Basic Skills Success Story:
Van Thuy Nguyen

Twenty-one year old Van Thuy Nguyen, a sunny Southern California native, moved to Spruce Pine in mid-2001. During her adolescent years, Van and her family resided in Pomona, California, a city well-known for one of the nation’s most prestigious engineering schools. As a senior at Garey High in Pomona, Van dropped out only two months prior to graduation. “To this day,” Van shared, “I deeply regret my decision to leave school.”

Van’s migration to Spruce Pine two and a half years ago opened doors for her to meet Syna and Terry Lewis. Terry is a teacher at Harris Middle School. His wife, Syna, a local State Farm Insurance agent, proved to be the source of positive influence and inspiration that encouraged Van to enroll in the Mayland Community College Basic Skills Program to begin studying to earn her GED. Here, Van completed her high school equivalency and is now enrolled in Mayland’s College Transfer program.

“My dream for the future is to earn a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Finance and Marketing with a minor in Psychology,” Van said. “In addition, I hope to be a State Farm agent like my role model and mentor, Mrs. Lewis.”

“Getting my GED is probably one of the smartest decisions I have ever made,” Van continues. “It has not only opened up many new and rewarding opportunities, but it has also strengthened my self-esteem. In my opinion, Mayland Community College has excellent adult education programs and extremely supportive instructors.”

Never stop exploring your possibilities. It is never too late to start becoming the person you always wanted to be. If part of your dream is to complete your high school education—and maybe even go on to college—the Basic Skills Program is here to help you work on reaching those goals.

For More Information

For more information, call us at extensions 207 or 217, (828) 765-7351 or 1-800-4-MAYLAND, or e-mail us at gedinfo@mayland.edu.

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