By Lindsay Tice,Staff Writer

LEWISTON – Kayla Keith went to more than a dozen schools, three of them her freshman year. She left high school, returned, left again to care for her mother, who had a drinking problem.

Her father died when she was 11, her mother when she was 16.

Kayla desperately wanted a high school diploma, she said, but, “School just wasn’t something that could take part of my life.”

On Tuesday, the 17-year-old proved triumphant. After years of tragedy and hardship, she stood with 137 other Lewiston Adult Education students in a ceremony to mark their special milestone.

Dressed in cap and gown, Kayla received her GED.

“It took my breath away,” she said.

A serious student with a passion for sports, Kayla started ninth grade with big dreams. She fantasized about playing professional basketball, about going to college.

Then reality crashed down on her.

Her mother’s alcoholism drove Kayla from her Lewiston home, she said. Just 14 years old, she bounced between her older brother’s home and her mother’s. Once she stayed with an aunt.

Each move meant a different high school. It was too much to handle.

“The very end of my freshman year, I stopped going. I didn’t take my finals or anything,” she said. “I still passed, got my credits, because my grades were so high.”

Kayla tried to return for 10th grade, but her mother was sick, the drinking bad, she said. English and math took a back seat.

“We kind of switched roles. It was like I was the mom, and she was the kid,” she said.

Then, last July, her mother unexpectedly died. At 16, Kayla was on her own.

She could go back to school for 11th grade, but she had only the seven credits earned during ninth grade. She’d need 24 to graduate.

“I realized there was no way I could do that in a year,” she said.

For six months, she filled her days with books and crossword puzzles, biding her time. At 16, she had no guardian to legally enroll her in Adult Ed.

But at 17, she could do it herself.

Almost immediately after her birthday, Kayla started Lewiston Adult Education classes. She soon realized it would take two years to earn the credits required to graduate.

She needed a faster way.

“The way my life goes, I don’t know where I’ll be in two years,” Kayla said.

She enrolled in the GED program, which allows students to pass tests rather than complete classes. Although 18 is Maine’s usual minimum age for GED testing, 17-year-olds can do it if, like Kayla, they’ve been out of school for a year.

It takes most students months or years to pass the rigorous tests required for the high school equivalency diploma.

Kayla, the once-serious student with fantasies of college, did it in four days.

Kayla’s accomplishment amazed Adult Ed officials. Nearly 40 percent of GED students are teenagers or young adults, but few earn the equivalency easily after battling such hardships.

Last month, they presented her with a statewide Courage to Grow Award. They also asked her to speak during Tuesday’s graduation.

With 400 people before her, Kayla told her story and thanked Adult Ed officials for their help. Her voice broke with emotion.

In the audience, her brother, aunt, boyfriend and about two dozen other friends and family members cheered her on.

Kayla laughs now when she remembers the dreams she had in ninth grade. She doesn’t think she’ll become a professional basketball player.

She will, however, go to college.

Central Maine Community College accepted her application this spring. The Courage to Grow Award will give her one free class. She hopes financial aid will take care of the rest.

She plans to transfer to a four-year college after earning a two-year degree. She wants to become a physical education teacher.

Back at Lewiston Adult Education, she’s taking a college transition course to help ensure she makes it. The girl who had trouble getting to high school now can’t wait to immerse herself in college.

“I’m looking forward to September,” she said.