What our students say
I learned how to set up a tent by myself. I went snowboarding and learned how to build fish attractors.
Xander H.
I’ve finally been described as a “grown woman”. At least that’s how one DWP participant would describe me. It feels so odd to think that of myself, but here I am a college graduate at the adult DWP session. My four years as a participant of YDWP were always fun filled with my peers. This year it’s different in all the right ways. I’m learning the importance of interacting and communicating as a young adult, and that my opinion and voice matters even at my age (the youngest of the group). So far, I’ve enjoyed talking and listening with the other DWPers. This year we’ve had “round table” discussions about DWP and what our involvement means to us and gender equality. I think this new part of the program is essential in creating dialogue between younger and older generations. The advocate candidate I’ve been paired with, another young adult-Gabrielle, is amazing! She works so well above and underwater. We’ve really been learning together as it’s been two years since my last YDWP session. The wreck we’re working on is located on beautiful Molasses Reef. I’ve honestly been a little distracted by surrounding sea life as we work, but I have no doubt Gabrielle and I will be able to turn in quality work at the end of the week. Along with my partner, the other young adults here are so inspiring. They’ve all accomplished so much in their own right! As I look forward to entering graduate school this summer, I’ve been motivated by the hard work they’ve done and even more confident that I can do the same.
Rachel S.
I learned about edible plants. I made leather moccassins with airplane seats.
Judah H.
Today on July 17th, YDWP went out on the first of two dives in search of the slave ship the Guerrero. I was able to complete a total of three dives today and on each dive my group was assigned with a different task. On the first dive we did a twenty minute survey of the wreck site in search of any possible artifacts that could be from the Guerrero. Once our survey dive was complete we continued with the second dive and my group was actually assigned the task of metal detection. So for the duration of dive number two, my group went along the wreck site in search of any possible metal anomalies that could be possible artifacts from the ship. Using the metal sector was rather complicated at first just because it was so much bigger than me and my arm didn’t fit in it and also it was heavy so I really became more focused on trying to hold the metal detector at some points. As for the final dive of the day, my group began the trilateration process which is the measuring of an artifact from two different points along the baseline that create the shape of an equilateral triangle. All and all I would say that this was definitely a successful dive day and a lot of artifacts were found and new experiences were made.
Alexis B.
The Tennessee Aquatic Project and Development Group, Inc. (TAP) has provided me with a wealth of opportunities and a greater sense of confidence in my ability to become a successful and productive member of society. My experience of participating in the TAP allowed me to be engaged in my community, define my career interest, and grow a valuable personal and professional network.
TAP’s program staff encouraged me to share my experiences and new knowledge with my community through outreach and educational activities. They also fostered a collaborative work environment with my peers in the program. The program staff challenged and trained me to be a leader in my community. During the summers, I attended a national youth educational summit which allowed me to explore my passion for marine ecology while also participating in cultural and leadership development activities. These experiences played an instrumental role in shaping my career path. The personal and professional network I established while in TAP continues to be an invaluable resource. I have formed lifelong friendships and mentor-mentee relationships with individuals that I first met through TAP. This network has reinforced the importance of having a reliable and trusted sounding board for sorting out complex issues. On a professional level, these relationships allowed for access to opportunities that were previously unavailable to me.
Savannah W.
I feel eager to dive again and see what's underwater.
I feel happy to be with my friends and see new things.
I feel like myself underwater and explosive because I get to explore.
I want to be by myself underwater and explore and I almost left the group last time because I am so curious.
I was excited and comfortable under water.
I feel supercalifragilisticexpialidocious about diving because I am the luckiest kid in the world.
I feel scared that the fish are going to attack me.
On my first dive I was so scared because we might go so deep that we might have breathing problems.
I want to go to 50 feet to see what's down there even though I know it will be colder. When we hit 45 feet before it was freezing.
Hopefully that we can go with our buddies. My buddy might be Mr Jones and I would like that because he knows what he's doing.
It's fun because we will get to explore and travel all over the world.
