Mikey Sams now, giving his NCCA graduation speech

Mikey Sams arrived at NCCA an alienated child just waiting to drop out. He became a man and credits NCCA and its faculty with the transformation. This is the fourth of our posts on Sunday’s NCCA graduation speeches.

Charter has truly made 
an impact on 
who I am today.

Good Afternoon,

My name is Mikey Sams and I’m graduating today after being at North Country Charter for nearly four years. I’d like to begin by thanking the amazing faculty of Charter, and all my friends and family for being so supportive.

Getting an education 
seemed pointless

Mikey when he arrived at NCCA

Charter has truly been a second chance for me, and it has truly made an impact on who I am today. When I first started going to Charter, freshmen year, I was an entirely different person than who I am now. I had long hair, dyed black, pierced lips, purple skinny jeans, I was overweight, and to be honest, I really didn’t care about school. To me getting an education seemed pointless and was more of a thorn in my side than a benefit. I planned on just dropping out when I turned 18, and I had no real plans for what I wanted to do with my life.

I've evolved, 
far more 
than I could have ever imagined.

Obviously, my mindset has changed since then. I changed, no wait … I’ve evolved, far more than I could have ever imagined. I owe a big chunk of this to Charter and how it’s set up. I only had to be in school for 3 hours a day, so I had quite a bit of spare time on my hands … which I didn’t use so wisely at first. But after a few years, yes I said a few years … it took me a while to get my mind out of the gutter.

I started 
using my time 
more productively

Nonetheless I started using my time more productively. I picked up weight lifting and exercise, and it’s been all uphill ever since. My work ethic has greatly improved, I lost weight, and it’s brought great mental discipline, which transferred into every part of my life, including school. I actually started enjoying school! I realized that knowledge was a powerful thing. I started taking education very seriously and it’s impacted me greatly.

I actually started enjoying school! 
I realized that knowledge was a powerful thing.

Overall, my time at Charter has been a very enjoyable experience, one in which I wouldn’t trade for anything. I think the fact that it’s not like traditional schools played a big role in that, after all I’m not much of a traditional person, I love new things. I feel like too many people are engulfed in this idea that there’s a specific path they have to be on in life or that they have to do things a certain way to reach a certain outcome.

Life is just an open field...
waiting for me to pave my own way through.

When in reality that couldn’t be further from the truth, and for me personally, life is just an open field … waiting for me to pave my own way through.

Thank you.