MATTAWA - While there are some students Sentinel Tech alternative teacher Jesús Maldonado finds lacking, he couldn't be prouder of Yesenia Valdovinos.

Because of circumstances most Americans would not understand, Valdovinos dropped out of school after the ninth grade. Now 18 years old, she has just completed three years of work in one year.

"I am waiting for the results of the HSPE (High School Proficiency Exam) to see if I graduate, but the credits (19) I already have," Valdvinos said.

Maldonado has no doubt Valdovinos will pass the HSPE. He refers to her as a "dedicated" student. 

"She completed one class in three days," he said.

Valdovinos spent most of the last two years working with her father. She picked cherries, grafted fruit trees and did all of the seasons of the apple orchard, from pruning to picking.

Then this year, after she turned 18, Valdovinos returned to school. She enrolled at Sentinel and started to attack her own challenge of graduating this year despite having only nine credits.

To acquire the needed 10 credits, Valdovinos took 20 courses worth half a credit each. 

"It was really hard," she said. "Sometimes I stayed up till 12 at night working on my classes."

That was after attending class session in the morning and pruning trees in the afternoon. She went to work on her own computer at about 5 p.m.

During grafting season, Valdovinos worked from 7 a.m-5 p.m. She   showered, ate dinner and hit the computer by 7 p.m.

Valdovino's next goal is to become a nurse. She plans to take a community college course.