I'm proud of being certified; at first I was afraid of the process but then I put on my thinking cap.
Gwyn G.
Today we were granted the opportunity to go dive and find any measurements we may have neglected on the first two dives. I've been told this is the first time YDWP has been able to do this. It was extremely beneficial to be able to go back down there and make sure everything was correct. Today, for me personally, I feel my greatest accomplishment was the drastic improvement of my diving skills over the three dives. I went from being little of no use to my group to being able to collect several measurements and headings. We even did insitu drawings for a couple of extra artifacts on a newly created second baseline. It was truly satisfying to be able to truly be apart of changing history. After this program, I have so much more confidence in the water, and I simply can not wait to see how our final site map comes together.
Marcus came to TAP when he was 12 years old , he is a master scuba dive,lifeguard,water safety instructor and a very gifted musician. Check out Marcus's website http://marcusj.net/
TAP has done so many great things in my life, I don't know where to start. TAP is so much more than the surface level of exposing youth to marine life, I believe that it teaches you life skills that can translate into whatever profession you choose. Because of TAP I was able to learn how to lead people and have confidence when I speak in front of large groups. It taught me organization. I was able to learn the importance of time management and utilizing my day to the fullest.I also learned in TAP that it was okay to Dream but set goals to obtain it. This was very important because it showed me that if I have dream of accomplishing anything we have to set goals to get there. I believe in any child development this is a must to become successful. I remember we had a speaker come to us and one thing he said was "successful people do things unsuccessful people don't want to do". This has stuck with me for many years and in my adult life has been my motto.While all of these things were great I think the biggest impact was the fact that TAP gave me positive Black Male Role Models to look up to. Growing up in North Nashville and coming from a single parent household, was not the easiest but Mr. Stewart and his staff gave me an Idea of what s strong black man was suppose to look like. It showed me that their was other ways to be successful besides sports and entertainment in the black community and that the sky was the limit. That for me is priceless, and I will forever cherish that. So you ask what has TAP has done for me? It changed my life .....
I am not sure how much time had passed between this event and my mother finding out about TAP from my friend and church member Chris Cannon's mother Harriet Cannon, but it did happen the same year. When my mother explained that this program taught kids how to swim, I did not need any other encouragement. I was ready to go.
I remember starting out and training in the water with Mr. Scruggs, who was an older but fit man, very patient, and focused on form. We trained every Saturday and I was determined to figure this out. Eventually, I got better and better, until I was tested again. This was the test of jumping off the diving board for the first time. It was kind of a rites of passage. I remember my friend Savannah encouraging me from the water with her lifeguard tube, ready to act in case of the worst. I heard encouragement echoing from off the walls in that pool room, and before I knew it, I had taken the plunge! How exhillerating it was to have gone off the board for the first time. This was my first break through in TAP. I also completed my first four phases of wilderness survival training, including the dreaded night hike and swamp walk, around that time, and therefore I had overcome several fears inside of myself.
After that, before I knew it I was swimming with the fish. Ten laps a weekend, treding water with the brick for ten minutes, which was a little more difficult for me, but over time this too became a simple task.
As time passed and swimming laps and treding with the brick became an increadingly less daunting task, eventually I became bored. After a while I began to think oh no I have to wake up early on Saturdays and go to that dreaded place. However of all the programs and clubs I had been in, of all the things I started and stopped, my parents would not let me out of this one. I begged, I pleaded. No was the firm answer. Around this time I became interested in gangster tendencies and thug life, being inspired by the media with images of what a so called black man should be, and I ate it up. This would cause me a few issues in school, at home, and in TAP.
It's true what they say it takes a village to raise a child, but the child must also be willing. My village, my family, TAP, never gave up on me, but there was a time were I was told to make a decision. This was my next breakthrough in TAP, which lasted me through until I was 18. Around this time I had got my open water diver certificate, next I became a lifeguard, and from there with the help of my village I became a Rescue Diver, then a Master Diver, I made money in the summertime as a lifeguard and water safety instructor cashing some of the biggest checks I had ever seen, I became a leader at wilderness survival training, I had traveled on a trip outside of the country, I actually did underwater archeology at the age of 17, and the rest is history.
