My name is Ann and I graduated from Sac State, his last name is Chappa, and we look WEIRD!!! Mat's interview with the Dispatch

Perserverence Pays Off
12:12 PMBy Perry Shirley
Staff Writer

Gilroy - Matt Chappa didn't want to be at Gilroy High School. He didn't like the work, didn't see the point. It didn't help that when he did call it quits, dropping out in 2001, he found good work as a cabinet maker in Gilroy.
No more teachers, no more school, but lots of cash, full benefits and plenty of freedom. Life was good.
But eventually things changed.
At first it was seeing his friends graduate, but also his longtime girlfriend, now his wife Ann, plowing on toward her college degree. Then a pastor at his church and his parents pressed him to return to school. He also got hit with a strong dose of reality. First, the woodworking industry took a hit and the money became scarce. Then, in 2002, he got in a serious car accident. His car spun out on the way to work after being T-boned on the driver's side by a Ford F-250 pickup.
Laying in a hospital bed with severe head trauma, a ruptured spleen and bruised liver, he was again encouraged by the support of others.
"The people at the hospital ... they said 'you should be dead' or 'you should be a vegetable right now. You shouldn't be talking to me,' " Chappa, 23, recalled.
Little by little he found he wanted to be in high school, or at least he wanted that diploma. Whatever the reason - money, job placement, pride, there's a place for adults who decide they want to earn their high school diploma: the Gilroy Adult Education program on the campus of South Valley Middle School. It's a small, mostly evening program in downtown Gilroy with a teaching staff of seven. But they are excited about working with adults willing to be taught.
"We work with mature, intelligent people," said Principal Alma Quintana. "You walk into a high school and it's a difficult time. Anyone who walks into the Adult Ed wants to be there. 'Want' is a magical word for teachers - they are open to learning, open to instruction."
On June 8, Chappa walked for the 2007 Gilroy Adult Education Graduation ceremony, one of 26 graduates who earned either a diploma or a GED. For many, it's just a stepping stone.
Chappa will be attending Gavilan College next year. The oldest graduate, 30-year-old Mexican immigrant Saide Perez-Medina, said she went back to get a job at a paper factory that requires GEDs but she plans to take online college courses.
When Chappa watched his high school friends and his girlfriend don their caps and gowns, he knew he should have been with them. But he still had that echo, reminding him of how little he liked school and why. As a youth leader at a local church, Chappa hears the same complaints he used to have, including "my teachers don't care."
Not so with the adult ed program and community college.
"The biggest difference for me was when teachers took an interest in me," Chappa said. Giving help to adults trying to earn their degrees can get contagious.
He credits his wife, a Sacramento State University graduate, and an Administration of Justice instructor at Gavilan College, Steven Smith, for pushing "to get that milestone."
Perry Shirley is a news intern and currently attends San Francisco State University. He can be reached at pshirley@svnewspaper.com. Christopher Quirk contributed to this report.