Rosetta Harper, Literacy Volunteers of Atlanta She graduated from high school on the
honor roll. She even took extra summer classes all through high school. But after
Rosetta Harper's first year at college when she couldn't pass remedial English,
she decided it was just easier to accept the fact that she couldn't read and not
make a fuss. "I just withdrew and then I decided to just get a job and raise my
children and had accepted my life that it was OK, that I could do this and it
was fine." Nobody ever asked much of Rosetta Harper-no one ever asked her
to read out loud or to read the difficult words-so Harper didn't let on that she
couldn't do it. "I felt like if you speak out loud, people know what you don't
know. If I didn't say anything, no one knew." But Harper knew that something
wasn't quite right. She could read just enough to figure out how to bypass the
system. She would match words up with different words and read passages over and
over again to figure out what was being said. She really didn't know what her
problem was; she just "knew I didn't get it all." So she just settled.
A good worker, Ms. Harper did her job and passed on several management opportunities
because she knew she'd be "exposed." She accepted her life for what it was. But
the one thing Harper did not accept was the same lot in life for her children.
She took them to the library, got each one a library card, and had her oldest
daughter tutor the younger siblings. When her son was diagnosed with a learning
disability, she did not hesitate to get him help; it was that son who encouraged
his mother to try again. "One day my son saw a program on TV and he said, 'Mom,
why don't you go back and let somebody help you.' I decided, well maybe I can
let somebody help figure out what it is I don't know." The tutor at the
literacy program Harper entered asked her to read out loud. For Harper, that was
an emotional experience and she cried over words she didn't know. She took it
one day at a time, improving with each day, until reading became not a chore,
but a hobby. On this trip to the library, Harper got the library card and the
books checked out were for her. She found inspiration in the stories of African-American
women, whose struggles helped Harper understand "you're not alone in what you
do, but you have to understand from where you came from." Harper already
has achieved two of her goals-reading a novel and writing her will. She has a
third goal-to write for children. Harper sees big changes in her life since
learning to read. She has more joy and confidence, and speaking to a group is
not a problem! Harper's learned not to just settle, but to face up to her shortcomings,
"Unless you speak out and let somebody know your story, you trap yourself by keeping
everything in. But you free yourself when you open up to others."
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