“Josh, you’re not even black” To this day, I remember the first time those words rang in my head. It was in the waning days of 8th grade, when everyone had already checked out of school and was beginning to lose the innocence of pre- pubescence. At that moment, forced to acknowledge my solitude, I understood my current academic path leads me to be an outlier. As my personal expectations and work ethic rose during both middle and high...