Adult Education Week 2016 Essay: "My Adult Education Adventure and Steps on the Journey"

Many students participated in the 2016 Adult Education Week Contest.  The theme was "Steps on the Journey."

Here, with the permission of the author, is one of the essays:

My Adult Education Adventure

and Steps on the Journey

I had studied English in China for many years, but I did not use it in my life at all after graduating from college, so it was easy to forget almost everything about English. After I met my American husband, I started to study English seriously.  We wrote emails to each other in English as practice every day, but he rarely corrected me, and I could not speak it fluently.  As a result, I have never studied English systematically after I graduated a long time ago.

Adult education was my first choice as a step for learning English and communicating in English more effectively since I moved to the United States.  It is helpful to adults who have families to take care of, have a job to do, and need a flexible schedule.  It is less pressure for me as an immigrant.  Although some people think less pressure causes laziness, I think adults can exercise self-control, such as when I have already made too many cookies and just want to make more, I can stop myself.

     As an adult and a new immigrant, I like to talk about

and discuss history, politics, literature, and things that happen in my life with my American husband. I do not want to be a silent listener.  He has supported me while I have been attending adult school to improve my English, which is really nice and thoughtful of him.  When we talked about our interests, most of the time I was a silent listener, and I really did not like that.  Since I have been studying English at San Mateo Adult School, I can argue and fight with my husband more smoothly and better; I have learned how to express my ideas logically and not to become too emotional.

     I would like to have more responsibilities and earn money for my husband and me.  Living in the San Francisco Bay Area is very expensive, and I always want to do more shopping for baking supplies. It is a good thing for a couple to both have jobs.  Being educated is a basic requirement for finding a good job. To gain education in the United States, adult education was the first necessary step I took to prepare me to attend College of San Mateo next year.     

Adult education is like a ladder to help me reach my goals.  I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to attend San Mateo Adult School and have the chance to take the necessary steps on the ladder to self-improvement.