. >> reporter: montaque quentrel koonce is one recent graduate who had his fair share of challenges. a former dropout, koonce came to the excel center after being laid off from his job on a assembly line and struggling to find a place to live. >> there was two things i'm terrified of, you know being homeless-- i've never been homeless in my life, and having to do math. so i had to confront both of those fears at the same time >> reporter: koonce studied hard, graduated with a 3.2 g.p.a, and later found a job at a packaging warehouse for amazon. for a man who hadn't been in a classroom in more than 30 years, he found the teachers to be patient and encouraging and felt he succeeded, in part, because he could pick up where he left off when he dropped out of high school at 16. >> i didn't have to go through high school from the beginning to end it's just from exactly from when i walked out the door as to where i walked back in and they test you, they figure out where you are at and tell you what you need and they help you get there. >> reporter: president and c.e.o jim mcclelland says hi