Learner Spotlight: Bunkong
We invite you to meet Bunkong, our featured student this month in our “Learner Spotlight”. Featured adult learners represent the Literacy Council’s programs, including authors from Reflections: Voices of English Learners, the Literacy Council’s literary magazine, as well as adult learners in other programs. Bunkong contributed her story to the eighth edition.
My name is Bunkong, and I am originally from Thailand. When I first arrived in the United States, I could hardly speak English and felt very nervous about talking to people around me. One day, a friend took me to the Literacy Council in downtown Frederick, where I began attending English classes. Learning a new language was not easy, especially for me. I took many classes and worked hard to improve. Over time, I began to understand and slowly I gained confidence. Today, I can speak, read, and write in English. It is not perfect yet, but I am very happy with how far I have come. Now I can talk with my neighbors, make appointments with doctors, and do many things I could not do before. I am proud of my progress, and I want to continue learning and improving my English skills. Lastly, I want to thank all my teachers at the Literacy Council. I am deeply grateful for their support, patience, and encouragement. They helped me find my voice, and I will always appreciate everything they have done for me.
We hope you enjoy Bunkong’s written works, “My Heaven” and “Education’s Power”. View all of our students’ stories on our Reflections: Voices of English Learners web page. Below is one of Bunkong’s articles.
“Education’s Power”
I grew up in a small village in Thailand called Nam Yuen, where farming was the way of life.
My family and the community planted corn, beans, and other crops twice a year, depending on the rain to keep them growing. Some years there just wasn’t enough rain, and when that happened, the crops struggled, and people had a tough time making a living.
Education was limited. Back then, Nam Yuen had only one primary school, so higher education wasn’t really an option for most people, including my family and me.
Meanwhile, my auntie’s family lived in a big city, where schools and universities were everywhere. Her children had the chance to get a good education—one became a teacher, the other a businessman—and both ended up doing well in life.
In the end, education makes a huge difference. It helps people build a stable future, opens doors to better opportunities, and brings more security and success.
Read Bunkong’s other work, “My Heaven”, and more student stories from our 8th edition of Reflections.