Graduates Embrace Learning at Own 'Beat' [VIDEO]

Evening high schools and alternative class structures are designed to give students more access to education and the tools they need to succeed, and 45 local students proved Tuesday just how valuable that access can be.

Story after heartwarming story about students finding their path in life through night school was shared Tuesday night during the 2012 commencement ceremony, including that of a star tennis player who excelled in many areas but couldn't find his rhythm in class because of the early-morning start times.

Azlan "AJ" Ahmad, 18, a budding professional rap artist from Hampton, freestyled about his struggles and eventual triumph in a performance during the graduation, crediting the school's night program while declaring "We made it."

"I just felt day school was too much of a hassle in the morning," Ahmad, a tennis star who was ranked second overall in the state before having to skip the championships due to work, said after the graduation. "Now here I am. It's a great feeling... I'm just happy I graduated. It was a great experience."

Video of Ahmad's performance is attached to this story.

WHS Principal Bill McGowan, Superintendent Bob Sullivan and Evening High School Director Janis Petrou had many motivational words for the 45 graduates and general equivelancy diploma recipients, who crossed the graduation stage in front of hundreds of friends and family members Tuesday.

Petrou, who made personal remarks about every student and evening school staff member Tuesday, compared the stories of Ahmad and others to that of rapper-turned-movie star Will Smith to inspire the students.

Petrou said she recently saw an interview with Smith — whom she "love[s]" — in which Smith said he's had a "pretty great life" for "a guy who never went to college." Petrou said every single one of this year's graduates have the determination to get a similar joy out of their lives regardless of the path they choose, and she urged the teens to remember that while they went "their own way" to succeed, they still succeeded.

"What people don't realize is, as educators we go with the beat of how our students learn," said Petrou. "Always remember and always be grounded in the happiness that comes from what you love to do. You have the skill, you have the know-how.

"You made it here, you made it through, you made it count. Most of all you, my friends, you are a person with character... and you have to prove to yourselves and to others you have the determination to succeed."

Brie-Anna Gott, 18, of North Hampton, said she at first didn't have that determination, as she said she was disinterested early in her high school career. She later discovered the joy of helping people through aiding her older sister in Myla's , which also helped show Brie-Anna Gott that she'd like to become a licensed nursing assistant.

She also said the environment in the adult education program helped provide a foundation for that LNA career — a career which she said she enthusiastically looks forward to starting.

"Myla has been the most important inspiration in my life the last three years, and she'll continue to be my inspiration," said Gott, who said she'll celebrate her graduation with a trip to Georgia later this week.

Kirsten Lee Varney told her classmates during the commencement ceremony that "life does not stop here," and urged her friends to "take a breath" before following their inspirations into the next verses of their lives.

"Anchors will always be there befalling us and trying to bring us down," said Varney, who will go on to college in North Carolina for journalism. "You don't know what you're capable of unless you try."