ODESSA, Texas — Just because it’s a non-traditional route, doesn’t make it the wrong route.
"I've been waiting for this day my whole life," 19-year-old graduate Kaydince Asad said.
This walk across the stage isn’t the typical strut into greatness.
But it’s the journey these students embarked on to get to where they needed to be.
All thanks to Accelerations Academies of Ector County, which now leaves 18 graduates walking towards their future.
"This program is to help students who are behind on credits, have kids or who just want to get their diploma," Asad said.
The academy has been helping students in Ector County get another chance at success for the past three years.
"Our contract [with ECISD] actually is a partnership where we help students that could possibly be potential dropout, when we help them recover some of their dropouts," Academy Director Natosha Scott said.
Because the program has seen many students involved, it’s planting a seed for them to thrive.
Think of it this way, this program is providing the same resources that traditional students already have.
Except, life happens. That’s when this program comes in.
"They're doing the same thing that traditional school students are doing," Scott said. "It's just that we have a flexible program for students. We'll have a young graduate today who just became a father in December, and he was wrestling trying to get done so that he could get a job and you know, be responsible."
All of these graduates are in this program for different reasons.
Some were behind with schoolwork, some had kids while they were in school, some just had to work to make ends meet.
Whatever that reason may be, all those roads led them here.
Right on this stage, with a cap and gown, just like any other graduate.
They made it on stage due to a flexible and personalized learning style with more focus from their teachers.
For them, that’s the recipe for success.
"They [the teachers] interact with the kids but the report, the relationship that we build with them is different," Scott said. "And I think you'll hear that from them. We stay on them. We call them, we ride them we do home visits."
"Like when the days I had work and stuff," 19-year-old graduate Evyn Castillo said. "She'd always make sure that I was always on top of my work."
"I can’t be around big groups," 19-year-old graduate and this year's keynote speaker Nayeli Serna said. "They gave me the option to do [it from] home and come here on campus and spend time with my grandmother and all that."
And sometimes all it takes is a different approach to really show greatness.
"A lot of times we have students here who have not felt smart, who no one's ever told them that they were smart," Scott said. "Or one kid told me 'No one's told me [I'm smart] since elementary school miss', and I said 'but you are! Look at what you're doing and how quickly you're doing it and how well you're doing it. Look at your grades."
"It feels like I got like another chance," Castillo said.
"I'm proud of myself for actually doing it and not giving up," 19-year-old graduate Hector Montoya said. "Most people would be like, 'Oh, I have a job. So let me just drop out there's no point in graduating."
"I'm not gonna lie, I failed," Asad said. "And then I just had to keep motivating myself to keep going. If I would have just quit right then and there whenever I failed, I wouldn't have made it this far. So, let's keep going."
These seniors-turned grads now plan on doing all sorts of things with their new diplomas, including trying to become, well, whatever they want.
Whether that be a truck driver, a nail tech, a welder, or even a cardiovascular technician.
Each grad has a story to tell.
And by flipping their tassels, they’ll soon flip the page to their new beginnings.
Where they can always rise to the top.
"This is one of the proudest days of my life and I'll never forget it," Asad said.
To learn more about Acceleration Academies of Odessa, click here.