Before and after

I have been at Texas ChalleNGe Academy almost five months now and will graduate from here in December. Before coming here, I had lost hope and didn’t seem to think my future was very bright. In these few months, that has changed.

Before coming to TCA, I skipped school most days to go vape or smoke weed with “friends.” It got so bad that I almost failed out of school, and my parents had lost all trust in me. It got to the point that my mom told my assistant principal to have the police arrest me so that it could teach me a lesson.

Looking back now, I feel so badly for everything that I put my parents through.

Before I came here, my mental health wasn’t very healthy at all. I thought that by doing drugs, it would get better, but it didn’t. It just made everything so much worse, and like I said, I didn’t have much to hope for.

I’m not sure exactly how I came to be at TCA, but I know that by being here, my life has changed so much, and I have the ability to think clearly and act rationally. I am almost a high school graduate and only need 4.5 credits to graduate. I am also able to take my GED this month. And I am only one of the many successful cadets here at TCA.

One day in the future, I hope to tell other teens who are struggling that there is an answer and the TCA can change their lives. This program has made me stronger in so many ways. Physically, mentally, and academically, TCA has taught me to keep pushing forward and achieve the goals that I have. I have learned that no matter what, it is a great day to be alive and to keep achieving my dreams.