“At my high school, the first kid to get a pair of new...

“At my high school, the first kid to get a pair of new Jordan’s was the king, and the kid who couldn’t afford them was bait for the sharks. My mom and I didn’t have much money so I got teased a lot. Sometimes it got so bad that I’d have panic attacks. One day all the kids were being especially nice to me in history class. Everyone was acting like my friend, but as soon as the bell rang, they all threw soap at me at the same time. I lived in a homeless shelter at the time. I liked being at the shelter much more than being at school. Everything at school was a competition. But everyone at the shelter helped each other out. People would share clothes, cook for each other, and babysit for each other. We were all at rock bottom, so nobody thought they were better than each other.”