They have almost 40 years between them, but Owen Burgess and Taylor Ebbin graduated from high school together last month.

The former, a self-described “dropout”, had resigned himself to a life without a diploma until an opportunity forced him to think differently.

Mr Ebbin took a chance on his future.

The Adult Education School students spoke to Lifestyle about getting their qualifications outside of tradition.

The phrase procrastination is the thief of time ran around in Owen Burgess’ head for years.

As a child, his stepfather had made him write it out 500 times as punishment.

The 55-year-old deliberately incorporated it into the valedictorian speech he gave at the Adult Education School last month.

“It is quite an accomplishment for me, after all those years, to finally be able to say I’m not a high-school dropout anymore,” said Mr Burgess, a qualified electrician since 1982.

“I ended my speech with the statement: ‘Whatever you do, don’t wait 35 years to pursue your goals because procrastination is the thief of time.’”

For years he was intimated by his overachieving older siblings. As a result, he left school at 16 and began an apprenticeship with Universal Electric.

“I didn’t consider myself a school person — no way, no how. I was told that I needed to pick a career, so that’s what I did,” Mr Burgess said.

Fortunately for him, it worked out. He was one of the first 20 electricians to be nationally certified in Bermuda and today sits on an industry assessment panel.

However he hit a roadblock last year when offered the chance to advance.

“I was one of six people recommended by both the planning department and Workforce Development to be offered training to become an electrical inspector,” he said. “The prerequisite to sit that exam was that you needed a high-school diploma or equivalent.

“That opportunity came up and there was a change in my mindset, from I don’t need it, to I might want it, to why not?

“If it stops me from advancing and receiving the gifts that are being offered to me, I’d be silly not to pursue it.”

As thrilled as he was to finally graduate, being named valedictorian came as “a big surprise”.

“Maybe 30 years of flying by the seat of your pants and street smarts and common sense, perhaps [served me], but how that translates into Pythagoras’ theorem and being able to speak well, who knows?

“It might have a lot to do with my upbringing, my exposure to different cultures, different people, different lifestyles.

“Even though I stopped going to school, I had life experiences.”

His one regret is that his father isn’t here to see what he has achieved.

“My dad worked for Benchmark Insurance,” he said. “I lived in eight different countries by the time I was 15. For me, [it was] the settling in, the comparison of having two older siblings always preceding you.

“I was a bit of a problem child.

“My [late brother] scored in the top ten percentile of all US schools worldwide. He was the smart one. One day my father started talking about all the money that he wasted because I just didn’t care about getting an education. That just gutted me.

“He went to work when he was 14 to support his family. The idea of getting an education was a big thing for him. I know he’d be proud of me for getting off my duff and doing it.”

Taylor Ebbin enrolled with the Adult Education School after traditional classes proved to be a bad fit.

Sharon Hayward, a teacher he knew from church, told him about the school.

“I wanted a smaller environment,” the 18-year-old said. “The classes were really big so I didn’t get the individual attention that I really needed like I got at Adult Education.

“Once I started I was able to learn more because I had one-on-one help.”

The bank teller said the lecture style of many traditional classrooms didn’t suit his learning style.

“I need visuals — people showing me — and then I can do it after. That’s what I needed a lot of help with.

“If I hadn’t found Adult Education, I probably would have dropped out of school altogether.”

His problems started in middle school. AES’ mature students suited him better.

“I wasn’t disruptive, but if you were to come at me a certain way and I didn’t like it, I would act out,” he said. “[At AES] you actually have to do your work because you’re paying for it.”

The teenager was one of the youngest of the 18 students in his graduating year. He found the teachers “a lot more accommodating”. “They actually took the time out to entertain your questions,” he said.

“It was challenging at first, but once I got the hang of it I was able to understand it and do it on my own.”

Ms Hayward proved particularly helpful with trigonometry. She looked into why he didn’t understand the curriculum and tailored her teaching to suit his needs.

“I didn’t understand it at all, but I now understand it a lot better than I used to,” he said.

“She actually broke it down and sat with me and found out why I didn’t understand the questions.”