Terrence Echols is a senior here at YMLA and has been attending this school ever since the 6th grade. He’s chill, funny, and easy to get along with. He likes playing and watching sports, but the main sport he loves the most is boxing. “Any other sports I ever played does not compare to boxing,” Terrence said in an interview. I asked Terrence many questions trying to figure out how YMLA has shaped him and affected his life and the main thing I found is that Terrence learned the true meaning of commitment. Terrence said that boxing changed his whole perspective on life. He realized it takes dedication to be good at anything you want to be. He watched many boxers and saw that each one of them had a strong passion for their sport and worked hard on their skills. “It takes something to train every day, that stuff is hard,” Terrence said. Terrence also said that boxing made him learn more about himself because it put him into a different mindset and it’s a different feeling. Terrence loves the sport and trains hard in boxing and said that it’s something that will stick with him for the rest of his life.

After high school, Terrence plans to head straight into work, and far more into the future, start a family. His dream in life is to have a good job with multiple sources of income. He wants to take care of his family and be a good role model for his brothers and cousins. “Excellence by developing academic scholars for generations to come,” is a quote from the mission that has stuck out the most to Terrence. “If you are from this school you know there’s excellence here and working towards something. In any other school, you can’t say that, but here you know you’re working towards your future and you know it means something when you’re coming here today.” Terrence said.

“What’s the biggest thing YMLA has taught you?”

“I could say, I guess that they taught me routine, like being on top of what needs to be done. Coming prepared, you know you have to come every day with your tie, shirt, slacks, shoes, belt, you know you gotta have that.”

 “What is a lesson you learned and would like to share with your brothers coming to YMLA?”

 “Don’t be a follower, be you, be proud to be you. If you are different bro, be you, accept that. You don’t have to be friends with anybody, you can be your biggest friend. Whatever you’re interested in, do it to your fullest extent and do what you want to do.”