[music playing]

[inspirational music playing]

BENITO '"JUNIOR" RAMOS: Our mother, she was a strong lady and she worked hard, very hard. She was a single mother, you know. She like, worked during the day. And then sometimes at night she would like work in a nightclub hanging coats. That was weekends only. But other than that, she did what she could with us. It was hard for him because of the way he is, but he would go everywhere with my mother, our mother. And 90% of the time, he was with her, she even took him to bingo with her.

[ruben mumbling]

Yeah, they were there together all the time until she started getting sick. And then I came in. As soon as he finished high school, he started going to adult school.

John Kerr: I think Ruben's been an asset to the entire school because, sometimes we look at our students, and it's a little frustrating. We don't know where they can really go. And we work with them for years, and just to get a little bit of movement. But then to see what Ruben's accomplished due to his commitment and the commitment of his instructors, I think it's something that really inspires a program, and let's us see a direction for adult ed.

Debbie Jensen: He loved participating with the other students. And so if he was working on the computer, he would still be participating in the discussions. And that would kind of surprise the students because, he would laugh or he would make a comment-- and they, of course, weren't always able to understand his comments-- they were surprised. I remember one time a student leaning over to me and she said, "He's smarter than I am, isn't he?" because he was bright and able to participate.

Lawrence Wadahara: His contributions are amazing. If you look at the way the students in that AP Classroom changed their attitudes about handicapped people, I think that's the amazing thing, you know. He's not somebody who's handicapped, he's a regular person, and they converse with him.

Debbie Jensen: He would say to me, "Well, is there anything I could do to help you?" and I could think of a million projects. And he did. And so I still use some of the materials that he created those years ago.

Lawrence Wadahara: You know, he won the essay contest, the adult ed essay contest two times. In fact, they had to change the rules and say that you couldn't win two times in a row because of him.

Debbie Jensen: Ruben was always an example of a bigger world and of donating your time and helping out, and he would help them. And so, he was always an asset to the class. It kind of gave them a perspective of their own lives, that the obstacles they thought they were facing really weren't much at all. So in fact, he's been an inspiration to all students. He's done a lot to help.

BENITO '"JUNIOR" RAMOS: Well, took him years to get here, but he did it. And when he went through the ceremonies, you know, my mother went, and everybody went and we had a good time, you know.

Lawrence Wadahara: Never give up. Yeah, that's what he says. Never give up.

[music playing]