Because there is good in every person, there is hope for every person: such has been my mantra for as long as I can remember, following me as I have matured, and I approach every situation by seeking out the best and then encouraging myself and others to let it shine. At New Hope Academy, an elementary school with a 50% minority constituency where many children go home to impoverished single-parent households, I channel this mentality into the students I tutor,...

(Respond to quote: “One of the great challenges of our time is that the disparities we face today have more complex causes and point less straightforwardly to solutions.” Omar Wasow, Assistant Professor, Politics; Founder, Blackplanet.com This quote is taken from Professor Wasow's January 2014 speech at the Martin Luther King Day celebration at Princeton University.) My school celebrates a tradition called Grit Day, a day on which students wear costumes in hopes of winning prizes; however, what is normally a...