"Is anybody not ready?" I ask loudly across the room. My audience looks up in anticipation, ink pens hovering over the legalsize paper, ears ready to listen to every complex argument that escapes my mouth. My heart is beating a thousand miles a minute and I take a deep breath, press the start button on my timer, and begin. Stop the speech timer. The debate room is a living, breathing entity. It transcends the laws of time and space. The...

I was at home listening to Melissa Block and Robert Siegel on NPR's All Things Considered when the phone rang. I did not recognize the number, so I almost let it go to voicemail in case it was a telemarketer. Instead I answered it. I was thoroughly surprised. I had been selected as one of twelve Bezos Scholars across the nation! Olita Terry at the Bezos Foundation, told me I would receive more information in the coming week. Later, I...