The ability to access an education is an important resource for many people that allows them to grow. For Ridgeview senior David Williams, who missed around two years of high school, it means something more. He sees his education as an opportunity for the future ahead and is determined to use his unique experiences and hardships to grow as he pursues his goals.

     Williams discusses his experiences with education after missing a semester of freshman year, all of sophomore year, as well as some of junior year. “A big challenge I would have to say would be recovering from not being in school for so long. Sometimes I feel behind everybody else since I missed such a long period of school, and it’s sometimes difficult for me to adjust to going to school.” Williams says there wasn’t anyone to encourage him to get an education. “There was nobody in my house that was interested in going to school. And when there was nobody who signed me up, I really wasn’t able to go even if I wanted to. I had a lot of friends, especially when I wasn’t going to school, with nobody that wanted to put them into school, so we kind of all just banded together,” he says. “I’d say there’s a lot of people who go through that.”

      Williams adds some insight into his complex home dynamics, which have undoubtedly played an impactful role in his life, explaining how his parents divorced when he was young. “Both got new partners. Both fought for custody.” And both had addiction problems with either heavy drugs or alcohol. Because of this, Williams has lived with two different step parents, four friends, three other family members, and back and forth between parents, “too many times to count.”

     Williams’s experiences and home life without structure eventually met with a major change. He says that the decision to return to school ultimately wasn’t up to him. “There was an incident in which I had to go to juvenile hall, and so I went back to school to sort of get my life back on track.” He recounts that the events leading up to this incident started normally, going to work and then to night school. When he got home his family asked him to run an errand. He ended up crashing the car, and didn’t have a drivers license. After staying the night at his girlfriend’s he went home and got into an argument and was arrested. William’s experience with having to go through this shows how unforeseen circumstances can have a huge impact on people’s lives.

     Williams’s time in school has given him the chance to grow as a person. “I’ve become more of a social person,” he says. “I used to be really confined, and I wouldn’t talk to anyone. I’ve grown into someone who likes to learn and engage in the classroom.” 

     He plans to attend community college and transfer out to a major college, where he’ll pursue a career in studio engineering. When describing why he chose this, Williams emphasizes the freedom studio engineering would give him. “It’s very broad. You get the option to work on music or movie sets, and do so many different things where you get to work with a lot of great people.” 

     A major influence of his didn’t have a traditional education but, “always does as much as he can to pursue his dreams,” which has motivated Williams to do the same. To others who might have been through the same situations as him Williams says, “It’s never too late. Everybody deserves a second chance, and all you have to do is reach out and ask for help. Don’t give up, don’t stop trying, and you’ll reach your goal someday.”