Anita Mbiye struggled with learning English when she first came to the United States in 2009 from the Democratic Republic of Congo. When she enrolled at Georgia State University’s Perimeter College in an English as a Second Language (ESL) course in 2010, her challenges continued. She was discouraged and contemplated dropping out.
But the words of a Perimeter College instructor changed her mind and inspired her to persevere.
Mbiye was enrolled in Beth Wallace’s ESL class. Wallace noticed that Mbiye turned her homework in, but barely spoke a word in class.
“She asked me one day (outside of the classroom), ‘Why are you so quiet?,’ ” Mbiye said. “I told her I didn’t feel my English was any good, that I really felt behind everyone else. And I was so much older than the others. I think I was 30 years old at the time.”
Wallace stunned Mbiye when she said she had completed her degree at the same age. Wallace earned her bachelor’s degree from Georgia State in 1994. She earned her master’s degree from Georgia State in 2003.
“She said, ‘Never think you are too old to come to college. Coming to college is a big decision,’” Mbiye said.
Those were simple but powerful words, Mbiye said. And they made a difference in her attitude.
Mbiye is now a case manager with the Gwinnett Department of Family and Children Services. She holds not only her associate degree from Perimeter College, but her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Georgia State’s Andrew Young School of Policy Studies School of Social Work. She is fluent in English and her native French.
After that fateful talk with Wallace, Mbiye learned to speak and write in English and, as a student assistant at the college, began helping other ESL students navigate the language. She credits the ESL department for encouraging her to pursue her master’s degree.
One of her best memories is of working with other ESL students at Project SHINE, a program at the Clarkston Community Center that helps elderly immigrants learn English. Wallace led Project Shine from 2007 to 2011.
“You know, when (Wallace) went home that day, she might never have thought she said something that changed my whole view,” Mbiye said. “I learned the most important thing—sometimes we can just say a thing, and it can make a positive change in someone’s life. Thanks to her words, my whole life is changed. I now know I can make an impact on someone’s life.”
She already has.
Mbiye’s husband, Alin Iwanbwa, was inspired by his wife’s academic success and graduated with his associate degree in May 2016.