Danny started
going to the Adult Learning Center in Bowling Green six years ago, when he was
36 years old. His goal was to learn to read. When the Center had to
close due to budgetary issues, Danny taught himself to read. It took him
many long and hard hours to realize the goal of being able to read. That
is also when his "dream" took shape: He wanted to go to college. He
would
spend hours walking on WKU's campus - watching students hurrying about and
wishing he could trade places with any one of them for just a day. When
Danny got the opportunity to be a part of the newly established
WKU Adult Literacy Clinic (thanks to a
generous grant from the
Dollar General
Literacy Foundation and financial support from Provost Burch) he was excited
about being a part of something that was a part of Western. Even though
Danny suffers from severe social anxiety, he made himself walk into the
classroom each Tuesday night from January through April in the spring of 2004.
Sometimes he could only make himself sit in the classroom for seven minutes at a
time before having to stand in the hallway alone and regulate his heart rate and
breathing. Then seven minutes grew to ten, and ten to twenty painstaking
minutes. Still he pressed on.
It was during this time that Danny decided to try
coming to the Block 1 reading methods classes each Tuesday and Thursday so that
he could improve his listening skills and learn to be comfortable with new
people. Again he started with staying for only a few minutes at a time.
It was the kindness of students in Block 1, spring 2004 that kept him coming
back each week. Danny was devastated in May when the class ended and the
students moved on.
Spring forward to fall of 2004. A dream comes true ... sort of. Danny completes all the paperwork and requirements for registering for a reading course at the Bowling Green Community College and begins classes there in August. The course is tough - Danny is touch - and then life gets really tough. Danny found himself in what he believed to be a work environment that was hostile. His nerves got the best of him and he was forced to leave his job. Danny calls these "hard times." For the first time in his adult life he was without a job - without an income at all. Danny went for weeks without a job until fate smiled kindly on him and he received a part-time job working on the grounds crew at, none other than, WKU. Enter the guardian angels waiting in the wings - Block 1 students from fall 2004. Danny continued to come to my classes and to attend his classes at the Community College. While his reading skills are improving, he needed tremendous support to get his homework each week. Many students volunteered to tutor Danny. They put their own needs and pressures aside to meet with Danny - day and night - Monday through Friday and even weekends. They also learned a lesson that we cannot really teach in a college class - Danny's tutors learned that teaching the "subject" is impossible without knowing the learner. Getting to know Danny meant understanding what it is like to struggle, to be left out, to be alone, to be without a safety-net, to be shy, to be afraid, to want to learn so badly he can almost taste it, and to know what it is like to have a dream that keeps slipping through your fingers.
In the process of
getting to know Danny and to take some empathetic steps in his shoes, I was able
to witness some amazing feats of kindness and compassion from the young people
who were working with him. Tutoring turned
into providing Danny with much needed transportation, meals, and emotional
support. Reading turned into bowling, going to WKU ballgames, and going to
movies. One day when Danny didn't have a tutor to go to class with him, he
made the mistake of cutting class. He knew he had made a mistake and
called one of his faithful tutors, Stephanie Cook. She promptly picked Danny up
and took him to the Community College - and then stood there with Danny as he
explained his situation to his very kind instructor, apologized for cutting
class, and asked for his assignments. Beyond the "requirements" for
"service" in this course, you ask? Yeah. Way beyond. This is
but one example of the many times that these tutors came to Danny's aid, not
just in his literacy instruction, but in making a difference in the quality of
his life.
Some of Danny's "angels"
 Ashley Hopper Always a smile for Danny and everyone else; always the quickest to tears as her big-as-all-outdoors heart is easily touched and always shared |
 Becky Cassel Equally quiet and kind, Becky's gentle and nurturing manner was a solace to Danny on so many days |
 Grant Sharp Good sport who juggled job and attending class with Danny |
 Jackie Brosius Part drill sergeant and part guardian angel, Jackie is the rock in Danny's support system |
|
 Jessica Marshall's mom's Sunday School Class contributed generously to Danny's Christmas |
Stephanie Cook The poster-child for compassion, organization, and caring. We take our hat off to you, Stephanie, as we pale by comparison. |
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Not pictured: Block 1 students from Cumberland Trace; Block 1 students from Owensboro, Glasgow, and Elizabethtown
