Literacy Program In Oceanside Helping Adult Learners Fulfill Lifelong
Dreams
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News: 12.28.2020 by Virginia Cha
Oceanside READS
It can be
easy to take the ability to read for granted, but there's nothing easy about
admitting you can't read, especially for adults. Just ask Gary Swimpson.
"I have
a 7-year-old grandson that can read better than me," he says, "it
hurts. I'm 61 years old, I'm supposed to be reading to him, but I can't let
that get me down. I have to keep pushing forward."
Pushing
forward is Gary's mantra. He exudes positivity, but it wasn't always that way.
"As far
as my background, where I come from, 'the hood' and all that, you know I made a
lot of bad choices coming up and so I'm trying to do the right thing in life
for the first time in my life."
He says the
hardest part of his journey has been having the strength to continue pushing
himself to do it.
"When
you never read growing up and now you're in your fifties or sixties and you try
it, it's a challenge."
When Gary
moved from Los Angeles to Oceanside, he decided it was time for a fresh start,
beginning about a year and a half ago with the Oceanside
READS Learning Center.
Chelsea
Genack Eggli, the literacy coordinator for Oceanside Public Library, said,
"It takes a lot of courage and it takes a lot of strength to go back to
school when somebody is older in life," she says.
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