Waiting for the Late Bus, a Friendship Is Forged
July 31, 2018
Katly Toles and Lukiki Akola often had to wait around to take the last bus home after their Clemente Course at the Care Center in Holyoke, MA. The time that could have been drudgery instead nurtured a friendship that has the two women calling each other mother and daughter. Now the Clemente graduates will be supporting one another as they both continue toward a degree at the Bard Microcollege.
Very different journeys brought Katly and Lukiki to Clemente.
Katly was born in the U.S. but spent her younger years in Haiti. After finishing high school in Brooklyn, she took a few secretarial classes, but focused on working and raising her three children. She was at work as a security guard at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, and the losses from that day are still very present for her.
School didn’t seem an option for Katly until her oldest son came home from buying his college textbooks and handed her a book bag, notebooks, and some pencils. “What are you trying to tell me?” she asked him.
“I don’t know, Mom,” he answered, “What do you think?”
“He knew it!” Lukiki chimes in, hearing the story. And he did—a year later Katly was enrolled in Clemente. A week after she completed the program, her son graduated with honors from Springfield Technical Community College.
Lukiki’s journey began in Central Africa. She was born in the Congo, but raised mostly in neighboring Zambia, sometimes in a refugee camp and sometimes at her grandmother’s. She came to the U.S. in 2015. English is her fifth of seven languages, and the idea of taking a class that focused on reading and writing intimidated her.
“I didn’t want to write anything,” she says, “and I didn’t want anyone to read anything I’d written.”
But with the encouragement of a mentor at the Care Center, she took a chance and applied to Clemente. “I was so excited when they accepted me,” she says. “You can have a plan inside you, but without someone to lead you to the destination, you cannot express it.”
Katly was born in the U.S. but spent her younger years in Haiti. After finishing high school in Brooklyn, she took a few secretarial classes, but focused on working and raising her three children. She was at work as a security guard at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, and the losses from that day are still very present for her.
School didn’t seem an option for Katly until her oldest son came home from buying his college textbooks and handed her a book bag, notebooks, and some pencils. “What are you trying to tell me?” she asked him.
“I don’t know, Mom,” he answered, “What do you think?”
“He knew it!” Lukiki chimes in, hearing the story. And he did—a year later Katly was enrolled in Clemente. A week after she completed the program, her son graduated with honors from Springfield Technical Community College.
Lukiki’s journey began in Central Africa. She was born in the Congo, but raised mostly in neighboring Zambia, sometimes in a refugee camp and sometimes at her grandmother’s. She came to the U.S. in 2015. English is her fifth of seven languages, and the idea of taking a class that focused on reading and writing intimidated her.
“I didn’t want to write anything,” she says, “and I didn’t want anyone to read anything I’d written.”
But with the encouragement of a mentor at the Care Center, she took a chance and applied to Clemente. “I was so excited when they accepted me,” she says. “You can have a plan inside you, but without someone to lead you to the destination, you cannot express it.”
The women, whose rapport and affection is apparent to anyone who meets them, admit that their time in Clemente wasn’t easy. Both considered quitting after facing the unfamiliar material and heavy reading. In fact, Katly jokes that she declared “I quit!” nearly every class, all the way up to graduation, when she was chosen class speaker.
The support of the faculty and staff—and each other—enabled them to continue on, not missing any sessions through the year. Waiting together for the bus, they would talk over class and try to work through difficult material together. And they would play with Lukiki’s two-year-old daughter, Emily, who adored Katly from the beginning. When they finished the program, Lukiki was given the Next Step award to continue school, and both were offered the opportunity to keep working toward a degree.
The Care Center, which focuses on bringing education and arts to young mothers, is entering its 20th year of offering a Clemente Course, making it the longest continuously running program in the country. In 2016 it became site of the first Bard Microcollege, a new model for bringing education to the community by offering college classes with a local partnering organization.
For students like Katly and Lukiki, it means they continue toward an associate’s degree with the kind of support they received as Clemente students. This summer they’ve been taking a seminar on the Odyssey titled “The Raveling” and both have fallen in love with the book.
They agree that their time in Clemente prepared them for their next steps.
“I’ve grown as a person with the Clemente program,” says Katly, who appreciated the diversity of the classroom in Holyoke. “Sitting down and being able to have a conversation with people of different nationalities and points of view broadened my perspective and mindset.”
And Lukiki, who feared putting pen to paper, says, “I love writing now! I used to feel the teachers were putting pressure on me, but now I know they were building me up. I have progressed from one step to the other.”
Katly and Lukiki plan to support each other toward their degrees, taking comfort in having a familiar face in the classroom—and on the bus.
“Helping her a lot of times means helping me, because it takes my attention off my fears. It keeps me going too,” Katly says. “She’s a beautiful person and I love her. And I love her daughter. She’s my granddaughter.”
The Care Center, which focuses on bringing education and arts to young mothers, is entering its 20th year of offering a Clemente Course, making it the longest continuously running program in the country. In 2016 it became site of the first Bard Microcollege, a new model for bringing education to the community by offering college classes with a local partnering organization.
For students like Katly and Lukiki, it means they continue toward an associate’s degree with the kind of support they received as Clemente students. This summer they’ve been taking a seminar on the Odyssey titled “The Raveling” and both have fallen in love with the book.
They agree that their time in Clemente prepared them for their next steps.
“I’ve grown as a person with the Clemente program,” says Katly, who appreciated the diversity of the classroom in Holyoke. “Sitting down and being able to have a conversation with people of different nationalities and points of view broadened my perspective and mindset.”
And Lukiki, who feared putting pen to paper, says, “I love writing now! I used to feel the teachers were putting pressure on me, but now I know they were building me up. I have progressed from one step to the other.”
Katly and Lukiki plan to support each other toward their degrees, taking comfort in having a familiar face in the classroom—and on the bus.
“Helping her a lot of times means helping me, because it takes my attention off my fears. It keeps me going too,” Katly says. “She’s a beautiful person and I love her. And I love her daughter. She’s my granddaughter.”
You will live as long as your life has meaning. I embarked on this educational journey to satisfy my life’s desire to learn. This opportunity crossed my path at the right moment and is supplying me with the chance to evaluate my ability to perform on the college level with like-minded people within the veteran’s community, where a person can always find support. All of the instructors and staff are helpful! Thank you for this possibility. – George, Coast Guard, Ocean City, NJ The New Jersey Clemente Course Veterans Initiative (CCVI) launched its second cohort on September 25, 2025, welcoming twenty-four veterans from every branch of service. The cohort includes eight women; and while most come from communities across New Jersey, the course has also drawn participants from New York. Part of the wider Clemente Veterans Initiative and operating in partnership with the New Jersey Council for the Humanities and Atlantic Cape Community College , the CCVI brings transformative humanities education to those who have served.
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25 years ago, The Clemente Course partnered with Illinois Humanities to offer free college-level humanities courses to low-income adults in Chicago through The Odyssey Project and Proyecto Odisea . Clemente Executive Director, Dr. Aaron Rosen, recently joined Dulce Maria Diaz (Odyssey Project alumna and founder of the SHE Gallery ) and Dr. Rebecca Amato (Director of Teaching and Learning, Illinois Humanities) on the Federation of State Humanities podcast Humanities= . In this episode, hear how this transformative program changes lives!
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