It was a typical summer Saturday after my sophomore year; the afternoon California sun was beating down on our undefended home (a cramped, non-insulated, 500 square foot garage shared by my mother, my sister, and me). My forehead was beading with sweat as I raced to the pitcher of horchata beckoning from our makeshift kitchen. But before I could pour myself a cup, I noticed a rogue ant meandering up the pitcher. In the past weeks, my mother and I had...

I have never met my hero. 7 years older than me, and born and raised 2,500 miles away from me, my hero does not even know I exist. Yet through his photographs and his music, I have seen and heard him. The message produced in his work has helped me endure, grow, and learn. My hero is Robert Hall, commonly known as the rapper Logic. My father has been absent through much of my life. Although I recognize the privilege of knowing...