For a period of time, Bruce Allen just wanted to be done with school.

“I was in my own head for a long time, thinking I was too old for this, but I know that wasn’t fair to my family,” said Allen, 19, of Pittsburgh’s Glen Hazel neighborhood. “Once I got out of my own head, it became, let’s see where things go from here.”

Indeed things went.

Allen graduated May 29 from Passport Academy Charter School, a Garfield-based school that supports students ages 16 to 21 who have faced challenges in other educational settings. “We are here for students who need a second chance and a fresh start” is how Passport describes itself.

He earned the school’s Student of the Year award, a designation of positive behavior, attendance and grades.

Allen started at Passport two years ago. Prior to that, he said, he missed a lot of school to help care for his father, Bruce Allen Sr., who died two years ago from cancer.

Allen also helped care for his mother, LaTasha, who was in the hospital with diabetes throughout his senior year.

He also deals with insomnia.

“He’s a strong kid,” LaTasha Allen said. “He doesn’t let anything that’s going on show.”

Passport Principal Joe Oliphant recalled meeting Allen last year.

“He’s a really kind, young man,” Oliphant said. “He learned to communicate, and the responsibilities of communicating with teachers — something many students struggle with.”

As Allen came out of his shell, more opportunities arose: He participated in Carnegie Mellon University’s Smart Manufacturing and Robotics Training, a pre-apprenticeship program to develop skills required of robotics technicians.

Allen also took part in The CNX Mentorship Academy. A program of the natural gas company, it aims to mentor and connect high school juniors and seniors with career exploration.

“It was a learning experience,” he said. “The CNX Mentorship Program was more blue-collar jobs which isn’t something I thought I would do, but it showed me jobs I was interested in and what I wasn’t interested in.”

He hopes it translates into a future job at EOS, a local battery manufacturer. Previous job shadowing there was positive, he said.

Allen said he plans to work and stay local for a few years and later attend the University of Winnipeg with a focused study on video game writing.

“I’ve always liked writing and video games have been a part of my life since I could walk,” he said.

“The road to success isn’t always a straight line. Sometimes there’s twists and turns, and you may be going backward. As long as you make it to the end, it’s still a road you have to take,” Allen said.

“It’s not always going to be the easy path. If you keep persevering, you’re eventually going to make it to your goal.”