Growing up, school had never been a priority for Blake. Raised by a single mum who was dealing with debilitating health issues, by the time Blake got to high school, he stopped attending altogether.
“I didn’t like my surroundings there. I didn’t get along with my peers, and I didn’t feel safe,” he explains.
He didn’t go to school for several months. He finally made another attempt, but after three weeks he gave up hope of ever being able to fit in. At just 15 years old, he needed to find another option.
One of the deputy principals at his school suggested a few alternatives, and he and his mother decided to find out more about EDEN College.
EDEN College is one of Youth Off The Streets’ six registered and accredited independent high schools. It offers two programs – one on-site and the SOLAR (Schooling via Off-campus Learning for At-Risk students) hybrid program, launched in 2020 in response to COVID-19 lockdowns.
Blake joined EDEN’s on-site program in Year 10 and felt more comfortable in a smaller class environment.
“I still experienced some ups and downs, but it was better to me than mainstream school.
“There weren’t as many students – I knew who was going to be around me – and you could develop more of a relationship with the teachers,” he says.
Blake felt less judgement at EDEN and didn’t need to be afraid to show his true self.
“You can be yourself,” he states. “And if anything happens, you get support straight away.”
Blake switched to the SOLAR program in Year 12.
“To be honest, it wasn’t my idea to go into the SOLAR program,” he admits. “One of my friends had stopped going to school and suggested I join it with her.”
Joining the SOLAR program helped Blake further reignite his motivation to continue school.
“I wanted to help my friend continue school and make a smart move for myself too.”
The SOLAR program allows students to spend two days learning from home and three days on-site, with courses focusing on project-based learning.
“It was an easy transition because it was just a different room on-site, and learning was slightly adapted,” Blake recalls.
“Looking back, it was a much more suitable way of learning for me.”
Blake is 17 now and was the first young person to graduate with a Higher School Certificate (HSC) from SOLAR in 2022.
“I wanted to graduate school to prove people wrong and show others that I could do it,” he says. “Neither of my parents finished high school, and I was determined to.”
Blake is on the hunt for employment and hopes to study nursing in the future.
“My plan this year is to find a job that I’m happy with, most likely in retail,” he states.
Blake feels that without an independent high school option at EDEN College and the SOLAR program, he probably would’ve ended up somewhere he didn’t want to be.
“I’d probably be in a job I didn’t like, just slacking off, because I didn’t get my HSC,” he says.
“When I joined EDEN, I had been masking who I was. If I didn’t have Youth Off The Streets and continued on the same trajectory, I wouldn’t have ended up in a good place.
“I’ve learned that giving up isn’t an option,” he adds. “Because at the end of the day, you’ve got to work hard to go where you want to be. If you give up, you’ve already failed.”
Learn more about Youth Off The Streets’ independent high schools.