Zachary Perkins graduated this June from Medomak Valley High’s Adult Education Progam with his GED at 30 years old. And for the first time in his life, Zach feels he can plan for a future – not just for himself but for his 9-year-old son Banther, too. Because of his high grades, he also qualifies for two years, free of charge at community college, an opportunity he wants to seize. He’d like to study engineering, something he’ll be able to use on his way to earning his license as an electrician. This is a goal he would never have considered ten months ago. High school diploma or not, Zach has never shirked hard work. In high school he worked as a bagger at the IGA, and nights at Little Caesar’s in Augusta. Later, at a slew of labor jobs from building foundations and to cleaning foreclosed homes; and another slew of restaurant work including MacDonald’s, Subway, Applebees and the Camden Sea Dog. In Waldoboro, where he’s lived for the past four or so years, he worked at North American Kelp. Zach grew up in Farmingdale. His father, who had moved from school to school as a kid as well as dropping out, promised himself that his son would stay in the same school system for all twelve grades. And Zach did, but like his father, he also dropped out of high school. Ten years later, his dad is deeply proud of Zach’s accomplishment -- and most of all, of the man his son is turning into.
Impatience is the poison of success. I had moved out of home, was already working two jobs and eager to get the best start in life I could. So, I found a neighboring high school that would accept my ton of extra credits and graduate me early. I transferred, and suddenly they wanted me to complete one full year of English just to show I could finish the course.
I told them, “Sorry, guys. I don’t need a piece of paper from you to prove that I’m smart.” And I left. I went out and got myself a very solid paying job doing cleaning. If I had a time machine, I would have finished high school where I’d started.
At my old high school, I was always in trouble because I refused to do homework. I didn’t know it then, but I have been diagnosed with ADHD. And we chase dopamine. So, if something didn’t bring me joy, I did not see it as necessary. Getting good grades on tests and passing my school year every year — that made me happy. Having to do something that I deemed unnecessary, like homework, didn’t make me happy. I never saw the point because I was doing really well on quizzes and tests. But they kept saying, “You’d have straight A’s if you just did your homework because you have amazing test scores. But homework counts for 30 percent of your grade.” If I had been more patient, I would have graduated.,
You can sit there and think you’re smart enough to know how things are going to work out. I used to think that. But you can’t tell the future. I got into a very serious car accident this past year. I was rushing back home to fetch the meds I’d forgotten for Banther, and I hit a patch of sand on a curve. The car rolled over twice. I was conscious the whole time.
I ended up with four fractures between my hips and pelvis and a diagonal fracture on my L-5 vertebra on my spine. With all that time in the hospital, I had nothing to do but think. I began to look at how much I was working and how little time I was spending with Banther. I broke it down by the numbers. Even though I had him five days a week, between working, picking him up from school, taking him to daycare, heading back to work for another couple of hours before getting Banther home, fed and in bed, I had only 10, 12 hours with him a week if I was lucky. I was spread so thin providing for the two of us that I couldn’t even say I had any quality time with him.
That realization broke me. In my mind, I was putting Banther first. But in reality, work and chores always took priority over him. I wasn’t building a future for him. Nor a relationship with him. I needed a better job, and a job that wouldn’t strain my body now, and I needed less hours or more flexible ones.
But I was only qualified for bottom-end jobs. I lacked the education for anything else. So, I swallowed my pride and enrolled in Medomak Valley Adult Ed for my GED.
Because I couldn’t find childcare for the two hours of classes, in desperation I asked the school if I could bring Banther. They said they’d try it out. I was very anxious.
By the end of class, both adult-ed teachers were absolutely smitten with him. They were taken aback by his unconditional kindness and his self-awareness of being mindful of others. They told me he was treat, and that I didn’t have to worry about childcare. They were happy to have him there. All my nerves just fell away. So, Banther went to all my adult-ed classes.
But it was humbling. I was in there with kids who were super-seniors, and one with a little post-high school. I was by far the oldest person in that adult education class, and especially in the graduating class.
At graduation they asked me if I had advice, and my answer was “Whatever reason you can come up with for not getting your GED, you’re just fighting yourself. You’re just setting yourself up for failure. It is something absolutely necessary in today’s modern world in order to advance. For everybody.”
I’m leaving Waldoboro for Freeport soon to meld our little family into a bigger one. In the meanwhile, I have been making more one-on-one time with Banther. We sit down and talk about his day. It’s something he looks forward too. And he isn’t fearful about asking me questions either. He’s turning ten next year and has started noticing the changes in his body. And that tells me that my time with him as a child will be ending. All I want is for him is not to struggle as hard as I did. And to be happy.
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