BY COLIN HICKEY

Staff Writer

WATERVILLE -- Charlie Judkins' first attempt to earn a high school diploma ended prematurely.

"I just lost interest," the 26-year-old Canaan resident said, "and decided friends and other stuff came first and decided to drop out and get a job. And then I had my children and decided I was sick of being a loser."

Judkins returned to school five years after he left Skowhegan Area High School in 1999, enrolling in what is now called Mid-Maine Regional Adult Community Education.

Tonight he is part of the 56-student class -- including four in the certified nurse assistant program -- scheduled to graduate at 7 tonight in Waterville Senior High School's Trask Auditorium.

Judkins, who is married and the father of two young children, said becoming a student again was not easy.

"I was pretty nervous at first," he said, "but after a while the teachers made it easier for me to learn."

Judkins said the environment at adult education was more mellow than his high school experience, and that proved to be a critical difference for him.

"I just needed more of a relaxed environment," he said, "to actually get the work done and comprehend what I was learning."

Lin Hallowell, the retiring adult education director, has heard such stories many times in her 15 years in the system.

Hallowell said those that enroll often are haunted by the stigma of being a dropout.

She considers that a shame.

Most students who drop out, she said, simply are not ready -- for whatever reason -- to be students at that stage in their lives. Society, though, often marks them as failures.

Adult education provides a chance for redemption, she said.

"It's all about giving people a second chance," Hallowell said.

Jonna Dulin, 19, is another person who took advantage of that opportunity -- she'll be earning her General Educational Development degree, or GED, tonight.

The North Vassalboro resident, who was home-schooled much of her childhood, tried public and private school briefly. For a variety of reasons, though, she didn't stay.

One of the primary problems with traditional education, she said, is too much time sitting around.

Adult education had a shorter timetable and fit her personality better, she said.

"Adult education really made me feel better about myself," she said, "and got me out faster so I can go on to bigger and better things."

Dulin wants to pursue a higher education but has yet to decide on a specific academic direction.

Judkins, though, has a clear objective: He plans to earn a degree in the culinary arts at Eastern Maine Community College in Bangor.

But tonight is his time to celebrate -- sweaty palms and all.

"It is going to be nerve-racking for sure," he said. "I sort of got the butterflies going."

Colin Hickey -- 861-9205

chickey@centralmaine.com