Challenge Day .

WAS THE BEST . First Lets talk about what challenge day is really about . Challenge day is a day where everyone accepts themselves completely for who they are . "A day where students celebrate the diversity of all people ; And negative comments , thoughts , behaviors that hurt people are abandoned . A day where we are all real with each other . Basically it's a day where we do alot of fun activities , with other students , adults , and teachers . The whole goals of the whole ebent is to increase personal power , self-esteem , to shift dangerous peer pressure to positive peer support and to eliminate the acceptability of teasing , violence , and all form of oppression . They're designed to unite the members of the school and / or community and to empower them to carry the themes back to the greater school population . Teens are challenged to be the change they want to see in the world ." It was amazing . I'm one of the Challenge day team Leaders' , So I had some responsibility , I was in charge of a group . But it was amazing . Like , we had so much fun , we played a whole bunch of cool games , met a whole bunch of new people did so much interesting activities . Allot of people stepped out of their comfort zone , they came out of the closet , they didn't have their mask on that they put to hide the real them , they didn't act fake . Everyone actually acted like themselves , and didn't care . Nobody judged anyone , nobody teased or put anyone down . It was amazing . I just loved it over all . But after we got through the fun stuff . We started getting into the more serious stuff . And when the leaders started telling their stories I started crying . I'm not gunna lie . I started tearing up . Their stories touched my heart . Also because I could relate to it . then we got in our little "family" groups , and we started talking about our stories . And I was crying so hard . When I heard Tommy's story . I was dead in tears . He used to look up to his father like a hero , and when he was little his father used to drive him to places and tell him not to tell his mom anything , and because he looked up to his dad , he didn't but then he got older , and his father had an affair with one of his teachers . And he just came home one day looking for his dad , His mom told him that his dad couldn't live with them anymore . Then he found out . That his father died . And he was dead in tears , I ran up to hug that boy and he was balling in my arms . He was the kind of tough guy that you thought could never cry . And he broke down in my arms . And Andrew too ! same thing he even said he wasn't gunna cry at all , he didn't even want to go in the first place , he thought it was stupid . And then . We did the activity that Challenge Day is known for .. "The Power Shuffle" or "Cross The Line" where they read off situations , and we had to cross the line if it applied to us and we had to be totally silent . And I'm not gonna lie .. I crossed for almost everyone of those except for probably 3 out of 40 situations . The ones that hit me the most , the one where you were always told you weren't good enough , the one where you had to go home to yelling and fights , the one where it was just for girls and how they were treated , and the last one .. If you've ever been a child cross the line . The last one people had to think . I didn't cross the line . And it was just so much . Those were the ones where I was balling , and people had to hold me while crossing the line . The last one was too much . I couldn't even go to my seat . Then after that we had to go back into our little families and talk about it , it was so hard for me because I was balling , but then after that we had cards .. and well , they told us to close our eyes , and think of this one person , that you love , it could be more than one . But they told us , if you ever wanted the chance to tell this person that you need them in your life , that you want them in your life , and that you love them , and that you care , now is the time , We want you to write in those cards to this person , and give it to them . And I wrote 2 , one for Nikki , and one for this special someone who has always been in my heart . And I will give this card to that special someone , first thing Monday . But looking back at the Power Shuffle , it was really hard . It made people look around and realize , that we all aren't alone . Every one's lives aren't perfect . Everyone has somebody out there that's going through or has been through the same thing that you're going through or went through . And in the end we were all holding each other and we were united as a family . Challenge Day was the best .

A couple weeks after Monday: After that day , that special someone finally talked to me after the longest time , and though it was just a mere 10 minutes . I cherished every moment , and I was more than happy . Probably the most I can ever be . I'm done hiding & I know you know that ,
Thanks for being there , ilylots Gerry Cercado .