Finding her way home

 She holds the class assignment close to her face, but the words appear backward. Frustration colors her face pink as she struggles to read and pronounce the words correctly. She has the ability to give the correct answers, but she can’t read the material.
   With the help of Disabled Student Services, Rhonda Wolf can complete her coursework despite her dyslexia, a language-based learning disability. Some dyslexics struggle with spelling, reading, learning letters and how to speak, which make it difficult to succeed academically. In its more severe forms, dyslexia qualifies a student for special education or extra support services.
   However, for years Rhonda did not get the educational support she needed.
   Rhonda’s ability to learn was challenged from an early age. When she was 11 years old, she entered the first of ten foster homes. She recalls that the first home was abusive. Several homes later, Rhonda and her siblings were placed with an African-American family although she is Caucasian. This determined which gang she joined.
   She started doing drugs in part, she says, because she thought that no one loved her. “So, the gang reached out and showed me what love is, but it was a totally different kind of love that I wasn’t looking for. But, I chose that lifestyle and I was stuck with it,” she said.
   Next she was sent into an all-girls group home. “I was able to stop getting into trouble because I didn’t really have a choice,” Rhonda said.
   In her senior year of high school, Rhonda was planning on attending UCLA on a basketball scholarship, but she fell and injured her knee. Unable to play basketball any longer, she lost her scholarship.
   When she moved back to Long Beach, where she grew up, she got involved with the same people from her past.
   One night in 1993, someone pounded on Rhonda’s window and woke her from a dead sleep. A friend asked for support in a fight. As a consequence of going with her friend that night, Rhonda was falsely accused of assault with a deadly weapon, a stick.
   Seeking advice she called a close friend who recommended that Rhonda turn herself in--for a crime she didn’t commit. With two young children at home, she paid a high price for loyalty.
   Rhonda’s boss and co-workers wrote letters to the judge and eventually she was placed on probation. But during the four days she spent in jail, she had time to think about her life. It was time to change.
   At 40 years old, Rhonda started attending classes at Santa Ana College, where she finally got the kind of help she needed.
 “She is the definition of determination and motivation,” said Disabled Students Programs and Services Coordinator Maria Aguilar. “I wish we had more students with her energy. You can tell she puts a lot of love and pride into what she does.”
   The DSPS provides software called Kurzweil that reads text out loud. Although homework and other assignments take her longer to complete than most students, Rhonda’s learning disability no longer stops her from acquiring the information she craves.
   Mark Higgins, an English professor at SAC, said he noticed that Rhonda struggled with some kind of learning disability. “She is probably one of the most hard-working, determined students I’ve ever had,” Higgins said. “She is the most vocal person in my class. I love her input. I really love having her in the class.”
   Genice Gilreath, a SAC reading professor, has had Rhonda as a student for the past four semesters. "I've seen her growing in many different ways, not just as a student, but as an individual,” Gilreath said. “She's been becoming much more confident in herself and her abilities as she's gone through her educational process and becoming who she can be."
   In April, Rhonda received recognition from the Extended Opportunity Programs and Services (EOPS) for earning a 3.67 GPA. Currently undeclared, Rhonda said she wants to be a counselor for girls in junior high and high school who have had life experiences similar to hers.
   Her main motivation for doing well in school, though, is her three children. She wants them to be proud of her.