Tiffany Brock

How EOYDC Helped Me

I wasn’t able to finish high school because I got pregnant at the age of 16. I didn’t finish one semester of high school. When my son was born, I was put in the “system.” My mom did not want me to return home with my son. She told me I either put my son up for adoption, or I don’t come home with my son. I chose to keep my son, so the hospital called CPS (Child Protective Services) and they found a place for me to stay. I have lived in a group home in Oakland for about two years. Throughout those two years I have been working towards my G.E.D. I found out about EOYDC in January of 2005.

What I liked about EOYDC is the fact that I was allowed to bring my son to class with me, so I didn’t have to worry about child care. When I first enrolled in the class I went for awhile and then I stopped going for a while due to my group home causing me problems. They didn’t think I was in a good enough program. They were going to find another place for me to go to school. They had no such luck. So I took it upon myself to put myself back in classes at EOYDC. That was in March when I started to come back to EOYDC. I started coming regularly for about six months when the instructor at EOYDC told me that I was ready to take the big G.E.D. test. I took the test in August, and I thought that I might not have passed the math part of the test. Two weeks after I took the test, I got my results for the math. I had passed! I received all of my results in September and I had passed all of the tests. By passing the G.E.D., I am able to leave the “system,” and be able to have my own place and get a job. I feel like I can do anything now.