Two of those students stepped onto the field at Cupertino High School June 10 and accepted diplomas that took more than cramming and copious amounts of caffeine. And while both look forward to what happens next, their high school days have already taken them beyond the norm in life experience.

Justine Allen missed a great deal of school in her four years at Cupertino High, but she wasn't cutting class. After a kidney transplant in June 1999, her immune system was weakened, so even the most common of colds could take her out of commission for a few days. Her medication also makes her hands shake.

Part of her regimen is to stay hydrated, so she has to keep a lot of liquids and medicine on campus. "My sophomore year, another kid with a kidney transplant came into school," says Allen, 18. "It got easier to find a system. We had a little area in the office designated just for us."

The malady that affected Allen's kidneys is a genetic disorder called nephronopthisis, which affects one in 100,000 people. It had been misdiagnosed throughout her childhood, but when she was in the seventh grade, the disorder came roaring back. Her mom then offered one of her kidneys to replace both of Allen's. "I was so sick that I could feel the relief almost immediately," Allen says. "It really brought my family together."

The surgery requires that Allen not participate in any contact sports, but she's found other extracurriculars to pass the time. She belongs to Amnesty International and volunteers with her friends. Most recently, she worked at the air show at Moffett Field, but she also helps train medical students at Stanford to better deal with patients like herself. "I'm trying to make them more empathetic," Allen says.

Stanford is also where she undergoes routine blood work, but she may have to find somewhere else to go when she starts at California State University, Chico in the fall.

Allen took honors classes in math and science and hopes to major in business--not bad for a student whose illness forced her to get through much of her middle school years at home with the aid of a tutor.

A fellow classmate who similarly overcame time away from school is 18-year-old Alex Gueret. In middle school, he was hospitalized for three weeks due to suicidal thoughts. He was also later diagnosed with depression. But he has since moved past that time and looks to attend De Anza College after he graduates from Cupertino.

Gueret suffers from a number of learning disabilities, including severe auditory processing problems and a speech impediment, both of which were discovered in elementary school. The speech impediment is nearly gone, but the auditory processing problems still plague him. "Essays and reading comprehension are really difficult for me," he says. "I have no problem with the ideas. The way the information is presented is confusing."

Classes at Cupertino have helped him deal with these problems. He took a learning skills class every day in addition to three regular classes, which this year included biology, British literature and a semester each of government and economics.

Gueret was able to take this lighter load in his junior and senior year because of stressful freshman and sophomore years when he took seven classes and pressured himself to the point where his depression came creeping back. "It was hard to keep up everything. It all stacked up on top of each other," he says.

But then came classes like the Voices of Modern Culture course he took. Gueret says that his teacher helped him clarify his thoughts, and he was able to see improvement in his writing from the course's first essay to the last.

He also achieved a black belt in tae kwon do. Events like these were big boosts. "I think I have my self-confidence back," he says.

Gueret also credits his supportive family. He lives with his parents and older half-sister, and plans to stay there while he begins his studies at De Anza. But the summer also brings another bright spot. His mother, who was born and raised in England, hopes to take Gueret to London and Paris as a celebratory vacation.

The occasion is one his parents are celebrating nearly as much as Gueret. "I didn't get to go to my middle school graduation, so this is a pretty big thing," he says. "They really wanted to see me graduate then, but they'll get to see me now."