I was nervous when I got there, but she was so nice. Her name was Margaret. I thought that everyone would be looking at me because I couldn't read, but she made me feel comfortable. She said I did alright on the test. She said not to worry about it, that it wasn't really a test. She just set me up right there and told me when I could start with a tutor. She didn't hesitate.

I had been gong through life without reading and I didn't want anyone to find out that I couldn't read, that's including family members and friends. And then I finally just said, "I need help." I always wanted to read, but I fell behind in the fifth grade and never caught up. And I tried to catch up, too. I remember in the eighth grade, they had a new program with tapes and a headset and I tried that, but it didn't work. So I kind of covered it up. Then you fall so far behind you feel you'll never catch up. So I got into drugs and alcohol. This continued for fifteen years. It seems like it was longer.

I grew up in Memphis, Tennessee. It was a projects-type environment and most of the things around me was drugs and alcohol. I started drinking in the sixth grade and doing drugs. I made it all the way through the eleventh grade. Teachers just let me pass. My drug addiction got so bad that I wasn't there most of the time. The only reason I dropped out was because the principal came across me and said, "You haven't been here in two months, why don't you drop out!" And I said, "No problem." It is so easy for people who can't read to say "no problem" because they don't want to deal with it anyway. You try to sweep it under the rug. That's exactly what I tried to do all those years, sweep it under the rug.

Now I have a dream of doing something. Before I was limited by reading abilities. It just limited me to certain jobs, certain things that I could do. And now I have dreams of being a restaurant owner. In the beginning, I didn't have those dreams. I see all kinds of changes, and everyone around me believes in me.

I think I am a lot different now because before I was a lot shyer and wouldn't say anything because I was afraid that people would find out my secret. I was afraid they would treat me dif- ferent. I always kind of kept to myself and tried not to get around lots of people. So it's a lot different now with me. My life has changed because of Project READ. I feel that if a lot of people who can read volunteer as a tutor, it would help a lot of people. And as soon as I feel that I'm ready, I'm becoming a tutor because of a book I read. The book is called Each One Teach One. It was the first book I read.

If there are other people who are out there thinking about volunteering, I would like to tell them not to hesitate and to get in there and help someone because there's a lot of adults out there that cannot read. It might be a family member that can't read, and you wouldn't know because we have a tendency to hide it because we're ashamed of not being able to read. Give someone a dream, a little hope in their life to strive to be the best they can.

I'm an assistant teacher at my church and Bible school, and I am currently studying to get my GED. Being able to pick up a newspaper or pick up a magazine or to read my own words right now makes me confident. I wouldn't trade this for anything in the world.