Graduating after a 30-year break

Thirty years ago, when Teresa Farrow was about 17 years old following her junior year, she knew she was about ready to make what she would later call a "stupid" decision. Stubborn and independent, she did it anyway.

Just a physical education class shy of having enough credits to graduate from high school, the rebellious teen got tired of the rules, got mad at mom and dad and ran away. She dropped out of Webster Groves High school in St. Louis.

She ended up in Cape Girar-deau where she found shelter with relatives. At 19 years old she married her husband, Jeff. She soon enough had two daughters but no diploma.

In May, the bad decision she made 30 years ago was set right by a hard-earned General Education Development diploma.

On Thursday, Farrow will be one of 100 or so adults who will attend a GED graduation ceremony at the Career and Technology Center in Cape Girardeau. She'll be one of more than 10,000 Missourians to earn a GED diploma this year.

Farrow has a pleasant life. She is young at heart, a cheerful person. She and her husband live in a small but neat and well-kept house on a dead-end street. Their 27-year-old daughter, Marjorie, has given them three grandchildren. Their 20-year-old daughter, Christina, lives with them. Jeff is a carpenter who works at Southeast Missouri State University and is quite the handyman around the house.

Farrow, despite not having a high school diploma, has always been a worker, too. She made a modest career in the eye-care business, working at a few offices over the years. She started out inserting lenses into frames and mailing them to customers. Later she would cut off the bulk of the glasses, preparing them for their final polish. Later she started answering phones, placing orders and eventually was promoted to office manager.

After several years, she left that job and found a part-time job at an eye-care outfit in the mall. She liked the work but wanted more hours. She found it hard to find a full-time position without a high school diploma or a GED.

Many years ago, Farrow made up her mind that she was going to get her GED. She would do it for herself as much as she would do it for her resume.

But it would be difficult and scary. The first time she tried was eight years ago. She began the program, stuck with it for awhile then quit when her second grandchild arrived. A new grandchild made it easy for her to quit.

She didn't try again until August 2003.

The students are required to attend 20 hours in the first month. After that, the students can take the courses on their own time.

Farrow found she was one of the oldest students taking the GED course. She also found the morning classes had the fewest students and fewest distractions.

She was very insecure at first. She was intimidated by schoolwork, but the three teachers with the adult learning program helped her overcome her fears. And her family was supportive, too.

She fit the classes around her part-time work schedule. She attended class about 15 hours a week. And just as it was in high school, mathematics gave her the most trouble.

Farrow already loved to read so language, social studies, reading and science were time consuming but not overly difficult. But math -- that took some serious dedication, a different kind of thinking.

Farrow worked algebraic equations whenever she had time: During lunch hour at work, after supper, while watching "Survivor." It took some hard studying, but the mix of numbers and letters began to make sense.

Farrow took the test in April. There were about 30 students at the testing room in the Show Me Center. She was one of the oldest if not the oldest. She saw a gray-haired man there who looked older than she was, but the gray-haired man was only there to drop off his granddaughter. Farrow had to pull out her bifocals to read the text.

In August, she got the results of her test and passed easily. She called her teacher, then her mother.

Some time later, she sent out a resume to Kies Eye Center. Her GED completion was listed at the top of her application. She faxed over a resume and was hired 49 hours later. She has been working there a month. She now has a full-time job with benefits, including a 401-K.

Over the last 12 months, 104 people in Cape Girardeau, Perry, Ste. Genevieve, Bollinger, Scott and Stoddard counties have earned their GED diploma through the adult education programs offered through the Cape Girardeau School District. Anyone at least 16 years of age and not enrolled in a public school can take the course for free. The tests cost $40.

Nancy Branson, the local adult education and literacy coordinator and one of Farrow's teachers, said Farrow's is one of many success stories.

"We've seen them from all types of ages, backgrounds and family problems," she said.

It takes anywhere from two months to over a year for some to get ready for the test. "It's not the easiest thing for the younger group," Branson said. "They have to stay focused and motivated. This only works if the student wants it to work. It's a good second opportunity."

Several years ago, Branson had a student who was laid off from a hat factory. In six months, she got her GED, then went to college and became a licensed practical nurse. The next time Branson saw her, the student was giving dialysis to her sister.

"It comes full circle," Branson said.

Farrow scored high enough on her GED test to qualify for a scholarship. She scored very well, as high as the 98th percentile, on most of her subjects. She was average in mathematics.

She doesn't yet know if she's going to take advantage of the scholarship.

Until she decides, she's going to enjoy what she has: A GED diploma.

"I just decided if I did nothing else in this world, I was going to get it," she said. "It's more gratifying now. I feel like I earned it."

bmiller@semissourian.com

243-6635