They weren’t before they went to the Washington Youth Academy in Bremerton, and they aren’t now that they are back.

Before the five months of quasi-military-type schooling there, they were both way behind on credits to graduate from their high schools.

“Before I would skip school, not care, and did some bad things,” Anthony said.

Both were told about the academy by school counselors, who told them they could receive eight credits each by attending. Both said that was their main reason for going, but the adventure ended up being so much more.

“It was life-changing,” Anthony said, adding the school was disciplined and structured.

Mitchell added: “You live with the staff there, and you learn a lot more.”

Both agreed their academic success there was because they were able to focus – there are fewer distractions.

“The classrooms were controlled so we actually were able to work,” Mitchell said.

Anthony said there was no texting or internet or X Box so they were able to focus on school. Without electronics, they would watch movies, play games or relax or play sports at a nearby park.

At first, Anthony wanted to leave the academy, which ran from mid-July to mid-December.

“I hated it. I thought about quitting. I thought, ‘I don’t have to put up with this. There’s no reason to.'”

But he is glad that he stuck it out.

“It was a turning point in my life. It was the greatest decision I’ve ever made,” said Anthony, who attends Weston and Arlington high schools. “Now I love to go to school, and I look forward to getting on with my life.”

Mitchell, who goes to Marysville-Pilchuck High School, said he’s still not a big fan of school, but he wouldn’t have minded staying at the academy for a second semester. He said it’s like going to a private school but the classes are the same: science, math, english, robotics, etc. One difference was a class that kept changing, with topics ranging from health to their futures.

Mitchell said he really enjoyed the community services projects they went out on. They did beautification and landscaping projects. He said he liked the physical activity and the fresh air.

“With forty-eight guys in the platoon it stinks” in the barracks, Mitchell said.

Mitchell, 18, said he learned a lot about himself at the academy.

“I can be a hard worker when I put my mind to it,” he said. “And I actually can pass my classes.”

Mitchell also said the academy helped him become more social, since the living quarters were so close.

Mitchell, a senior, was way behind in credits, but now he has 19 and is only three away from graduating. So now he is looking forward to his future. He would like to work on the flight deck of a Navy ship.

“I would definitely recommend” the academy to anyone behind on credits, Mitchell said.

Anthony, 16, a junior, also urges others to attend the academy. He said thanks to that decision, and if he goes to summer school, he will be able to graduate on time. He said the teachers are able to spend more 1-on-1 time with you if you’re struggling as the student-teacher ratio is more like 20-1 than 32-1.

“They’ll pull you aside” to make sure you are getting it,” he said. “They won’t let you fail.”

He said in regular school you get an assignment, teachers don’t have time to help, so if you don’t get it you fall further behind.

Anthony said one subject he never has understood was math. But now he finally understands it.

“Math, I wasn’t getting it,” he said. “He taught it in a way I could understand it, and it was fun.

“They made us want to learn. It intrigued us.”

When he graduates from high school, he plans to join the Army, then see what his “college interests are after that.”

Anthony said he is home now, but he misses his family at the academy.

“We’ve been though a lot together,” he said of his fellow cadets and platoon. “We’ve shed blood and tears together.”