ABSTRACT
As CLED students experience the unexpected and learn the unexplored, they deserve every ounce of encouragement from teachers, friends, and communities who will embrace their passions and their complexions. With the coming of brisk autumn mornings, author's younger self anticipated the farewell to summer review textbooks from Costco. Changing leaves cued the end of his parents’ never-ending brainteasers and the return to familiar classrooms at Happyvale Elementary School. At that point, the rollercoaster of pride and insecurity felt never-ending. It’s a rollercoaster ridden by countless culturally, linguistically, and ethnically diverse students across the country. It is a rollercoaster that shows little mercy for the struggles to make sense of capability, potential, and selfhood. In those spheres, advocacy is painfully underestimated.
