My perspective

Texas ChalleNGe Academy is a great place because it gives young men and women who have done wrong the ability to change their paths and accomplish more in their lives. I came to TCA because I was skipping school, being disrespectful, and experiencing anger issues. Now I am getting better every day.

When I first got here, I thought this place sucked because I missed home and was not used to this lifestyle. But as I started learning to do what I was told, it became better. One of our team leaders says, “Don’t make no smoke, and you won’t get any smoke, HUA.” This means to listen and do what we are told. I have learned that if we just follow directions and work hard, change will come.

To me, the hardest parts are actually pretty simple when you think about it. One part that was so hard for me was simply learning to sit on the ground the correct way, which at TCA involves putting your legs left over right when you sit on the ground. Sounds simple, but everyone has to do it right, all the time.

Another simple but annoying part is standing at attention or at ease. It’s hard at first because we are not used to it, but after a few weeks it also becomes routine.

This place slowly becomes home for the five and a half months we are here, and the people become like family. The people work here because they care about us and want the best for us.

We are just kids who are trying to change. And that’s what we are doing 15-16 hours a day. We wake up at 4:30 a.m. and go to sleep at 8:30. It gets boring, but there are good points.

We get to do service to the community on Saturdays, which is a lot of fun and also helps others. After school, we have small unis. They are fun groups that let us do something that interests us after school. Om Sundays, we get to phone home which is great. We also get to read books. I used to never read books, but now I love reading books because we get to go to the library and pick out books and read during our free time before we go to bed.

So that is my viewpoint about TCA. If you are a teen reading this or know someone that has fallen off the path, tell them about TCA.