The clock read 12:30 pm- I slowly pushed myself up from the dismantled array of blankets on the floor. Sprawled across a small table laid a stack of 5th-grade academia - Easy Arithmetic and Beyond, 6 Steps to Perfect Grammar, and A Social World History 5. With the balcony door slightly ajar, the neighborhood preschoolers’ screams echoed. The humid heat glued my hair onto my neck; every movement felt stiff and forced. My parents were busy with work; I had only my brother...

“You’ve been nominated for a visit to Colorado College!” I read, my eyes squinting at my bright computer screen. My parents always warned me about weird internet scams. This definitely seemed too good to be true. Though skeptical, I pulled up the email inviting me to the Tigers On A Quest program and my counselor urged me to apply. I peered at the college’s statistics, and the home page kept mentioning the Block Plan. What? A three-weeks-and-a-half course?...

Mrs. Palmer first introduced John Locke to me in my 9th grade World History class; Locke’s Tabula Rasa is a “blank slate” -it expressed that people develop from experience, learned from one’s environment, and essentially have the potential to achieve anything. Nodding, I found myself agreeing wholeheartedly for the first time. The “blank slate” theory marked the start of my slightly obsessive passion for people. Suddenly, I became more conscious of the people around me and repeatedly reflected...