{"id":112831,"date":"2015-04-30T18:26:05","date_gmt":"2015-05-01T00:26:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/ged-program-a-springboard-to-college\/"},"modified":"2015-04-30T18:26:05","modified_gmt":"2015-05-01T00:26:05","slug":"ged-program-a-springboard-to-college","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/ged-program-a-springboard-to-college\/","title":{"rendered":"GED program a springboard to college"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Sam Green\/Cortez Journal<br><br>Audrey Allmon helped Moses Duran earn his GED at the Unlimited Learning<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He came to the GED center at the age of 15 with an eighth-grade education and a chip on his shoulder. On May 9, he\u2019ll graduate from San Juan College with a 3.87 grade point average and a degree in veterinary technology. It\u2019s an accomplishment that he says is owed to the educational and emotional foundation he built at Unlimited Learning.<\/p>\n

When Duran was in eighth grade, he got in an altercation at his middle school with police and said from that day on \u201cmy entire life did a 360.\u201d His family sought financial compensation for his hospital bills through legal action, but since there was no surveillance at the school, the case eventually fizzled out, he said. The incident left Duran with a severe distrust in authority. He became despondent about his education and found himself incredibly angry.<\/p>\n

He eventually made his way to Cortez with his father, and after working odd jobs to help make ends meet, he soon grew frustrated with his \u201cdead-end\u201d career path.<\/p>\n

He wanted to go back to school but couldn\u2019t find the program or school that met his needs.<\/p>\n

He found Unlimited Learning, and teacher Audrey Allmon. Allmon recalls Duran\u2019s demeanor as incredibly angry but soon realized how determined he was to buckle down and get his GED.<\/p>\n

Since the school can\u2019t take students until they\u2019re 17, they helped Duran study until he met the age requirement.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd oh, he was just so angry,\u201d Allmon said, \u201cbut I remember him coming in one day and putting his head on my shoulder and saying \u2018Oh Audrey, I love this place. I come here, and you\u2019re here and everything is the same.\u2019 He told me this place saved his life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ann Miller, executive director of Unlimited, says a big job for educators at the school is getting new students to trust staff and open up before they can trust themselves enough to roll up their sleeves and get to work.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey start by trusting us, because they come here not trusting life, and if they can first trust themselves, and they can trust then our teachers,\u201d said Miller. \u201cIt\u2019s more than just lectures and grading papers when you become a teacher here. It\u2019s a lot like joining the Peace Corps.\u201d<\/p>\n

Determined to not let his past damage his future, Duran caught up on his middle school education and completed four years of high school in 2\u00bd years. He graduated in 2011 and now only looks to the future. He\u2019s been completing veterinary fieldwork \u2013 studying grazing patterns of elk outside of Durango and testing bats for infectious disease in Salida \u2014 and is eyeing internships that can help him land his first job. He loves doing work that he enjoys in the field, and says he owes everything to the school that gave him the confidence to go after his dreams.<\/p>\n

\u201cI came here and Audrey and Ann \u2013 thank god they were there, because I wouldn\u2019t be here right now \u2013 they worked with me tediously, I mean tediously because I was so stubborn and angry. \u2026 When I graduated with my GED, I got a cake for myself that said \u2018It\u2019s about time,\u2019\u201d he said, laughing. \u201cNow I\u2019m graduating college, with a 3.87 GPA \u2013 first generation college graduate.\u201d<\/p>\n

His accomplishment also has the staff at Unlimited Learning beaming with pride. Many students who come through the doors don\u2019t come back, despite the efforts of teachers who devote so much of their time and energy communicating the immense value of an education.<\/p>\n

\u201cI once went outside the apartment of a guy that stopped showing up. \u2026I ended up waiting outside of his apartment for four hours, went inside to the building manager, and he said he moved!\u201d said Allmon, bursting into laughter.<\/p>\n

Allmon, an 87-year-old veteran Montezuma County educator, has seen the transformation process many students overcome despite the stressful work. It\u2019s the success stories that keep her and other Unlimited Learning teachers coming back to work.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a reward for us \u2013 we have so many bad experiences. When they\u2019re walking with that cap and gown on, it\u2019s like they have a whole new image of themselves. They think \u2018I can succeed, I\u2019m not stupid, I can do it,\u2019\u201d said Allmon.<\/p>\n

Allmon will be driving down to Farmington on May 9 to watch Duran walk across the stage and accept his college degree,, She expects her elation to carry her back to Cortez.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh I am so proud him. I think I\u2019m just gonna fly home, I\u2019ll have wings.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Green\/Cortez Journal<br><br>Audrey Allmon helped Moses Duran earn his GED at the Unlimited Learning He came to the GED center at the age of 15 with an eighth-grade education and a chip on his shoulder. On May 9, he\u2019ll graduate from San Juan College with a 3.87 grade point average and a degree in veterinary […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":112832,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5794,5735],"tags":[156,21],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-112831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","category-news","tag-adult-education","tag-cortez"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112831"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112831\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/112832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112831"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=112831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}