I can only think that, after twenty-five years of teaching underachievers like myself, my mother knew deep down I was not college material. But she did have faith in me. She saw the light in me and understood that my heart, soul, and drive were not things you learn from any blackboard or textbook under the hypnotic buzz of the classroom lights. She would often say, “It’s not always the kid that fails the school. Sometimes it’s the school that fails the kid.” So, as she always had, she gave me the freedom to wander, find my path, and find myself.
