she would help me study only if it is what I really want to do. That means signing me out of school and passing my G.E.D. All my friends are of age and most of them disagree, but it will not stop me.

What problems have you faced? I just need to know if I’m smart enough to pass the G.E.D before I go and have my mom sign me out of school.

What do you hope to gain from getting your GED? orking and saving money for college to become a nurse or a vet.

difficult for me because I was pregnant again and moving to Vancouver, Washington. I was almost finished with my GED until I moved. However, my situation is a lot different now, and my children are with CPS but will be home soon. I wanted to see if I can get my GED now while I have the spare time so that I’m not just sitting on my hands you know. Plus it will benefit me in the end, when my kids return to me. I can find a decent and better job.

How have your friends and family motivated, helped, or inspired you? My family hasn’t done anything for me since my children have been in care for almost two years and a half, however my boyfriend and my therapist have inspired me a lot and I’m thankful for that. Any other help I use comes from God and he has brought me long way.

What problems have you faced? I feel like I faced the hard part when I lost my children 8/30/06. And I just lost my grandma Nov. 4, 08 who was like my mother. So I feel like all the bad has happened and if anything it could only get better, not worse.

What do you hope to achieve with your GED? I would like to do hair, cosmetology, counselor, or therapist because I’m excellent with my mouth and I love to help people.

When my children come home and hopefully I have my GED. I want to wait til CPS closes the case and then move away and start a brand new life.

GED.

My family can’t help me that much because they are immigrants at the US, also they didn’t have that much education.

First, I need a teacher who helps me and teaches me, and I can do it. I hope if i get my GED I will continue my education up to University. I am from Africa. I have been in the US for five years, and I am willing to get the opportunity of the US. When I was in Africa I ALWAYS heard the US is the land of opportunities, still I am looking for them.