Woman to share family’s diploma success stories

Pam Graves knew that if she wanted to make a better life for her daughter it meant getting her GED.

Graves, 33, dropped out of Fluvanna High School in the 11th grade, when she moved out of her mother’s house and had to pay her own way. After the birth of her oldest daughter and working several low-paying jobs, Graves applied for a job at a local bank.

The only problem was she didn’t have a high school diploma.

“I know it was wrong, but I lied on the application,” Graves said. “I knew that if I said I didn’t have a high school diploma I wouldn’t have been looked at twice for the job.”

Graves, then 20, worked at the bank nine months and was up for a promotion when they discovered she lied on her application.

“[The bank manager] told me to lock my drawer and come into her office,” Graves said. “Even though I was up for a promotion and we were going out to celebrate it, [she] had to fire me because I lied.”

In that defining moment, Graves said, she decided to finish night classes and get her high school diploma. But after talking with her night school teacher, she decided the best option was to work on her GED.

In 1996, Graves received her GED after taking the test one time. Tonight, she will share her story at the regional GED graduation ceremony at Charlottesville High School.

Among the 250 graduates will be her two youngest brothers, Hunter and Jon Walker, ages 19 and 17.

Jon said he dropped out of high school after he school officials told him a shortage of credits would keep him in school until 2011.

“I was put into the position where I had to do it,” Jon said. “I would have liked to finish high school, but this was the best way for me.” He is now considering attending classes at the Charlottesville-Albemarle Technical Education Center or Piedmont Virginia Community College.

Graves said she hoped her brothers would take the traditional route to a high school education, but supported them when she realized it was in their best interests to get a GED.

Carol Coffey, GED examiner, said there is a mixture of young and older students receiving their GED diplomas. The program has grown from 12 tests a year to 50 in order to serve more students.

But Coffey said there are still many local residents who don’t have their high school credentials.

“We have lots of need in our backyard and it might be your neighbor and you don’t know it,” Coffey said. The regional GED program serves residents in Charlottesville and the counties of Albemarle, Greene, Louisa, Fluvanna and Nelson.

Now a wife and mother with five children, Graves works full-time as an office manager and has a part-time job to bring in extra money. But she hasn’t given up the dream of one day getting her college degree.

“I’m always up for a challenge and I’m not one for taking no for an answer,” Graves said.

She plans to talk to the audience tonight about being all they can be despite the challenges they face.

“You don’t let anyone hold you back from your dreams,” Graves said. “Find whatever it is in your soul and make it happen.”

The regional GED graduation ceremony of 250 GED students will be held at 7 tonight at the Martin Luther King Performing Arts Center at Charlottesville High School.