The Crucible. Even the name intrigued me. Everything surrounding the crucible was an air of mystery. I had heard a few things about it like, “it’s going to be intense”, “we survived it”, and “it will push you to your limits”. As the time for departure on the crucible drew nearer , I was getting more and more excited. I was talking with several of the guys, and we came up with all kinds of crazy ideas of what it might be like. Now, as I sit here looking back on our experience, it was a lot like I expected. Yet at the same time completely different, in a good way. I came away from the crucible realizing just how much I need to leave behind my pride and fear of failure. I realized that they kept me from taking a lot of important steps in my life, because I was afraid to fail. I have decided, therefore I will, leave that all behind, and by the grace of God move forward, and grow through my failures.

• Twitter