GED instructor Sharmaine Brown hugs Jay Smoak moments after he signed an academic scholarship to Georgia Military College. Smoak completed the Bethesda Day School GED program. Carl Elmore Savannah Morning News Jay Smoak prepares to sign an academic scholarship to Georgia Military College, as GED instructor Sharmaine Brown looks on. Smoak completed the Bethesda Day School GED program. Carl Elmore Savannah Morning News E-mail story Print story Your opinion

Chuck and Wanda Smoak ushered their reluctant son Jay into a Bethesda Day School GED classroom eight months ago.

It was a last resort.

"He was at a point in his life where we didn't know what was going to happen next," Wanda Smoak said.

No one, including Jay, would have predicted college as the next logical step.

Neither public nor private schools had been able to engage the 18-year-old and stop him from dropping out.

Well-meaning teachers and friends suggested the Smoaks forget about high school and just teach the boy a trade. Chuck Smoak was starting to think they were right. Maybe some people, he thought, just aren't college material.

"Jay has always been a good kid. He's never been in trouble," his father said. "But he fell behind in middle school, couldn't keep up and he just stopped trying."

On the morning of the GED class, Chuck Smoak talked with a Bethesda instructor about Jay's lack of focus, ADD diagnosis and previous academic struggles.

"Oh, no," instructor Sharmaine Brown said. "We don't have any issues in my class. We all come in on the same level. Anything negative we channel into positive."

When something made Jay feel insecure, Bethesda GED faculty and staff provided the tutoring and counseling he needed to ratchet up his confidence. GED assistant director Margaret Walker took Jay under her wing. She even responded with weekend visits and late night phone calls.

"If I won't allow my own children to fail, how can I, as an administrator, watch as children in my classrooms fail?" Walker asked. "I believe God will hold me accountable for them."

In exchange for that devotion, Walker asked Jay to be respectful and disciplined.

"Mama Walker would tell me I could do better and I would say, 'I know I can, but I don't always feel like trying,'" Jay said. "Then she would help me try."

It worked.

"He got up every day and came to school," Jay's mother said.

"The fifth-grade was the last time we saw 90s and 100s on tests, and he was bringing home top grades and taking pride in his work," his father said.

Jay earned his GED the first time he tried. In fact, his score was 350 points more than the 2,250 standard. "It was an inspiration," Jay said. "I didn't want to quit until I got into college."

He started preparing for the ACT at Bethesda. He dreamed of becoming a military officer, and Walker encouraged him to apply for an Army National Guard State Service Scholarship. The Guard awards 39 of these full academic scholarships annually, according to recruiter SFC Greg Carpenter. Recipients must have a 2.5 grade point average or score 2,500 on the GED. They must also score at least 17 on the ACT, be accepted to Georgia Military College and join the National Guard.

"You had to write an essay about why you deserve a scholarship," Jay said. "But I didn't think I deserved it. I had waited around and dragged it out so long that I wrote I didn't deserve it, but I could use it to thank my parents for what they had done for me and make them proud."

Thursday, with mom and dad beside him and his friends and teachers from the Bethesda program looking on, Jay got a full-ride State Service Scholarship that will send him to Georgia Military College for his first two years and North Georgia College and State University for the final two.

"Prayers have been answered for us." Chuck Smoak said.

And hard work rewarded.