VOICES OF TENACITY
Ken LiangASEP Alumni, Class of 2004
When I first started out at Tenacity way back in 2002, I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but I am so glad I joined the program. Without Tenacity, my life would be completely different. I really struggled in middle school. My grades were very low, and also I was really shy and didn’t want to make any friends because of the way many kids treated me. But it all changed once I began attending Tenacity. There were tutors who were willing to help me with my math and my English. There were also many coaches to help me improve on my tennis skills. By the 8th grade, I began making new friends, all of my grades went up, and I made honor roll.
When middle school ended, Tenacity helped me to move on to one of the toughest high schools in Boston. It is a charter school called the MATCH, and at first I just hated the idea of taking on so hard a challenge. But lucky for me, Andy Crane kept telling me and my mom that MATCH would be the perfect school for me, and it really is. It’s because I have gotten so much help with English and math, and I have become a more confident person. So now I am a senior, I take AP Calculus and AP Physics. I’m also taking a course in Psychology at Boston University. And I’m getting ready to move on to College—I’m applying to Harvard, MIT, BC, Northeastern and UMass Amherst. I just couldn’t have done it if I hadn’t been convinced to take on a new challenge.
I’m still very active in Tenacity—like many other Tenacity grads, I am a tennis and reading instructor in the summer program and I operate the electronic scoreboard at the Harvard men’s and women’s tennis matches. And now I can say that, like other Tenacity kids, I speak on behalf of Tenacity at their events. I can guarantee you that there is no way I could have stood up before an audience back in 2002. I’ve come so far, and Tenacity has been with me every step of the way.
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