Washoe Country School District
Change Font Size
Brighton Denison's Profile
WOLF Graduate Completes Studies with Speed
Student: Brighton Denison
School: WOLF High School
Brighton Denison finished three semesters’ worth of work in one semester when he transferred from Reno High School to WCSD Online Learning for the Future (WOLF). He completed his required courses, including English, government, health, psychology, art classes and computers.
His race to finish would allow him to move from Reno to Las Vegas early this year to begin his studies at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and take a job with a promotions company as a salesman with a specialty in advertising.
“I believe it’s all just motivation,” Brighton said. “If you want to do well and succeed and finish quicker, you have to have the motivation to do something, then do whatever’s necessary to get there, which, in my case, was to get done and move out early.”
Brighton started off as a freshman at Reno High and attended the school until his junior year. Once he started at WOLF, he took online classes during the day and worked two jobs at night. One job was with an advertisement company, doing similar work to what he’s currently doing in Las Vegas, and the other was with the Atlantis Casino Resort Spa, doing all types of jobs there, he said.
“I was meeting a lot of people at work and still had other friends who were doing online school,” he said. “I’d spend more time with family and not worry about waking up for school because I could do it on my time.”
For Brighton, it also had its challenges. Although he missed not being able to interact with other students in a classroom setting, he said WOLF allowed him to take his time without interruption for his studies.
“For me, it was being able to concentrate and do work at my own speed and not have distractions,” Brighton said. “You can do it at your own speed and teachers grade the assignment and give feedback.”
WOLF counselor Melonia Torres said Brighton’s commitment to his studies as a student at WOLF was outstanding.
“Brighton had a goal and accomplished it through his hard work as well as dedication, earning credits in a shorter amount of time than is typical,” Torres said. “This was done by spending more time each day than is required. He decided that he was tired of the traditional school scene and had the goal of finishing his graduation requirements early so that he could move to Las Vegas in preparation to attend college. He was motivated and finished 10 semester courses in five months, which is no easy task.”
Though he already graduated, Brighton will return to Reno in June to participate in the ceremony with his fellow students from WOLF. Afterward, he will continue on at UNLV with a major in finance. He said he hopes to find a line of work through which he can help people.
“I’d like to help others as much as possible,” he said. “That’s something my family has been doing in the Reno community. I have been volunteering in churches. I’d just like be successful, live life to the fullest and not hold back and take that extra step.”
