Jack Harkenrider, a Ferguson High School senior, vividly remembers the day he decided to return to high school and earn a diploma.
It was late 2022, and Jack had earned only 7 of the credits required to graduate. For six months, he had done very little other than stay home and play video games, effectively withdrawing from high school.
“I was just in rage mode,” Jack recalls. “I didn’t go to school for six months. I did absolutely nothing. It took that much time for me to realize what am I doing? The next day, I applied to Ferguson.”
Jack started classes at FHS in January 2023 and committed himself to getting a diploma. He worked hard to recover the credits he had failed to earn, and in one semester, he doubled the number of credits on his transcript.
“I’m super glad for myself that I realized it and stepped up,” Jack says. “It’s shown me a lot in life: Sometimes you just gotta man up and toughen up and do it. In the end, it’s all worth it.”
Jack had struggled with several issues in high school, including substance use and a rocky relationship with his parents. COVID was a very difficult time for Jack’s family, especially for Jack, who didn’t do well with the isolation and lack of structure. He had trouble finding the motivation to do online school, and instead ended up sleeping all day while struggling with his mental health.
Jack Harkenrider Turns the Page With Support and Structure
It wasn’t until he started attending Ferguson High School that Jack Harkenrider realized he wanted to learn.
“It was the thought of, I want to educate myself, not just get a diploma,” Jack says. “It’s a pure spark of curiosity in my brain, a desire to learn. Learning is amazing. There’s a lack of curiosity in the world now. School is important. You don’t realize how important until it hits you.”
For Jack, restarting his education also involved finding other things he was passionate about, particularly playing piano.
“Piano is my true love. I believe it chose me,” Jack says. “I don’t even know how to read music, and I’m not really musically inclined. I just play and let loose. It’s been four and a half years, and I cannot go a single day without it.”
For Jack, who has had a long and winding road to graduation, he is just going to take things one step at a time, starting with staying at home with his parents for another year or two while enjoying his now-repaired relationship with them. He hopes to get a job and start working toward an associate’s degree and eventually attend a four-year college, but he says he is not ready for that yet.
“I’m about to be graduating. If you were to tell me two years ago that I’m graduating, I would never have believed it,” Jack says. “I wish I could tell my 16-year-old self, you are gonna do this. I want to talk to my younger self and tell him that you’re gonna do it. You’re capable of amazing things.”
Portrait of a Graduate
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