The following speech was delivered by a CHOICE junior at our Beginning of the Year Ceremony.
"For those of you who don't know me, I'm __________. I'm here today to welcome you to CHOICE and tell you how this great group of people helped me go from flunking out of school to getting on the A and B honor roll. I've been in CHOICE for my entire high school career.
Basically I'm in CHOICE because I was failing all my middle school classes. School, grades, work and everything that went with it were the furthest thing from my mind because of the uphill battles in my life and my problem staying focused. I'd go to middle school just to get out and be done with school. So coming into high school I wasn't really expecting too much from myself and wasn't sure what high school had to offer. CHOICE made that kick in the pants of going from top dog in middle school to being the new kid on the block a lot easier to recover from.
I've always found CHOICE to be a safety net for people like me, who without it might have fallen through the educational cracks. I know people who decided to transfer out of CHOICE after their first year and they always tell me that if they could they would go back to CHOICE in a heartbeat. They complain that they're not getting the time and attention they took for granted in CHOICE. This is the only group of teachers and volunteers will go the extra mile for you as long as you're willing to try.
But CHOICE isn't just about grades and schoolwork. It's a community and it's about trust. You will spend over half your day and sometimes longer with these kids so you have to have trust them. You'll meet people here from totally different backgrounds and places that you may have never met otherwise and you'll become lifetime friends. I always know that if I'm having problems at home or in school or anywhere else, I have teachers and friends in my CHOICE classes I can talk to. Since our very first retreat I've come to realize that trust and communication are things you must have to succeed in CHOICE. Out there at SAGA we started off as just some kids in the pouring down rain climbing ropes but we came back a few days later a much closer group of friends. Ever since then the things we do on retreats (and especially the food we eat there) are things we all look forward to.
Three years ago I would have never in a million years figured I'd be where I am today. I credit most of it to the people in CHOICE who have gone out of their way to help me be my best. I agreed to do this speech today because I almost got out of CHOICE and looking back, thank God I didn't! I can't even imagine where I'd be if I would have decided to leave. I just wanted to tell you what CHOICE is about and what is has to offer for you, so hopefully you can come as far as I have. In closing from all the juniors here today, welcome to CHOICE!"
"For those of you who don't know me, I'm __________. I'm here today to welcome you to CHOICE and tell you how this great group of people helped me go from flunking out of school to getting on the A and B honor roll. I've been in CHOICE for my entire high school career.
Basically I'm in CHOICE because I was failing all my middle school classes. School, grades, work and everything that went with it were the furthest thing from my mind because of the uphill battles in my life and my problem staying focused. I'd go to middle school just to get out and be done with school. So coming into high school I wasn't really expecting too much from myself and wasn't sure what high school had to offer. CHOICE made that kick in the pants of going from top dog in middle school to being the new kid on the block a lot easier to recover from.
I've always found CHOICE to be a safety net for people like me, who without it might have fallen through the educational cracks. I know people who decided to transfer out of CHOICE after their first year and they always tell me that if they could they would go back to CHOICE in a heartbeat. They complain that they're not getting the time and attention they took for granted in CHOICE. This is the only group of teachers and volunteers will go the extra mile for you as long as you're willing to try.
But CHOICE isn't just about grades and schoolwork. It's a community and it's about trust. You will spend over half your day and sometimes longer with these kids so you have to have trust them. You'll meet people here from totally different backgrounds and places that you may have never met otherwise and you'll become lifetime friends. I always know that if I'm having problems at home or in school or anywhere else, I have teachers and friends in my CHOICE classes I can talk to. Since our very first retreat I've come to realize that trust and communication are things you must have to succeed in CHOICE. Out there at SAGA we started off as just some kids in the pouring down rain climbing ropes but we came back a few days later a much closer group of friends. Ever since then the things we do on retreats (and especially the food we eat there) are things we all look forward to.
Three years ago I would have never in a million years figured I'd be where I am today. I credit most of it to the people in CHOICE who have gone out of their way to help me be my best. I agreed to do this speech today because I almost got out of CHOICE and looking back, thank God I didn't! I can't even imagine where I'd be if I would have decided to leave. I just wanted to tell you what CHOICE is about and what is has to offer for you, so hopefully you can come as far as I have. In closing from all the juniors here today, welcome to CHOICE!"