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Cadet Jeremy Ceasar

Jeremy Ceasar is a cadet at Sunburst Youth Academy, an academic boot camp run by the National Guard aimed at getting high school dropouts back on track. CBS News has followed the current class of Sunburst students since they arrived in July.
"That is not who I am anymore" 00:55

The day Jeremy Ceasar turned 13, he said, he felt like he became a careless teenager.

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Jeremy Ceasar is a cadet at Sunburst Youth Academy CBS News

"And when I turned 14 is the day I became a delinquent."

Growing up in Irvine, California, Ceasar said he would get into fights, smoke marijuana, ditch class and tune out his family.

"I got into seven fights my freshman year, three fights my sophomore year, and I was on the thin line of getting arrested and expelled at the same time," Ceasar said.

Now, 17-year-old Ceasar is a cadet at Sunburst Youth Academy. CBS News has been following Ceasar and other cadets throughout their time in the program.

"Sometimes, I daydream about what I did in the past and catch myself smiling," he said. "That is not who I am anymore. I'm here."

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