Learner Spotlight: Meet Lupita
On March 23, Hilda Guadalupe “Lupita” M., realized a lifetime dream when she gained her American citizenship. She and her tutor, Gary Bennett, begin studying for the citizenship exam in February. The Literacy Council was instrumental in providing excellent study materials for the citizenship exam, including flash cards for the civics test and reading and writing samples. Lupita and her brother and sister-in-law all earned citizenship on the same day.
“Lupita has been an excellent student and has really come a long way since we began our tutoring relationship in 2019,” said her tutor, Gary Bennett. “We’ve met almost weekly even through COVID when we met on Facetime. She is always prepared and on time.” Lupita is living the American dream. She has been gainfully employed at Giant Foods as a department head where her determination and professionalism is really valued. She also recently purchased her first house where she resides with her nephew.
Lupita has contributed articles for Reflections: Voices of English Learners, the Literacy Council’s literary magazine, for the past two editions and plans to present her article orally this year. Her articles, entitled “My Experience in Personnel Management in America” (sixth edition) and “My First Job in America” (fifth edition) give readers a clear perspective on her hopes and dreams, as well as the challenges she has faced.
“My name is Hilda M. I am Salvadoran with a degree in chemistry and pharmacy. I started studying English at the Literacy Council in 2019. I was fortunate to be assigned a tutor (Gary) to whom I am very grateful for his unconditional help. I love walking and watching funny, romantic and action movies. I also love meeting people and learning about their cultures and customs. I also love visiting beautiful places with the family. My goals are to work in my field, obtain my U.S. citizenship and buy my own home.”
Please join us in congratulating Lupita on these wonderful achievements. Gary has faithfully tutored a number of students since joining the Literacy Council in January, 2019. He reflected on how “I’ve gotten so much more out of this than I have given. I am just bursting with pride to see how happy she is.” Gary is now tutoring Lupita’s sister to help her prepare for her citizenship test.