LCA speech #1

It�s a pleasure to talk with you tonight.

Let me begin by saying you were losers.  Many of you had no future and no way to save yourselves.  You were sitting.  Many of you were living at night.  Many of you were using what ever you could find to numb your minds and sooth your emotions.

Many of your parents were watching you and weeping for you as they saw your loss, your failure, and your defeat. A few of you had police watching your every move.  And, even now, many of your friends are still sitting back at home, hanging on for the night, sleeping during another day, hating the authority that pushes, nags, and criticizes their every move.

It was one of you, a cadet, who brought me this thought� �If you always do what you�ve always done, you�ll always be where you�ve always been.�   I would like to tell you he brought me that quote before The Challenge.  I can�t.  I am his mentor and it occurred while he was serving weekends in jail after the Challenge.  He graduated from LCA, got his GED and then proceeded to throw all his earned gifts away�he disregarded all he had learned.  He�s still a friend and I thank him for the gift of that powerful quote.  Let me give it to you again�  �If you always do what you�ve always done, you�ll always be where you�ve always been.�  Remember his quote when ever you�re sitting too long and remember your achievements here must be guarded.  And, remember Chris on graduation day�his mistakes and your vow to not follow his road.

But lets get back to today� you�re not doing what you always done.  You�ve walked into a New World.  I remember parts of a movie that will clarify your new experience.  It begins with horseback riders charging to the top hill where they meet a wall of fire.  The fire was hot, erratic and persistent.  The riders talked about the impossibility of going any further forward.  One rider, however, believed the other side of that wall of fire contained a better life.  He feared the fire but he believed the other side of the flames was worth the risk.  He charged the flames and passes over.  You too have charged the flames two weeks ago and passed through to another world.

For your persistence in arriving here today, I admire you.   For riding through the wall of flames two weeks ago, I congratulate you.  For, I too, have passed through several walls of flames leaving old lives, good friends and family behind.  It�s sometimes necessary if we are to live our lives to there fullest.  It�s sometimes necessary if our lives are to continue.  I have always found my new life better than that which I left.  I believe you will find it the same.  Be patient.  Give it time.  And, please, don�t quit.

As you move from candidate to cadet, you might wonder if the prize at the end of this climb is worth it.  You might think nothing could be worth such a price as you are paying now.

It�s time to tell you about me.  I am a School employee.  I have worked part time in a school alternative program for the last eight years.  Most of the cadets I have assisted through the LCA program in the last five years were first dropped from our alternative school program.  Of the fourteen cadets I have supported, ten were from my alternative classroom and eight were dropped from our program before they entered this LCA program.  And, all eight completed the LCA program successfully.

So, what is it about LCA that I find priceless?  It is a process of implosion and reconstruction.  It�s a cleansing and rebuilding experience.  It�s an earn and learn cadet effort that repays according to the investment we make.

Let me stop with the words, and show you pictures�
One former cadet captured his beginning life style in his self-designed photos.

And, then, during LCA, he planned another photo.

And, we end with his third photo taken by our government.

I�ll quickly add that this is Justin�s road�maybe not yours.  But, however you see it, he wins!

Before LCA, he sat at home; he had no self worth; he was frustrated and angry.  He was without hope and on a self-destructive path.

After LCA, he was never without hope again.  He paid the price for success and earned the gift.

He learned, as Henry Ford learned��If you think you can or if you think you can�t, your right�.

I know each of you come here to LCA with different needs, different wants and, maybe, different attitudes.  But, for each of you, the gift awaits as you seek it and as you decide if the price is worth it.  The secret of this LCA experience rests in the fact that you alone achieve what you see worthy of your efforts.
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After you give up your old life, LCA offers a new beginning.
LCA frees you from the chains that bound you at home.
And, there are a few free gifts such as your GED; and, for some, a free college education.

I pray that each you will persist relentlessly to reach graduation day.
I wish none of you will see your former life more worthy than this current life experience.
I hope you will endure this aggravation�this strange new environment until it becomes your own.

I�ll end with a closing thought.  It�s a poem I first heard 20 years ago on WTAX in Springfield, Illinois at 6am.  The original recording I heard was made by Tex Ritter.  I found it so meaningful; I sought to take the disc jockeys job after he retired.  When Spiz Singer left, I sent in my demo tape to the radio station�s manager, Bruce Bagg.  To my shocking amazement, a month later, Bruce Bagg called me and I began another walk through a terrifying �Wall of Fire��radio broadcasting.

The poem that meant so much to me, and that tells your story as well, is�  �The Touch of The Master�s Hand�
 

Thank you...

Brad Engert
 
 

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