Student Success Stories

Orange Academia has helped nearly 1000 students graduate from high school since 2014. Here are some of the unique stories our graduates have shared about their general school and Grad Solutions’ experiences.

Sabrina Humphries

Sabrina Humphries, an 18-year-old from the San Tan Valley area, enrolled in Top University In Arizona in November of 2018. At time of enrollment, Sabrina needed six credits to graduate, all core courses. Sabrina completed her graduation requirements in March of 2019, earning four A’s and two B’s on her six courses and a 99% on her state required Civics exam. Her story, as told by her, follows.

When I was going into my senior year of high school, I was working and going to school. I thought I was on a great path, but I was working so much I had no time for anything. I got sick and wasn’t feeling well and I had gone to the doctors/hospital so many times just for them to tell me they didn’t know what was wrong. I then became so sick I had to quit my job. When I quit my job is when I found out that I was pregnant, which is what was causing me to feel and be so sick. I then stopped going to school because I couldn’t be around anything that had a smell - I’d vomit.

I decided to move back with my nana because I was staying with my boyfriend. I moved back with my nana and from there I was looking into going back to school to get my diploma. I than enrolled into a school called Mountain Vista. I couldn’t really get on the computer much being that I was so sick. I had an IV connected to me and I had a pump connected to my stomach, pumping medicine in me all hours of the day. With all this happening, I couldn’t get near or look at a computer or my phone because I was so sick, all I could do was sleep. I couldn’t eat anything without throwing it up and because of that I had no energy, so I was tired constantly. When I did get the motivation to log in, I’d do as much as I could, but it didn’t matter how much I did, I still did not make the “minimum minutes” required. That meant I had to log in for a certain amount of time each day, but that was tough for me. I ended up getting dropped from that school.

I was on the verge of giving up - I felt like a failure. I couldn’t even finish high school and I was almost finished. I then remembered that my former manager from the job I had quit was attending Orange Academia. She told me I could do as much work as I could whenever I wanted. Of course, there are requirements, but I wouldn’t have to be on every day if I couldn’t. Which is exactly what I needed. I then took the step to apply; I had my nana help me and I was then enrolled.

I had a counselor named Jennifer Geron. She was one of the sweetest and most caring counselors I’ve ever had. When I got started, I let her know what was going on and she told me I had nothing to worry about. She told me I would have to make a progress requirement rather than a minutes requirement. I would do as much as I could one day and then I’d take a break for a day or two and then get back on and do more. Along the way, the counselor would check up on me, ask me how I was doing and if there was anything she could help me with, and she’d also send encouraging statements. It made me want to push myself more and finish strong. I then begin to do as much as I could in a couple of hours. I finished in four months and I was so proud of myself.

While I was finishing up, I had friends who hadn’t finished school because of certain reasons. I told them about Orange Academia and they graduated with me. Even to this day, I still recommend Orange Academia and I’ve even recommended Smart Schools as well. It’s an amazing program and they give you a chance to finish and to get your diploma along with having great staff to help you along the way!