Adams had a good career in the printing industry for about 25 years. But after noticing changes in the industry and being laid off, Adams decided to head back to school to pursue a degree in computer engineering.

Adams, 46, will be one of nearly 700 students who will receive academic awards tonight at York Technical College's graduation ceremony at Winthrop Coliseum.

"You get attached to the teachers. I enjoy the education, the learning experience altogether," he said. "But I'm excited to be finishing up. It's a sense of accomplishment to finish one thing and move to something else."

For the past four years, Adams has juggled work, school and family. He bet his daughter, Anna, that he could finish college in the same four years that she could. Anna graduated from Lander University last weekend.

Adams works as a computer technician in the York school district. He owns his own business, Adams Computer Service, which sells computers and equipment and provides networking.

"Business has been doing extremely well the past two years," he said. "Sometimes, it makes it hard to balance the business and the school work at the same time."

Adams said that there is just something about computers that makes him tick. He'll stay up until the wee hours of the morning trying to fix a computer problem, get some sleep and then pick right back up where he left off at 6 a.m.

He plans to attend Limestone College in the fall and wants to continue working in a school system.

At York Tech, Adams was inducted into Phi Theta Kappa, the international honor society for two-year colleges, and served as president for two years.

Karen Hedgepeth, an English instructor and an adviser for the society, said Adams took an inactive chapter and transformed it into a meaningful group that earned a five-star rating. The rating was a testament to how well students meet the four hallmarks of the society: service, scholarship, leadership and fellowship.

"He is an outstanding student," Hedgepeth said. "He is an outstanding leader. He's determined. He's motivated. He perseveres. I can't say enough good things about him"

Hedgepeth said Adams is a poster child for technical schools. He came to York Tech and was given the opportunity to explore a new direction for his life. A leadership award within Phi Theta Kappa now bears his name.

Tonight's commencement ceremony will be held at 7. The college will give out 691 academic awards, 370 of which are associate degrees, 109 of which are diplomas and 212 of which are certificates for programs that were less than a year long.