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Now That's a Summer Vacation

I wish something like Summer Search were available for every kid in the city who feels ground down not just by poverty but any tough circumstance they're having a hard time weathering.

Summer Search Philadelphia describes its mission this way: To find resilient low-income high school students and inspire them to become responsible and altruistic leaders by providing year-round mentoring, life-changing summer experiences, college advising and a lasting support network.

The kids selected to participate in the Philadelphia program, which begins in the sophomore year of high school and ends two years after graduation, spoke about their accomplishments last night at a celebratory dinner held at the High School of the Future at 4021 Parkside Avenue.

One of the teen presenters was Tyrhee Williams, a senior at Fels High School, who participated in an intense, four-week workshop at Virginia Military Institute.  Starting every day with 45 minutes of physical training at 6 am and ending with a study hour at 10 pm, Tyrhee climbed mountains, learned leadership skills and took academic classes.

Here's some of what Tyrhee shared at last night's event:

"Just before I went on this amazing trip that has helped me to better myself, I was the type of person who was late to meetings and sometimes did not even bother to show up. Every time I would make an excuse ... or try to blame it on someone else.... This was all new to me and very uncomfortable, so I tried my hardest to get out of it.

"When I arrived at the College Orientation Workshop [at VMI], I did not think I would be able to make it through the program. When we ran our first "do right"  - which included push ups, sit ups, laps, and climbing the bleachers - I thought, "What the heck did I get myself into?" But I knew that my mentors wouldn't send me on a trip I wasn't prepared for.

"On the second day, two people decided to leave, even though everybody tried to talk them into staying. I believe that they left because they wanted to take the easy way out instead of facing the obstacles head-on, like we were going to be challenged to do in the coming weeks.

"This reminded me of how I used to take the easy way out of some things I was involved in. This gave me the drive not to give up on myself because I did not want to be like them. At that point the group really started to get discouraged and feel homesick. But rather than give up, we started to support each other and say we can all do this and we have to stick together.
 
"On the first weekend we climbed House Mountain, the hardest part of our trip. My friend Malcolm, who had hurt his knee, didn't think he could make it with his injury, but the counselors, coaches and all of us cheered him on. I learned that if we could all push each other through this, we could help each other through everything.

"This was an important lesson for the remainder of the trip. We did team building, and we started to act like we were close friends. This helped everybody get to know each other better and understand where we had come from and why we were there. It showed me that even if you have just met someone, you can trust them to help you get through the problems that you have.

"When I first arrived I didn't think I would be able to complete the trip, but I learned that if you put your mind to it, you can do what you think you cannot. Now I want to apply to go to VMI.  I learned that if you give up on yourself now, you are likely to give up on yourself in the future..

"As I start my senior year, I am going to make time for homework and studying to bring my grades up. If I had been to VMI before, I think I would have made different decisions so that I wouldn't have had to go to summer school. VMI and Summer Search have helped me look forward to future goals. They taught me to think about what I want to do in the future and how to take actions now that will help me get where I want to be.

"This is important to me so that I can be successful and go  to law school. I want to become a District Attorney to help put criminals away so that no one else will have to feel angry, sad or disappointed in the justice system. I am driven to achieve this because when I was younger my brother was shot and killed, but the killer was not convicted and never faced justice for his crimes.

"With the help of Summer Search I have grown in many ways. Most importantly, I have taken control of my future and I now know how to take the steps to attain my goals."

Way to go, Tyrhee. Keep at it, and congratulations.