“Did you know that my daughter had taken the same road to school her entire academic career, from preschool to college?” Professor Huang interjected on the first day of class, as students introduced where they were from. To most, this statement had no attachment; yet, I felt the weight of his words bore into me. This wasn’t just his daughter’s story—this was my story. Every weekday morning, for the past fifteen years, I have taken the drive...

I first encountered the importance of literacy as a freshman in high school, working on a project for The Beat Within, reading the ideas and life experiences of incarcerated juveniles who are given an outlet for self-expression through the organization’s biweekly magazine. Words are powerful instruments; they are outlets to articulate our innermost thoughts and emotions—glimpses into our souls. I read of a young man named Tariq who wrote that words gave him the keys to unlock prison...

During my second semester of college, in my American Dream course, my professor tasked us with writing a research paper that explored a social issue relating to the American Dream. I instantly locked into the topic of the racial gap in higher education. I immersed myself into the educational barriers that low-income minority children face and the policies and initiatives that assist them or impede their success. I quickly found myself hungry for more; at my professor’s recommendation, I...