“The most impactful thing on the trip is hard to decide,” says Evan Abowitz (bottom m.), an incoming senior at Parkway Central High School in St. Louis, pointing first to the close bond he built with the other boys on his bus. But one moment at the site of the Nova festival, a place marked by tragedy, stayed with him above all else.
There, the teens saw text messages sent between people at the festival and their loved ones during the attack — filled with love, comfort, and heart emojis, even in the middle of tragedy.
For Evan, that moment captured something bigger than any single day on the trip. “It showed the strength and love in our community, even at moments like this. That really stuck with me,” he says.
Evan came home from TJJ with new friendships forged on the bus — and a new understanding of what his community is capable of, even in its darkest moments.