What TAP means to me can truly never be expressed in words, and what has been given to me from this Program can never be repaid. I can only share the uttmost gratitude for my Village never giving up on me. This letter in all of its detail only explains a small fraction of the adventures, stories, lessons and development that came from this program. However, it is safe to say that I accomplished all that I set out for and much, much more, much thanks to Mr. Scruggs, Mr. Sweet, Mrs. Henderson, Mrs. Spells, Ranger, Harry O., Mr. Jones, the older TAP kids who pushed us to become greater than them, my parents, all the involved TAP parents NABS, YDWP, and last but not least the Mr. Stewart the Great.
Tristan C.
As I think back and recall being a young man trying to figure out my way going through lifes challenges and tests, I remember one day being supremely embarassed when I went to a middle school pool party and uncomfortably discovered that I was the only kid at the place who could not swim. To add insult to injury I was the only Moorish child in the midst of 30-40 European kids. I watched them all back stroke, butterfly, jump effortlessly off the diving board, and at one point there seemed to be some sort of syncronized swimming going on. However, I will never truly know because the entire party I wadded lonely in the shalow end.
I am not sure how much time had passed between this event and my mother finding out about TAP from my friend and church member Chris Cannon's mother Harriet Cannon, but it did happen the same year. When my mother explained that this program taught kids how to swim, I did not need any other encouragement. I was ready to go.
I remember starting out and training in the water with Mr. Scruggs, who was an older but fit man, very patient, and focused on form. We trained every Saturday and I was determined to figure this out. Eventually, I got better and better, until I was tested again. This was the test of jumping off the diving board for the first time. It was kind of a rites of passage. I remember my friend Savannah encouraging me from the water with her lifeguard tube, ready to act in case of the worst. I heard encouragement echoing from off the walls in that pool room, and before I knew it, I had taken the plunge! How exhillerating it was to have gone off the board for the first time. This was my first break through in TAP. I also completed my first four phases of wilderness survival training, including the dreaded night hike and swamp walk, around that time, and therefore I had overcome several fears inside of myself.
After that, before I knew it I was swimming with the fish. Ten laps a weekend, treding water with the brick for ten minutes, which was a little more difficult for me, but over time this too became a simple task.
As time passed and swimming laps and treding with the brick became an increasingly less daunting task, eventually I became bored. After a while I began to think oh no I have to wake up early on Saturdays and go to that dreaded place. However of all the programs and clubs I had been in, of all the things I started and stopped, my parents would not let me out of this one. I begged, I pleaded. No was the firm answer. Around this time I became interested in gangster tendencies and thug life, being inspired by the media with images of what a so called black man should be, and I ate it up. This would cause me a few issues in school, at home, and in TAP.
It's true what they say it takes a village to raise a child, but the child must also be willing. My village, my family, TAP, never gave up on me, but there was a time were I was told to make a decision. This was my next breakthrough in TAP, which lasted me through until I was 18. Around this time I had got my open water diver certificate, next I became a lifeguard, and from there with the help of my village I became a Rescue Diver, then a Master Diver, I made money in the summertime as a lifeguard and water safety instructor cashing some of the biggest checks I had ever seen, I became a leader at wilderness survival training, I had traveled on a trip outside of the country, I actually did underwater archeology at the age of 17, and the rest is history.
What TAP means to me can truly never be expressed in words, and what has been given to me from this Program can never be repaid. I can only share the utmost gratitude for my Village never giving up on me. This letter in all of its detail only explains a small fraction of the adventures, stories, lessons and development that came from this program. However, it is safe to say that I accomplished all that I set out for and much, much more, much thanks to Mr. Scruggs, Mr. Sweet, Mrs. Henderson, Mrs. Spells, Ranger, Harry O., Mr. Jones, the older TAP kids who pushed us to become greater than them, my parents, all the involved TAP parents NABS, YDWP, and last but not least the Mr. Stewart the Great.
