Learner Spotlight: Meet Jamila

Welcome to our monthly Learner Spotlight!

We invite you to meet Jamila, our featured student this month in our “Learner Spotlight”. Featured adult learners will represent all of the Literacy Council’s programs, including authors from Reflections: Voices of English Learners, the Literacy Council’s literary magazine, as well as other students.

My name is Jamila. I came from Syria. My family and I moved to Frederick in 2012. I live with my husband and I am a mother of four children and grandmother for six grandchildren. I studied and practiced civil engineering in Syria.

I started studying at the Literacy Council in 2016. I am very grateful to the Literacy Council for the help I had to improve my English language and to have wonderful teachers, and friends from all over the world.

We hope you enjoy Jamila’s story, “A Family Dinner”. View our all of our students’ stories on our Reflections: Voices of English Learners web page!

Advanced conversation class at the Literacy Council

There is a saying in my country, “Blessed is the father who at the end of the day puts bread on his family’s table,” and I say, “Lucky is the mother who gathers her children around the dining room table and feeds them what she cooks.” I was a lucky mother. Dinner time was the most joyful time of our day. I used to cook every day. The food was ready when the children came back from school. We always began the meal with a short prayer. Our Lord, bless with your grace our meal. While eating we would talk about their school day. What funny or sad stories happened. How they behaved with their teachers, classmates and friends. What grades they got for their homework and tests?

Presenting at the Women’s Giving Circle with Exec. Dir., Laurie Fisher

In 2018, Jamila was invited to share about her life in Syria, and her involvement with the Literacy Council which helped her to become a more integral part of the Frederick County community at a meeting of the Women’s Giving Circle.

Read more of Jamila’s story on page 18 from our 3rd edition of Reflections.