My highlights in Washington D.C.

I really enjoyed going to our Nation’s Capital with Laura Porfirio on behalf of COABE and Adult Ed. The COABE dinner and award ceremony was amazing I was really surprised when they called my name for an award that was so unexpected. It was wonderful too meet so many people from all around the United States that are so passionate about adult Ed.

Our first meeting was with Senator Jeff Flake’s office, we meet with Helen Heiden his Legislative Assistant she seemed to be really interested in what we were talking about and how much Adult Ed has helped me with going back to school and finding my voice. Senator Jeff Flake even took time away from his schedule to say hi and here a little bit about Adult Ed and Pima Community College.

Our second meeting was with Senator McCain’s office we meet with Lauren Kennedy his Legislative Correspondent. I really enjoyed this meeting Ms. Kennedy had heard about Adult Ed but was not very familiar with the program. I was honored to share my experience with her and explain to her how Adult Ed changes lives and helps students like me get on a career pathway. Ms. Kennedy seemed really interested in the program and said that one day she would like to come and visit our learning centers.

Our third meeting was with Michael Wong he is the Legislative Assistant for Congresswoman Krysten Sinema. Mr. Wong was so excited to be meeting with us he was very familiar with Adult Ed and the statistics, he really enjoyed hearing about how the program has helped me and he stated that it was great to hear a person’s story and not just see the charts and numbers.

Our fourth meeting was with Martha McSally I had to say that I was a little nervous meeting with her I was not sure what to expect. As soon as we sat down to talk with her she was very approachable and was very interested in what we had to say about adult ed. She talked about how involved she is with the boys and girls club and opened up about her family her, Legislative Assistant Connor Craig even opened up about how his mom ended up going back to school to get an education. I really appreciated that she was able to meet with us and give us her undivided attention. There was a couple of times that her legal secretary came in to tell her she had a phone conference waiting and she told her to tell them to wait because she was with us.

Our last meeting was with Raul Grijalva and his Senior Legislative Assistant Norma Salazar-Ibarra. This meeting was amazing because Mr. Grijalva is so passionate about Adult Ed and really cares about Tucson and all of its citizens he asked Laura about how the centers are doing and said that he will make time to come and visit the learning centers and the IBEST/BHS class. I feel like this would be a great time for other Adult Ed students to get to tell a little bit about how the program has helped them.

In between our meetings Laura and I went back to the hotel where I had an interview. I was a little nervous to be talking in front of a camera but it was great to talk about how important Adult Ed is and how much I appreciate everything that COABE and Pima Community College has done to help me. I really enjoyed telling my story and hopeful helping others that are not sure if they can go back to school. I want to be that voice that tells them you can do this.

I plan on following up by emails to everyone that we meet with and seeing when they can come out and visit all the wonderful learning centers that we have here in Tucson.