James Robert Shoults, age 37, and now learning to read, write, spell and do anything I put my mind to do. I have my wife and four children to support. (Click on the photo to view a larger picture)
Life has been pretty tough for me. It started a long time ago when my dad used to travel a lot from California to Mexico, to Belize, to Panama, back to Texas, to Florida, to Canada, then back to California. Most of our trips were from California to Belize. I remember running around on the ships. At the age of 5, I fell off the top deck and cracked my head.
Being pulled in and out of school as we traveled bothered me. It was hard to keep up in class and it was hard to make and keep friends.
My mom was in the hospital for about one year dying of cancer. When my mom passed away I was 9 years old. Life had been tough, but then it got tougher. My dad had a hard time taking care of me with three sisters and two brothers.
On one of the trips to Belize, my dad met Irma Rollen. Irma helped my dad take care of us for a few years. I ended up with another brother and sister. My dad still traveled back and forth from the USA to Belize with some of us, and we were still being pulled in and out of school.
On one of our road trips going to Belize, three hundred miles from the US border, traveling at two o'clock in the morning, a drunk driver side-swiped us. I took a bad hit. By the time I got to the hospital and they got the blood, I died. I did not know this until later when my dad told me. Then I remembered my out of body experience, at the same time that my dad said I had died. I spent one year in the hospital in and out of surgeries, and two more years in and out of hospital for surgery and therapy. Since then, I don't fear death. I try to live life to the fullest.
While I was in the hospital for about three years, I did not get much schooling. When I went back to school I was too old for the class. The other kids made fun of me. They put me in Special Ed., where I did not want to be. Finally, the school counselor asked me, "What do you want to learn?" I said, "I like auto mechanics and I like welding." So they gave me three hours of mechanics class and three hours of welding. It was great until my dad took me out of school and we moved.
I was a truck driver, hauling forty tons of water to a small community for about one year. It was hard getting that license. I got the license by memorizing the tests and procedures on how to drive a big truck. It was fun work until my dad decided to move. When my dad moved, I got a job with a small water company, and I lived in an old 1953 Greyhound bus that was converted into a mobile home. Somebody burned my home and everything I owned was gone, so I moved back home with my dad for a short time.
When I went back to California to help my dad move to Texas, I met a wonderful, beautiful girl. Her name was Yvonne, and I fell in love with her. While we were apart she wrote me letters and my sister read them to me. I would call her when I could afford it. I stayed with my dad for about six months. I wasn't going to school, instead I stayed home and tried to help my dad. We weren't getting along and I missed my girlfriend. I left home at the age of 18 and went to California to be with Yvonne.
I had a hard time finding a job, and when I did, it didn't last long when they found out I could not read or write. So I went to the rehabilitation center because of my physical disability and they got me a job in a small shipyard repair company. They had me pushing a broom until they found out that I was good at taking things apart and putting them back together in good working order.
I found another company paying more money. They hired me even though I could not fill out the application very well. At the time, they mostly needed bodies. They found out how dependable and how good I worked and decided to keep me employed for twelve years. During that time, I went from an outside machinist to plant mechanic, taking care of forty vehicles, overhead cranes, forklifts, and other small equipment. Also during that time, I married my girlfriend, Yvonne, and had four children.
The company that I was working for was going bankrupt. I still didn't know how to read or write. I tried the adult school a few times, but I always ended up dropping out. I could not keep up with the rest of the class. I went back to the rehabilitation center and they told me about the Chula Vista Library's Literacy Program. That's where I learned to fill out an application, a resume, and learned how to do interviews. I practiced these things with my tutor, and I got a job at the Sweetwater Union High School District. It was scary taking on a job that required a lot more reading, writing, and spelling, but thanks to the Literacy Team, I can do it now. I still have trouble spots, but I'm getting better.
As I learned to read, Yvonne and I began to take different parenting classes where we learned better ways to raise our children. We also went to two different communication classes which taught us to communicate better with ourselves and others. I'm still continuing to better myself. My wife and I also learned to read books to our children and how to find information in the library through the Family Reading Program at the Literacy Team. It felt good to be able to read Christmas stories to my children for the first time at the age of 34.
All the years I've been in the Literacy Program, there were times when I felt like quitting and I figured if I felt like this there must be others who felt the same. I asked the leader of the program, "Is there anything that we could do to help others like me, like a support group?" She asked me to talk with another learner to see what we could do. We decided to start a support group, and it has helped me and many others.
We still have our meetings once a month so we can help learners make the transition from not being able to read and write to feeling good about reading, writing, spelling, and learning the joy of communicating better. The day before our meetings, I try to call all the learners to remind them of the meeting. I also continue to help with new learner orientations and tutor training classes. I continue to encourage my brothers and sisters and anyone else who needs help with reading, writing, and spelling. For me, it has made a big change in my life. Things I thought were never possible for me to do I now can do. For all of you who don't think it's possible to improve yourself, believe me, it is possible. I am living proof. I continue to look for ways to better my and my family's lives. Programs are out there, just look for the ones that can help you . You can do it!
