MARYSVILLE – Many high school seniors like to travel after they graduate.

But Keller Kahl of Arts and Technology High School had to travel a lot just to graduate.

Keller’s struggles are indicative of what many students go through at the school.

He started attending A&T, but then a relationship breakup ended up putting him and his mom in Mukilteo. He had to take a 1 1/2 hour Community Transit bus ride from there to downtown Marysville. Then he had to walk out to the Tulalip campus, often in the pouring rain. Keller said they ended up losing the house in Mukilteo, then moved to south Everett where it was cheaper. He still has to take a bus, but it’s a nicer one, and the ride is just 1 hour, 10 minutes long. A Running Start student, Keller would study his economics or Japanese.

Keller said all that was worth it to stay at A&T.

“I like the community here; it’s small, tight,” said Keller, who was president of the National Honor Society there. He also liked that the teachers are committed to the students.

“It’s more one on one, the best learning community,” said Keller, who will be a sophomore at Everett Community College next year with the hope of going to the University of California at Berkeley after that to study physics and astronomy.

At the graduation Thursday night, class advisor Darren Sylte told them not to listen to the “Muck of Mud.”

“Don’t let others drag you down,” he said.

Sylte said he got thrown off a bit when he graduated high school when the headlines in 1983 told them they would never be able to afford a house. He said he interpreted that to mean, “Give up now.”

Of course he didn’t, but he told the grads to keep an, “I will succeed” attitude.

“The future is uncertain. It can be a scary thing. But it was my job to get you ready for life after high school and build your confidence,” Sylte said.

That’s exactly what A&T did for student speaker Bryce Andersen. Before going to school there, Bryce said he wasn’t involved in much. But after being talked into running for class officer as a sophomore, and winning, he got the bug.

“I spent more time on campus than some of the staff,” he joked, adding he got involved in robotics, yearbook and National Honor Society. “Maybe just getting by wasn’t really what I wanted.”

Bryce said he enjoyed watching his classmates grow as people along with him. “A&T does change you to be the best you can be,” he said.

How the graduates react to change will be key to their futures, Principal Dawn Bechtholdt said.

She pointed out the quick changes some seniors made this year when they were told they would need a fifth year of high school.

“No way,” they said, Bechtholdt recalled. “They worked their tails off.”

They took Running Start or online classes to catch up. “Your determined spirit,” will help you in the future, she concluded.