When Letty Cepeda and her husband Armando chose to move their young family from Mexico to the United States, the goal was a better life and the opportunity to live the American Dream. Letty devoted herself to giving her four children every opportunity possible – including a quality education and a college degree.
Like most mothers, her devotion to her children’s education left little time to pursue her own.
“When I first came here, I knew some English words, but didn’t know how to communicate,” Cepeda said.
In between violin lessons, play dates, dance recitals, baskets of laundry and packed lunches, Cepeda went about her 17 year journey to learn English as a second language with tutors from John Wood Community College.
“I’ve been almost everywhere John Wood has been as I’ve tried to improve my English,” she recalls. “I started with a tutor in the old elementary school, then the building that is now part of Madison Park Christian Church, and finally at 48th and Harrison. Sometimes when I missed several weeks or months, tutors even came to my home. I gradually learned more and more each time.”
Little by little, Cepeda expanded her English to the point where she could go to appointments without an interpreter and began to improve her reading skills. Eventually her English improved enough to help her younger children with homework.
When she started her journey, Cepeda planned to meet her tutor every Tuesday, but life seemed to find a way to break the routine. She often stalled her own study to push her children further along the path of education.
Those breaks resulted in her children achieving educational milestones. Her son, Giovanni, graduated from Quincy Senior High School and has taken courses at JWCC. Cepda’s daughter Liz graduated from JWCC and is a junior at Western Illinois University. Alpha, her middle daughter, is in 7th grade with plans to attend college, and Cepeda’s youngest daughter, Sophia, is in the 4th grade Talented and Gifted program at Baldwin Intermediate School. Sophia’s wants to go to college to become a speech therapist.
“I’m 100 percent mom,” she said. “My children and their education come first. It is great for our family that John Wood is here. It has helped our whole family in so many ways.”
With the help of her JWCC tutors, Cepeda stayed the course to improve her English, no matter how long the journey. “I like to learn, so any time I could spend with my tutors was great, I didn’t care how long it took.”
Just last week she happily posted on Facebook that she completed her last ESL session at JWCC.
“Today was my last day being an ESL student,” her post began. “Thanks to my three tutors that helped me all these 17 years exactly. I had three great teachers – Jane, Cara and Laura. I’m going to miss going to JW every Tuesday. I still need to work on my English. Thanks to John Wood Community College too for this great program that helped me and gave the opportunity to learn English. Gracias.”
Cepeda earned a high score on the ESL exam and now reads at a high school level.
“My tutors now are pushing me to get my GED,” Cepeda said. “I’m so proud and grateful for how far I’ve come. It is so great to know what is possible for me now. What a good feeling!”
On average, JWCC serves 25 ESL students each year. Many continue their educational journey to obtain a GED and later move into college level courses and programs with JWCC. To learn more about JWCC’s ESL, GED and adult education programs, contact Monica Foster at 217.641.4962 or mfoster@jwcc.edu.