The below article was printed in the Gainesville Sun newspaper:

http://www.gainesville.com/article/20120824/ARTICLES/120829735?template=printpicart

Quenesa Sams said she realized she should have taken school more seriously about two months before graduating from high school.

 “It was too late at that point,” she said. “I didn’t do well in school.”

 On Friday, the 19-year-old from Eustis graduated from the Gainesville Job Corps as class valedictorian with four certifications in health care fields and plans to attend advanced training in October at a Job Corps center in New York or Pennsylvania to become a licensed practical nurse.

 “I really took advantage of my second chance,” she said after Friday’s graduation ceremony at the Paramount Plaza hotel. “I wanted to make everything right that I did wrong in high school.”

 Friday was National Job Corps Commencement Day, with 124 centers holding ceremonies on the anniversary of President Lyndon Johnson signing the Economic Opportunity Act that created the Job Corps in 1964.

 Mark Shriver said at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., that the Job Corps is the most effective career preparation program for at-risk youths who have few options. Shriver is the son of Job Corps founder Sargent Shriver.

 The program is funded by the U.S. Department of Labor.

 The Gainesville center graduated about 100 students Friday, with 40 in attendance. Many of the others are already in jobs, the military, college or advanced training, said center Director Samuel Kolapo.

 Gainesville Police Chief Tony Jones gave the commencement speech with the same message he gives to prospective police officers.

 “Generally when I speak to police recruits one of the first things that I impress upon them is whatever you do in life, have character,” he told graduates.

 In her valedictorian speech, Sams said students were skeptical when they arrived at the center after being pulled from their comfort zones.

 “Over time, we progressed as individuals to form a unified community,” she said. “I hope all of our hard work thus far will help us to become ambassadors of change in our communities and the world that we live in.”