My name is Joshua Harrison; I have been a part of TAP for about 7 years. When I first joined TAP it was solely for the purpose of learning how to swim. But after spending more and more time in the program I started to see better possibilities arising. I think I was 12 when I went on my first NABS/YES in Savannah Georgia and while we were there we visited a Coast Guard base and I saw them jumping out of helicopters during their training and from that moment being a rescue swimmer became a dream job for me. Well years and years later I stuck with TAP; becoming a Lifeguard, scuba diver, master swimmer, and DWP instructor. And because of all the help that TAP has given me to get better and better I joined the U.S. Navy and and am now apart of the special warfare group of Aviation Rescue Swimmers which has been my dream job since I was 12.
As I think back and recall being a young man trying to figure out my way going through lifes challenges and tests, I remember one day being supremely embarassed when I went to a middle school pool party and uncomfortably discovered that I was the only kid at the place who could not swim. To add insult to injury I was the only Moorish child in the midst of 30-40 European kids. I watched them all back stroke, butterfly, jump effortlessly off the diving board, and at one point there seemed to be some sort of syncronized swimming going on. However, I will never truly know because the entire party I wadded lonely in the shalow end.
I am not sure how much time had passed between this event and my mother finding out about TAP from my friend and church member Chris Cannon's mother Harriet Cannon, but it did happen the same year. When my mother explained that this program taught kids how to swim, I did not need any other encouragement. I was ready to go.
I remember starting out and training in the water with Mr. Scruggs, who was an older but fit man, very patient, and focused on form. We trained every Saturday and I was determined to figure this out. Eventually, I got better and better, until I was tested again. This was the test of jumping off the diving board for the first time. It was kind of a rites of passage. I remember my friend Savannah encouraging me from the water with her lifeguard tube, ready to act in case of the worst. I heard encouragement echoing from off the walls in that pool room, and before I knew it, I had taken the plunge! How exhillerating it was to have gone off the board for the first time. This was my first break through in TAP. I also completed my first four phases of wilderness survival training, including the dreaded night hike and swamp walk, around that time, and therefore I had overcome several fears inside of myself.
After that, before I knew it I was swimming with the fish. Ten laps a weekend, treding water with the brick for ten minutes, which was a little more difficult for me, but over time this too became a simple task.
As time passed and swimming laps and treding with the brick became an increadingly less daunting task, eventually I became bored. After a while I began to think oh no I have to wake up early on Saturdays and go to that dreaded place. However of all the programs and clubs I had been in, of all the things I started and stopped, my parents would not let me out of this one. I begged, I pleaded. No was the firm answer. Around this time I became interested in gangster tendencies and thug life, being inspired by the media with images of what a so called black man should be, and I ate it up. This would cause me a few issues in school, at home, and in TAP.
It's true what they say it takes a village to raise a child, but the child must also be willing. My village, my family, TAP, never gave up on me, but there was a time were I was told to make a decision. This was my next breakthrough in TAP, which lasted me through until I was 18. Around this time I had got my opend water diver certificate, next I became a lifeguard, and from there with the help of my village I became a Rescue Diver, then a Master Diver, I made money in the summertime as a lifeguard and water safety instructor cashing some of the biggest checks I had ever seen, I became a leader at wilderness survival training, I had traveled on a trip outside of the country, I actually did underwater archeology at the age of 17, and the rest is history.
What TAP means to me can truly never be expressed in words, and what has been given to me from this Program can never be repaid. I can only share the uttmost gratitude for my Village never giving up on me. This letter in all of its detail only explains a small fraction of the adventures, stories, lessons and development that came from this program. However, it is safe to say that I accomplished all that I set out for and much, much more, much thanks to Mr. Scruggs, Mr. Sweet, Mrs. Henderson, Mrs. Spells, Ranger, Harry O., Mr. Jones, the older TAP kids who pushed us to become greater than them, my parents, all the involved TAP parents NABS, YDWP, and last but not least the Mr. Stewart the Great.
Chris C.