Brittany Tyra said her worst nightmare came true. Her entire high school career was about to culminate in a cardinal cap and gown, as she walked with her classmates onto the J. David Ramsey Stadium turf for Bear River High School's graduation.

But as school officials were scouring senior checklists, a red flag rose when it came to Tyra's transcript.

Her counselor told her that an “F” she earned in the first semester of her freshman English course would keep her from participating in the ceremony.

“I had no idea. I was shocked. I couldn't believe what she was saying to me,” Tyra said. “I was like ‘OK what do you want me to do?' She was shocked as well.

“They told me I was not allowed to participate at all, but I felt like I deserved to be there.”

Tyra said she went ahead and walked with classmates onto the school's football field for the graduation ceremony Friday, but was pulled from the proceedings as soon as she reached her seat.

“I went over to the sideline and sat with a friend,” she said. “But I didn't feel like sitting with anybody, so I went and sat by myself.”

As she sat in the stands, watching her classmates collect their diplomas, Tyra said she couldn't help but feel angry over the situation, both with the counselor and herself.

She knew, of course, that she had failed that semester of freshman English. It was one of two courses that she fell short of passing that year, at a time when schoolwork wasn't a high priority for her, she said.

“I guess I never really was even thinking about college,” Tyra said. “My plan was to get out of high school and do whatever I wanted.

“But probably between my sophomore and junior year, I started to think about it when my water polo coach told me I had a lot of talent.”

Tyra said that coach, Daryn Glasgow, became her counselor of sorts outside of school, encouraging her to work as hard in the classroom as she was in the pool, because there were opportunities for her to play beyond high school.

She said she heeded the message, buckling down and carrying a grade-point average near 3.0 over her final two years of high school.

As she began her senior year, Tyra said she approached her school counselor about whether she would be able to get into a four-year university.

“She said the first thing I'd need to do is take English 1A before I could go to a four-year school, because I'd failed the first semester my freshman year,” Tyra said.

She was also told that she would need to produce a strong score in Standard Aptitude Test to boost her chances because her GPA would not be high due to her early struggles in high school. Tyra enrolled in the English course, to be completed through correspondence.

“But my SAT score didn't come out as high as I wanted it to be and I stopped taking the course,” Tyra said, noting that she thought the “F” in English would only stop her from attending a four-year school and not keep her from graduating.

When she learned that she would sit out the commencement ceremony, Tyra immediately went to work completing the course, spending 12 hours finishing it before Friday morning. But because the coursework had to be mailed away for approval, she couldn't receive a passing grade in time to walk with her classmates.

Her father, Jason Tyra, said he is proud of the turnaround he saw in Brittany's final two years of school. Although he and his daughter are accountable for the error, Jason Tyra said her counselor should have made it more clear the class she failed was a graduation requirement and not simply a prerequisite for a four-year school.

“The counselor is supposed to be there to tell her ‘You still need to get this English grade taken care of,'” said Jason Tyra. “There were only six seniors out of the whole class who didn't graduate. There were only six on the bubble.”

Bear River Principal Jim Nieto said he couldn't confirm that there were six seniors who didn't participate in the graduation ceremony. But Nieto did say it's something some seniors face each spring, as district policy doesn't allow seniors to participate in graduation if they have not met all requirements.

“Every year we have a small number of kids that don't walk (in graduation),” Nieto said. “But that doesn't mean they don't graduate. If they don't make the mark by the last day, it's usually because they have an outstanding class they have to take or there is some requirement that hasn't been fulfilled.”

Nieto said he won't know until the end of two summer school sessions how many seniors failed to meet requirements for graduation.

Tyra doesn't plan to be one of those still without her diploma.

She found out Tuesday the coursework she completed in her cram session Thursday night, on the eve of graduation, had expired due to the length of time she took to finish. But she's already re-enrolling in order to complete the class in time to attend Sierra College in the fall, with hopes of continuing her water polo career.

Though it came the hard way, Tyra said the entire ordeal essentially boils down to a lesson learned.

“It was definitely the worst thing I've personally experienced. The worse feeling ever,” she said. “I'm not mad at my school. It's my fault, as well as my counselor's. But I can't put the blame on her, because it's my fault. Maybe other people can learn from this.

“I learned to be responsible for myself. I don't want to have to rely on other people.”

To contact City Editor Brian Hamilton, e-mail bhamilton@theunion.com or call (530) 477-4249.