Pushing myself

One day, my older sister, Nadia, came to my house and showed me a video about Texas ChalleNGe Academy on Facebook. After watching it, she and my mom asked me if I would like to attend TCA.

At first I wasn’t really thrilled about going, but after attending a Zoom conference, I decided to say yes because it would help in some ways like finishing school early and getting some life skills that will help me later in life.

When I first got here, I was nervous, but the team leaders have not been bad at all, and they help us. The ones that are assigned to the girls are Team leaders Ambeau, Belvin, Garcia, Cardenas, and Thomas. I enjoy having them because they are not rude, and without them, our bay would be loud and out of control.

They also give good advice to us, and when we are having a bad day, or feeling low, they will talk to us and let us know that we are going to be okay. They also have fun with us, but they don’t put up with our nonsense.

To be honest, there are some days that I really have to push myself. We get up when it is still dark outside. We are still half asleep when we go to PT and then we go to chow. We have a full day of school and also life skills classes. In the evenings, we are also busy until lights out at 8:30.

Even though we have many challenges, it is not as hard or tough if we listen to our teachers and team leaders and focus on our goals and reasons for attending. And while some days seem to go slow, the weeks go by fast. I can’t wait for June 17 and graduating, knowing that I have completed my challenge.