Encouragement came in the form of nonstop reinforcement to set my own goals. Achieve-
ment meant nothing if there was not a personal challenge behind every unassigned task. By attaining the fundamentals of youth, life seems somehow rosier since the basics have been covered.
Teachers sometimes were overwhelmed and expected me to take initiative and responsi-bility for my education. If they had to spell "It" out for every child, in every class, every single day, I was thoroughly assured that they would wind up going somewhere else to teach. The tools are there to acquire, but sometimes in life your foundation needs to be worked on personally.
Regarding the inequality facing students, Nelson Mandela stated, "it is what we make out of what we have, not what we are given, that separates one person from another."