Sonja Stahl is pretty straightforward about the kind of teenager she was earlier this year. She'd dropped out of Corvallis High School at age 16, was abusing drugs and alcohol, and had a bad crowd of friends. She didn't hesitate to talk back to her mother, and communications with her stepdad were increasingly nasty.

She'd even been in trouble with the law, had been sent to juvenile hall and was on probation.

"Things were really bad at home," the 17-year-old said. She was looking for a way to turn her life around, but wasn't sure exactly how to make it happen.

Stahl had a few friends who had benefited from a military-style program, the National Guard's Oregon Youth Challenge Program.

The program offers a 17-month, two-part program aimed at giving teens a second chance. The program provides high school credit and the opportunity to earn a GED, and combines boot camp-style physical training with intensive academic work.

A year ago, Stahl applied for the youth challenge program but was turned down. Convinced that the program would offer her the structure she found lacking in her life, however, she tried again, and was accepted into this year's class.

"It was kind of like my last chance," she said.

On July 13, Stahl's new life began. She was dropped off at the program's headquarters in Bend, and began a two-week bout of physical training, similar to the military.

"The first two weeks are pretty scary, because it's a new environment," she said. But Stahl immediately thrived.

"She actually sent letters home saying 'I think I'm the only one who actually likes it here,'" her mom, Kira Bostwick, said.

"I basically was having a blast," she said. "I liked the structure there."

After the first two weeks, school began. Students were allowed to work at their own pace and received peer support as well as teacher and staff support.

"You're not being left behind," she said. Stahl was startled to find she was earning A's on her work. This was a new experience.

"I've always struggled academically," she said. "High school really did not work out for me."

During her four and a half months of schooling, Stahl and the other students continued to live in their bunk quarters, had to complete chores and had little time for socializing or relaxing.

Discipline was strict, but the rewards for success were great, as Stahl discovered. She consistently won awards for behavior, leadership and academic success, and found herself turning into a serious, respectful and hardworking person.

"I used to have a pretty bad attitude, and was extremely disrespectful," she said. "But as soon as I walked in that door, everything changed. I don't know how, or where that went."

Her parents agreed.

"She has matured dramatically," her mother said. "She looks people in the eye and talks to them. Her bearing is different. She is very direct in communication. … It's like talking to an adult now."

Stahl's stepfather, Ted Wadman, said before she left for youth challenge program, she was basically under house arrest, and their relationship was extremely tense.

"When she came back, after being there for seven weeks, she was a person, and it was great," he said.

By the time Stahl graduated, she had been named leader of her platoon, had joined peer court and drill team, and was awarded top honors as "Outstanding Cadet of the Company."

Rick DeMars, director of the Oregon Youth Challenge Program, said in the 30 years he's been working with at-risk teens, he has rarely seen such a quick transformation.

"She's a youngster that just made a tremendous amount of progress," he said.

DeMars saw Stahl go from a troubled, defiant teen with low self-esteem, to a stand-out cadet.

"She just hit the ground running and emerged as a leader," he said.

Stahl's success is especially momentous because the program is so demanding.

"Very few adults could go through our program," DeMars said.

Throughout the next year, Stahl will check in with her mentors, set goals for herself, and continue to work on improving her life. She will return to the youth challenge program in mid-January to be a cadet mentor to a new group of cadets.

Stahl briefly considered a career in the military, but decided it wasn't the right path for her. Instead, armed with her GED, she's planning on taking classes at Linn-Benton Community College, and looks to eventually transfer to a four-year school. Previously, she'd never even considered college.

Stahl's mother believes the program transformed her daughter.

"That program pushed her in a way I don't think I could have," she said. "They had extremely high expectations and she thrived in that."