One sunny weekday when I was in sixth grade, a series of impatient knocks shook our front door. My mom…

It was the first day of second grade. My older sister Linda, then eight years old, was wearing a blouse…

I first met Amy Jiang in Mrs. Portman’s seventh grade math class. Spring is hot in Reading, Massachusetts and sweat…

Ms. Tserkovnyuk had been through a lot in life and had experienced the Cold War from both fronts. My class, me included, had only known our small world within that school and the goal mostly of trying to get to the end of the day.

I realize it isn’t just any letter. It marks my transition from a mere first generation Mexican-American girl to the ranks of the small minority of Latinas who make it to college.

Smalcerz chose to answer my questions in English, but his native language is Polish. His first answer is so fragmented that I can’t understand it.

We read a Tale of Two Cities, and he revealed to me the best and worst times of his own life, a life far too eventful for someone of his age. Tomas told me about his trip to the U.S. and how he had mangled his hand in a fence.