The air around my lunch table felt hot and pretentious. Volunteer logs were due that afternoon, and with it an excuse to boast about my 9th grade accomplishments made its way into my mind. I wasted no time in bragging about my hundreds of volunteer hours, several leadership positions, and multiple academic trophies. Instead of congratulating my friends on their own commendable works, I mocked and trivialized them. Beyond this immaturity that I now deeply regret, there was a sad...

It was 11:30pm and instead of starting my history homework I was surfing through Khan Academy’s comment section. Sal Khan’s videos are profound in that a 15 minute video done with a glorified version of MS Paint often teaches me more than an hour long class with a professional educator. I searched through the comments looking for students with similar reactions. However, I not only found student responses but also teachers rejoicing alongside the students, much to my surprise,...