“Read and find someone to help you read,” Cooper said. “Come to Moultrie Tech, and they will help you. Now I’m reading like a happy camper.”

Cooper took all parts of the GED exam in August and recently learned that he passed each section, including the writing portion. He plans to apply for acceptance in Moultrie Tech’s practical nursing program for the Collegeís fall quarter beginning in October.

“The greatest thing about it is that as a pastor and a stepfather, I can tell others that they can go back and do the same thing I did to better myself,” Cooper, who has helped raise his three stepchildren, ages 21, 18 and 18, said of his recent success.