‘Do you think I can?’: Man earns diploma in 7 months

• Jesus Soriana is the 100th person to graduate from the Richmond Adult Education Center this year.
• He earned a High School Equivalency diploma, formerly known as the GED.
• “It’s going to open so many doors,” said program coordinator Jon Thurlow.

In September, Jesus Soriana nervously went through the doors at the Richmond Adult Education Center.

He’d heard about the center from a friend who was planning to attend.

“Do you think I can?” Soriana asked his friend. The friend didn’t know, and neither did Soriana.

He took an entrance exam that was “so hard.” He watched classmates give up and leave the center, but Soriana kept going.

And now, just seven months later, he is the proud recipient of a High School Equivalency diploma — the 100th issued by the center this school year.

The HSE — formerly called the GED — consists of five sections: language writing, language arts reading, mathematics, social studies and science. To pass, students must score in the 40th percentile.

In other words, said Jon Thurlow, program coordinator at the center, “You have to do better than 40 out of 100 recent high school graduates.”

The center offers morning, afternoon and evening classes Monday through Thursday in the former Warner School at 302 N. Seventh St. Classes also are available at the WorkOne Center at 3771 S. A St. The only cost to students is for exam fees, and some scholarship funds can help with those.

Soriana isn’t alone in finding the entrance exam intimidating, Thurlow said, but it’s a necessary step in developing the individualized education plan for each student. “It allows them to bypass the skills that they already know how to do,” he said.

For Soriana, the biggest challenge was English. Soriana grew up near Mexico City and has lived in the United States about seven years. He could speak some English when he came to the center but writing was very difficult. Fortunately, however, he is good at math.

“Jesus loves math,” said his teacher, Vicki Elliott. Because he understood numbers, she used the English explanations in the math book to help Soriana learn the written language.

It was so successful he was able to pass the HSE in English.

Elliott wasn’t surprised. “He’s very, very dedicated,” she said. “He worked very, very hard.”

Throughout his schooling, Soriana worked full time at Keener Corp. in Connersville. He hopes to join a future cohort of Manufacturing Matters at Ivy Tech Community College. In the meantime, he will continue to improve his language skills. The center offers classes in English as a second language.

But his biggest goal — the HSE diploma — has been achieved. Thurlow said the importance of that accomplishment can’t be overstated.

“People need to realize that if they haven’t completed high school, they need to at least come in and try,” he said. “It’s going to open so many doors for them that they don’t even know exist.”

Staff writer Louise Ronald: (765) 973-4469 or lronald@pal-item.com. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/LouiseRonaldPI.

For more information

Call Richmond Adult Education Center at (765) 973-3486 or visit www.MyHSE.org.