ESCAMBIA COUNTY ACCELERATION ACADEMIESJosiah Gadia:“A Second Chance to Get My Education”Not so long ago, Josiah Gadia fearedhe would never earn his high schooldiploma.Today, he’s being celebrated by family, friendsand educators as the first-ever graduate ofEscambia County Acceleration Academies.“I didn’t know what I wanted todo,” he said. “But once AccelerationAcademies was introduced to me, itjust clicked.”After dropping out of his previous school to workfull-time, Josiah felt a fleeting sense of relief.“After you drop out, you get a sense of freedom:‘Oh, I don’t have school anymore,’ ” he said. “Butafter a while it gets a little old.”He found out about ECAA, which worksin partnership with the Escambia CountySuperintendent Dr. Timothy A. Smith, Directorof Alternative Education Kerri L. Coots and theirteam to provide a flexible, personalized path tograduation.Josiah would like tostudy video gameand graphic designin college, with helpfrom a U.S. Navyscholarship.Josiah saw it as “a second chance to get myeducation and finally get my life back together.”He liked that he could take onecourse at a time, focusing on onesubject before moving on to thenext. “I can work at my own pace. Itallows me to understand things atthe speed I want.”His focus wavered when he first began, but hesaid that educators including graduation candidateadvocate Cordivido Grice provided warm-butfirmencouragement. Academy coaches alsohelped him sort through the personal challenges— including anxiety, depression and family issues— that sometimes got in the way.“Sometimes I have things on my mind and I needsomebody to talk to,” said Josiah. “Even thoughI’m 20 now, I’m still not that far out from being ateenager, so I still have confusion in some aspectsof my life.”He’s clear about his dreams.In addition to working on hissongwriting career, Josiah would liketo study video game and graphicdesign in college, with help from aU.S. Navy scholarship rooted in hisgrandfather’s service.What advice would he give to other strugglingstudents? Find a school program that works foryou, and then do the work. “If you’re not doingit for someone else, do it for yourself, rather thannot doing it and regretting it later on in life.”
““If you’re notdoing it forsomeone else,do it for yourself,rather than notdoing it andregretting it lateron in life.”JOSIAH | Aspiring Video Game Designer
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