“It was my last chance at an education,” he said.

The program, funded by the United States Department of Education, received a $2.3 million grant to help seasonal and migrant farm youths receive support services and academic and career planning throughout the next five years.

Two 12-week residential sessions are held each year. The grant will allow for an increase of enrollment from 50 students to 70 students each year. It also will cover a satellite site in Sturgis, Mich., where students receive GED preparation and support services and resources.

“What we do is provide services to a population of students that don’t normally receive services,” said Karla Peterkoski, associate director of MSU HEP.

“For migrant workers, the education system doesn’t accommodate to their lifestyle.”

Gonzales said he dropped out of high school at 17 after completing three years so he could help support his mother financially. He had to decide between having a home and dropping out, or staying in school and ending up on the streets, he said.

“I regret it now, but at that time it was the right thing to do,” Gonzales said.

Students in the program are taught reading, writing, math, science and social studies material they would have covered in the four years of high school.

They must pass all five areas of the GED with a score of 410 and an overall average of 450, Peterkoski said.

There are four instructors for the residential program, two that teach in Spanish and two that teach in English. Two instructors run the satellite site.

A typical day for the students begins at 8:30 a.m. and runs until 5 or 6 p.m., said Luis Garcia, director of HEP and the College Assistance Migrant Program, or CAMP.

The program also provides students with housing in the residence halls on campus.

More than 7,000 students nationally participate in the HEP program each year. Other programs exist in states with large migrant or seasonal worker populations, including California, Florida, Georgia, Texas and Wisconsin.

Although MSU’s HEP program does not recruit students from outside Michigan, Peterkoski said they accept students from throughout the U.S.

Before HEP, Gonzales said three months of intensive labor would take its toll on his back, but after three months at HEP, the hard work is beginning to pay off.

He will be taking the ACT test on Friday and, from there he’s hoping to enroll at MSU for spring semester through the CAMP program to pursue a degree in chemistry.

“It’s hard work, but it’s worth it,” Gonzales said.