Confidence

"You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do."
Eleanor Roosevelt

"Leadership is a matter of having people look at you and gain confidence, seeing how you react. If you're in control, they're in control."
Tom Landry

Confidence is knowing one's place in the world. It is being aware of your mental and physical abilities, and of trusting them. You cannot become aware of these attributes, nor trust them, unless you are challenged. The best opportunity to gain confidence is to be in a situation where your mental and physical skills are developed, tested, pushed to their limits and, when understood and trusted, pushed to the next step. All while being watched over and assisted by people who are dedicated to helping you succeed.

The common standard by which the rest of the world judges the United Stares Marine Corps is by their confidence. When told "I can do that" by a Marine, no one doubts their word. The Marine's confidence in his abilities is so obvious, they do not have to prove it, and it is simply accepted by all. At MMA we realize that most young men have had little real world experience in which to develop confidence. Confidence is a result of life experience. Of taking a risk, accepting a challenge, and succeeding. Confidence grows with each success, self-awareness with each failure. With self-awareness comes the knowledge to succeed the next time, or the time after that. And then comes more confidence. Once you start gaining confidence, it becomes a growth phenomenon. That confidence, governed by self-discipline, makes a young man uniquely suited to withstand the traps and temptations of college and of life. Confidence is the rock upon which success is founded.

We know that our beginning Cadets will doubt their ability to "make the grade". That they will be out of their "comfort zone", away from home, probably for the first time in their lives, and worried that they won’t be able to handle the challenge of a college preparatory school. Our instructors both Academic and Marine know this. We have successfully dealt with it for over 40 years, with each new term's Cadets. We develop a Cadet's physical skills, their team efforts in a rigorous physical program that develops their physical confidence. This new appreciation of their own abilities carries over into their Academic and Spiritual growth, thereby increasing their confidence and maturity. With confidence and maturity come self-discipline and responsibility. Together, these traits make a successful leader who can instill loyalty in his team and peers. Success is founded upon confidence, and that is true in the Military, Academia or the Business world.

"Confidence, like art, never comes from having all the answers; it comes from being open to all the questions."
Earl Gray Stevens

Contact our Admissions Department for Information