They said

“It will go by fast,” they said. “You won’t want to leave when graduation gets here,” they said. But they also said it would be challenging, and it’s safe to say that it has.

Now that I am over three quarters of the way done into my stay here at Texas ChalleNGe Academy, I can see that what they told us was true. We are close to P-RAP home pass and graduation. We have faced many challenges and gotten through them as a team, and I know that when I leave, I will be taking parts of TCA with me.

Ms. Jaime, our night TL, asked me how the program has changed me. I would say that the program hasn’t changed me. I am still me. But it has improved me. TCA has taught me how to work better with my surroundings and how to work with people that I never thought I would be able to work with.

TCA has improved my patience. Being around the same 28 girls everyday could make just about anyone about face the heck out of the bay. But honestly, I could not have done this program without those girls.

Though I may never see some of these girls ever again, the memories I have made will last forever and the stories I will share will go on.

Some things I will never forget are: tug of wars, dance battles in the bay, group PT, community service, softball and baseball games, sharing our favorite books from the library, group CAPEing (correction of actions through exercise), platoon lectures, and the morning rush to get ready.

Both the good and bad aspects of TCA have shaped us into the men and women we are becoming. Just like we started together, we will end it together. There are 103 students here currently, and although we have lost a few along the way, I plan to see those 103 at graduation.