A study explored how 10 Tennessee adult literacy students define the meaning and outcomes of their participation in adult education programs in the context of their lives. The primary source of data was the extended recorded conversations about participants' lives before and after enrollment in adult literacy programs. Interviews, usually conducted in participants' homes, covered their adult education experiences, family and work lives, childhoods and earlier schooling, and the changes in their lives that they attributed to adult education participation. Findings indicated all participants had been employed; only one was currently dependent on public assistance; and all nine who had children reported being involved in their children's education. Nine participants reported acquiring new literacy skills; for eight, these new skills in reading, writing, and computation led to changes in the ways they use literacy in their lives. Changes were in the practical everyday activities; increased access to and understanding of expository text; and more extensive reading. Participants described positive changes in their sense of self, a strong sense of accomplishment, and a new and stronger voice or new opportunities to express themselves. (Appendixes include interview protocols, and participant profiles.) (Contains 68 references.) (YLB)