Nora's Story
“I really like school now”: Nora Gilleo unlocks her love of learning with support from a PGP tutor
Nora Gilleo loves school, but that hasn’t always been true. An undiagnosed learning disability meant that for most of her life, Nora believed teachers and others who said she wasn’t smart. Although the learning disability was eventually diagnosed when Nora was in high school, the damage had been done. After high school, Nora enrolled in college in her home state of Rhode Island, but she struggled academically and soon dropped out. Two decades later, Nora is picking up the threads of her educational journey. This time, her experience is completely different: Nora is working with Ying Huang, a Petey Greene Program tutor who supports her every step of the way. “Ying is amazing,” Nora says; “Having the support of a tutor has given me the confidence to go in and take the class, take the test; it’s much different than taking a class without a tutor; I’ve done that—and it’s hard.”
Nora connected with the PGP through our partnership with Rhode Island-based Reentry Campus Program, which provides incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people with an affordable pathway to accredited post-secondary education and certification programs that are infused within the reentry process. The PGP provides volunteer tutors from Brown University, who support students enrolled in degree programs at Roger Williams University.
“Being 40 and going back to school is scary. Working with the tutor gave me so much confidence.”
After completing her associate’s degree in 2023, Nora plans to pursue a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a doctorate in occupational therapy. She’s mapped out her journey, which she expects she’ll complete in 2028. Looking forward to six more years of postsecondary education isn’t something Nora could have imagined during her decades’ long struggle with active addiction. “My confidence was zero; I’m not smart--that’s how I felt for a long time.”
“Having the support of a tutor has given me the confidence to go in and take the class, take the test; it’s much different than taking a class without a tutor; I’ve done that—and it’s hard.”
But as part of her recovery process, Nora found the strength to say “I’m not dumb. I have a disability and this is how we’re going to work with it.” Knowing that Ying is there gives Nora the confidence she needs to tackle challenging coursework. “Having Ying in the background gives me confidence; Knowing that I can talk to Ying on Monday and that she’ll help me understand the material is a big support.”
The moral support Ying provides is at least as important as the academic support. “Being 40 and going back to school is scary,” Nora confides. “Working with the tutor gave me so much confidence…She’s really good at coaching; she’s my cheerleader, and that was even more helpful than her explaining the material.”
Decades of active addiction have taken their toll on Nora’s relationships with her family, but she’s working on repairing those relationships, and she says, “my children are my biggest supporters.” Her success in school is inspiring her children: one son has just enrolled in a GED program; another wants to go back to college, and the youngest, 13, helps her study. “I feel like I’m finally doing my job as a mother; being able to inspire my children like this has been phenomenal; it’s a different way of being a mom” Nora says.
“I didn’t expect to have such support when I started taking college classes, but the support I’ve gotten from the PGP is out of this world. I’ve never been excited about school before, but I actually really like it now.”
Nora and Ying have been working together since February. They meet weekly on Zoom to accommodate Nora’s busy schedule. “Meeting on Zoom isn’t the same as meeting in person,” Nora explains, “but it’s what you make of it. Ying is a really great person, and I look forward to our Monday meetings.” Nora will continue working with Ying through the summer, when she’s taking developmental psychology, and she hopes to be paired with a second tutor when she tackles Spanish next semester. Knowing that the PGP’s tutoring support is available makes all the difference as she contemplates the educational journey she has laid out for herself: “I didn't expect to have such support when I started taking college classes, but the support I’ve gotten from the PGP is out of this world. I’ve never been excited about school before, but I actually really like it now.”