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VIEWPOINT OF A TEXAS CHALLENGE ACADEMY CADET
Before coming to Texas ChalleNGe Academy, my life was slowly going downhill. Left and right, I was doing everything wrong. I was doing everything that I wasn’t supposed to do.
My parents told me about this academy, and I absolutely did not want to attend. But after thinking about it for a few days, I changed my mind. On that day, I did a Zoom call and learned about the program.
I learned that I would be away from family and friends for five and a half months, but I still decided to come. I was frightened, and I spent my time before I left contemplating, wondering if I made the right decision. I was scared to leave my family and I had never made a hard decision like this before.
Now that I am here, I am glad I came. It has given me a chance to find my true self, and great things will come when I finish. This program will allow me to show that I can change and that I do care about my future.
Here I I can focus in school and learn without distractions, and I am also learning selfdiscipline. Here we have a lot of support. One of my favorite team leaders is Mr. Fields. He has taught me so much about determination and has taught me to keep striving to achieve my goals.
In addition to the Monday-Friday events, the program has a counseling class every Sunday. The counselor has told us we need to seek positively and to wait six to ten seconds before reacting to something that bothers us. He said that could change 99 percent of our attitudes. And I am finding that he is right.
TCA is a good program for youths who are 16-18 years old. It has changed my life and can change yours as well.
