They were all high school drop puts but, Saturday 85 cadets from Hoosier Youth Challenge Academy are graduates.
Class number ten graduate, Stephanie Rizo tells Eyewitness News, "I never thought I would graduate. It's, but then I got a second chance here. I've never seen myself in a cap and gown."
Rizo was awarded a scholarship to Ivy Tech. Rizo is just one of the cadets that surprised herself and made it through the Hoosier Youth Challenge Academy.
But, "most improved" high school drop out Dionta Gardner may have come the farthest. Dionta says before he was enrolled, he was a "on a negative path and always on the streets."
The Evansville teen's mentor, Verdelski Miller says there were times during the six-month program that he thought Gardner would give up: "The first two weeks were very challenging he called and said he wanted to come home. And, we said we weren't going to come."
Secretary of State Connie Lawson spoke at the graduation ceremony. She says that the State has followed the graduates, and they have become successful: "One third work in the private sector, one third in the military and one third go to college."
While 85 cadets walked across the stage Saturday to receive their diploma, the Secretary says nearly 50 others students began the program. But, these students were determined to change their lives.
This is the tenth class to graduate from the Hoosier Youth Challenge Academy. This year's class represented more than 40 counties across Indiana.
