When Steven came to Reading Connections, he had been hiding his inability to read for almost 30 years.  He got along by having relatives help him fill out job applications and spent three decades in unfulfilling factory jobs, relying on his own ingenuity to get along without reading.  His outwardly positive attitude hid a darker reality: his low self-esteem, his substance abuse, and his contant fear of making a mistake that would reveal his secret.

Since he started at Reading Connections, Steven is now reading at an eighth-grade level, and he sees the difference in  his life: "I'm reading and I'm happy.  It's given my life so much more meaning.  I feel more useful.  My daughter used to bring her homework home and most words I couldn't read.  Now I can read to her and help her with her homework.  It makes me feel more like a father." 

Steven is now on the Student Council and speaks at various events about how learning to read has changed his life.  He studies regularly in the Reading Connections computer lab and brings joy to the staff and other students every time he is in the office.