José Bernardo Testimonial

José Bernardo beams with pride when he shares his experiences at The Oaxaca Learning Center (TOLC). In his freshman year of high school, he had trouble with math and chemistry. For six months the school had no teacher for math or chemistry. The students had textbooks and struggled to learn on their own.

After one semester working with tutors at TOLC, Jose’s grades improved, and he gained confidence. Four years later, he is a proud graduate, preparing to attend university at El Instituto Politecnico Nacional in Mexico City, where he will study robotics.

José says that without TOLC, “Things would’ve been horrible!” He believes he would have finished high school, but he doubts he could have passed the college entrance exam without TOLC tutoring help in math and science. José is a TOLC promoter who encouraged a “smart, but unprepared” friend, who could not afford private exam preparation courses, to get help at TOLC.

TOLC provides more than tutoring in academic classes. Jose participated in six workshops: three required psychology classes and three electives: human rights, sexuality, and ethics. Before the pandemic, Jose enjoyed the monthly TOLC social activities, such as visiting museums, playing games in the park Las Canteras, and attending fundraising concerts held at Casa de Barro. During the pandemic José enjoyed “attending” lectures from other states, like Chiapas, as well as different countries, such as Ecuador.

José is looking forward to his time in México City, where he will live with his two older brothers and his grandmother. He is a bit worried about getting lost in the big city, but he is very glad he found TOLC in Oaxaca.