A local resident recently completed the GED program in Spanish at Beaufort County Community College, increasing the chance of attaining a better job.

Ruth Selene Wilson, a native of Tabasco, Mexico, always loved school and had dreams of having a good career, but after moving to the United States, those dreams died due to discomfort with the English language, she said. With no high school diploma and slim chances of fulfilling that dream, Wilson decided to return to school and begin high school equivalency studies through the Division of Continuing Education at BCCC.

Wilson enrolled in classes through BCCC’s Basic Skills Program, but, initially, with a limited ability in speaking English, she was afraid to ask questions out of fear of not being understood, she said. It is then the college’s Basic Skills staff connected Wilson with Tania Corey-Lilley, who teaches English as a Second Language, along with other basic skills classes. Fluent in Spanish and a recent transplant from Los Angeles, Corey-Lilley helps the college reach out to the growing number of Spanish speakers in the community, according to a BCCC press release. She helped Wilson prepare to take the GED and offered it to her in Spanish because Wilson was more comfortable with the language.

“I was scared at the time when I first came to the college,” Wilson said. “But I discovered the joy of learning and knowing that I would succeed.”

Wilson, the most recent student at the college to earn a high school equivalency in Spanish, said she still needs to continue her studies to become more fluent in English in order to earn a college diploma or associate’s degree in office administration to achieve her dream of working as a receptionist in a local office.

Corey-Lilley said she understands how people with limited English mastery would be reluctant to return to school, but all of BCCC’s Basic Skills instructors work to make new students comfortable. She hopes more students like Wilson will come forward and enroll in English as a Second Language or high school equivalency classes.

“It will make a difference in your life,” Corey-Lilley said.

English as a Second Language classes are offered from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., Monday through Wednesday at the Boys and Girls Club in Belhaven, as well as 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., Monday through Wednesday on the BCCC campus and Tuesday and Thursday on the BCCC campus. Basic Skills classes are offered at various times and locations throughout Beaufort County.

For more information about BCCC’s Adult Basic Education classes, visit http://www/beaufortccc.edu/coned/contin.htm or contact Penelope Radcliffe, Basic Skills assessment and retention specialist, at 252-940-6325 or Tony Taylor, Basic Skills director, at 252-940-6298.