The Power of a Teacher: One guitar, an HSE diploma and a life forever changed

by Michael H. Miller

BOONEVILLE, Miss. -- (05/29/2025) — A diploma may be made of paper, but for many adult learners, earning an High School Equivalency (HSE) diploma is a moment carved in stone -- a defining milestone in their life.

It represents not only academic achievement but triumph over hardship, courage in the face of self-doubt, and a rekindled belief in the future.

For some, that moment is only possible because of one extraordinary person: a teacher who chooses to see potential where others may have seen defeat.

Charlie Smart, College and Career Navigator in the Adult Education Department at Northeast Mississippi Community College, knows this truth intimately.

Smart has spent years helping adults return to the classroom after life, circumstance, or misfortune took them away from it.

But even he admits that some stories leave a mark deeper than others.

"One of my students gave me this guitar. Actually, that's not quite right. He left it to me," Smart begins.

About 15 years ago, a student -- Smart calls him "Hal" -- walked into his classroom, physically and emotionally worn, years removed from the structure of school and disabled from a job-site accident.

Hal had little more than his determination. He drove an old car. In winter, he would pull from the classroom's recycling bin to gather newspaper for his wood stove.

Hal leaned on a cane to walk to class, but on the night of his HSE graduation, he crossed the stage unassisted, head high, proud, and cheered on by classmates many years his junior.

"He was a shining example of determination," Smart remembers.

After graduation, Hal would visit Smart now and then. He mentioned a lifelong dream: learning to play guitar.

Smart told him if he ever found one he could afford, he would teach him a few chords.

And then one day, the visits stopped, and the thoughts of guitar chords disappeared.

Months later, Smart received a phone call.

An older man introduced himself as Hal's father. He and his wife arrived at Smart's office that same day.

In the father's hand was a well-worn guitar case.

On it, a simple Post-it note, in Hal's handwriting: "For Charlie Smart, my GED teacher."

Hal had passed away.

Hal had found the guitar he could afford at a pawn shop not long before his death and it was one of the few things he owned.

But it was enough to tell a story.

A story of respect.

A story of gratitude.

A story of the way a teacher's presence can give someone more than knowledge -- it can give them dignity, hope, and a chance to dream again.

At Northeast, stories like Hal's are more than rare gems; they are daily reminders of what adult education means.

Earning a HSE is more than finishing what was once started -- it is starting something altogether new.

For adult learners, returning to the classroom often means returning to oneself. It means embracing education not as a second chance, but as a powerful, first true step forward.

And for teachers like Smart, it is a calling.

"Our students come to us with complex stories -- of loss, of perseverance, of hope," Smart says. "But what they may not realize is that their courage changes us too. We're all transformed by what happens in that classroom."

Teachers in adult education become more than instructors. They become mentors, confidants, encouragers, and sometimes the only person in a student's life who tells them, "You can do this."

And when those students succeed, they do not just rewrite their own future -- they change the lives of their children, their families, their communities, and yes, their teachers.

Smart still has the guitar.

It rests in his office, a quiet symbol of how one life can echo in another, even long after graduation day.

At Northeast Mississippi Community College, education is not just about credentials.

It is about connection, compassion, and courage.

And sometimes, it is about a guitar and a teacher who believed.

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