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Education Inspiration: Terry Pylvan, 27

During my gig teaching English (EFL) in the Czech Republic, Jitka immediately stood out. Jitka's English vocabulary amounted to about twenty words. She misunderstood everything I said. Her speech came out stuttered, hardly comprehensible. As far as I could tell, Jitka had no chance in the class. But like the other students, she hadn't passed the university entrance exams--which you need in the Czech Republic to attend post-secondary school. English language skills would improve her odds the next time, so she stayed in the course. No one worked harder than Jitka. She did all the homework assigned and gave herself much, much more. She was always first to attempt to speak and listened with great intensity to others. She was first to class and last to leave. Jitka passed her university entrance exams the following year, and I'll never forget Jitka for what she taught me about diligence and about how precious an education is.
Terry Pylvan, 27
Sarasota, Florida

After dropping out of high school and suffering from severe depression, my husband went back to school in his early thirties. He started at a local community college, studied diligently, earned all 'A's, and then transferred to a leading state university. There, he did the obvious things I never did, like attending all his classes and doing his homework. He also did difficult and less-obvious things like overcoming feelings of inadequacy and squelching a terrible long-term fear of failure. He was awarded a prize for the best rising junior in his department, and graduated magna cum laude with high honors from the honors program. He's gone on to obtain a master's degree in one of the top master's programs in his field, while on fellowship. I'm sooooo proud of him. I'm also a changed person for having known him and the example he sets of achieving personal excellence. He's living proof it's never to late to be who you've always wished you were.
Jean Hahn, 43
Ames, Iowa

Working with one writing student, Joyelle, continues to inspire me. Spanish was her first language, and the essays she was required to write in English proved a tremendous challenge. But Joyelle never complained; instead, she simply and cheerfully improved her writing through hard work. One day, she brought in an essay that revealed she'd suffered some very hard times. She'd been taken from her mother as a little girl and placed with her father, who was physically abusive. Then, she was taken from her father and from her home country, Puerto Rico, and sent to the U.S. to live with her grandmother. A few years later, Joyelle was again displaced and moved back to Puerto Rico to live with her mother. Despite all of the disruption and emotional turmoil, Joyelle had earned a full scholarship at a top university. Anytime I feel set-back with respect to my own work, I think of cheerful and tenacious Joyelle and keep going.
John Dillon, 37
Princeton, New Jersey

I can't believe I am going to admit this, but I actually failed out of school. I went to one of the most notorious party schools in the country. I attended every kegger...until my grades were so low they threw me out. I ended up waiting tables and decided I would make custom furniture, just like my grandfather. That's worked out okay, and I have quite a few customers, but I have trouble with the business end: bookkeeping, inventory, managing my employees. I eventually figured out what I need to do, but the answers don't come naturally. And I spend more time than I want on paperwork and a lot less time being creative. So, I am taking advantage of what they call "academic fresh start"--meaning it's been long enough since I flunked out that I am allowed to go back to school! I'm enrolled for the fall in a couple of classes and plan to eventually get my degree in entrepreneurship.
Jeff Lewis, 32
Burlington, VT

I loved school from the first day of kindergarten and continued to all the way into high school. I remember the day I got my first college brochure in the mail…I slept with it under my pillow! But, as they say, life is what happens when you make other plans. When I was a junior, my older boyfriend received a scholarship to a prestigious university across the country. We got married the weekend after I graduated and I moved out there to start our family, intending to go to school as soon as we settled in. But, soon after, the first baby came, then another and another! Now, thirty-five years later, I just finished my first class. Online, no less! When I graduated high school, computers took up entire rooms, now I can go to college without leaving the house. I may like school even better than before now that I can go to class in pajamas!
Mary Jordan, 53
Durham NC