I think if any of us want to do the things that we want to do for our country and for the people who live in it, we have to honestly and aggressively… - JD Vance

In other words, despite all of the environmental pressures from my neighborhood and community, I received a different message at home. And that just might have saved me.

I thought about the hours we spent practicing increasingly complex math problems. He taught me that lack of knowledge and lack of intelligence were not the same. The former could be remedied with a little patience and a lot of hard work. And the latter? “Well, I guess you’re up shit creek without a paddle.

With all due respect to those people, I think that theory is a load of bullshit. Whatever talents I have, I almost squandered until a handful of loving people rescued me.