Many people say that high school was the best time of their lives.

The parties, the friends, the significant or not so significant others, and the learning who you are and who you want to be, all make going to high school a great experience.

The most life-altering or embarrassing stories that can be told usually start with, “When I was in high school—”

But for some, attending a mainstream high school is highly overrated. Seventeen-year-old Anthanay Steede is one of those people. But, she says, it took her a little while to realise that.

Anthanay first attended CedarBridge Academy in 2004 and she had lots of friends.

“Everyone who I went to primary and middle school with was there, so I wasn’t really focused on school,” Anthanay says.

Although she did pretty well in school her parents could see that she was performing to her full potential and felt that her friends were somewhat of a distraction, so after some discussion a mutual decision was taken and in February 2004, when Anthanay was an S2 student, she and her parents decided that it was time to try something different.

Anthanay then attended Lighthouse Christian Academy, where she discovered the environment was very different from mainstream high school.

Thirty students of various ages attended the home school.

There were six students in her age group at the time, the rest were younger. Anthanay says she enjoyed the method by which the students were encouraged to learn: “It was an independent environment. You read the books yourself.”

She states that a student didn’t have to pretend they understood the work, the way they might be inclined to do in a mainstream high school setting. There was no embarrassment because the students are “working at their own pace.”

If a student was not grasping a subject they were allowed to continue studying it until they completely understood.

Alternatively, if they were quick learners, they could move on without having to wait for their fellow classmates.

Tutoring was also available to any student who was struggling with a subject, Anthanay furthers. She says she enjoyed the methodology of the school and saw her grades improve by 20 percent.

However, it was not in the cards for Anthanay to remain at the Academy. Knowing that she wanted to attend college overseas in 2006, she realised that in order to do so she had to work and save money and there was no way she was going to be able to do that while studying full-time.

Anthanay had been working with her aunt at Kim-Kita’s Beauty Salon since the age of 10 during the summer and weekends but wanted to start on a full time basis.

Her dilemma was that she also knew that in order to go to college she would need to get her high school diploma, so for a short while she battled with how she was going to do both.

That’s when Dwayne Caines, whom she met through her cousin and co-worker, Kim Roberts, introduced her to the Hamilton Seventh-Day Adventist Community School. The school offers a free GED programme that is run out of the Hamilton Seventh-Day Adventist church on King Street and headed by Mr. Jermaine Richardson. Anthanay soon took the decision to give the school a try.

“The instructors in this programme were very willing and dedicated teachers,” she tells The Royal Gazette.

Anthanay says one of her favourite lesson while at the programme was an English assignment given by Michelle Spencer where students were instructed to make a dish and then write out instructions for that dish so that someone who had never prepared it before would completely understand each step. This assignment fell right in line with one Anthanay’s true loves, food.

When asked if Anthanay had any advice for parents whose children were having trouble with mainstream education, she suggests that parents seek a tutor for whatever subject their child is struggling with before taking them out of high school.

She adds that it is a decision that should be taken lightly. If the student is not focused no one is going coax him or her into doing his or her work.

She says that if an assignment is missed no one is going to ask you about it.

“The GED programme is not for everyone. You have to be focused and determined. The teachers are only willing to help those that are willing to help themselves.”

Anthanay graduated from the GED programme in July and has accomplished her goal of attending college this year.

In fact, she left Bermuda last week to attend JF Drake State Technical College in Huntsville, Alabama where she will be studying cosmetology and barbering. She also plans to further her education in England in the future.