Chenning Zhang (Age 15) - based in MA

During English MCAS, otherwise known as the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System, there was an article explaining the phenomenon of innate talent. It argued that innate talent doesn’t truly exist, that it is a concept people use to simplify success and protect their own sense of self. More specifically, that it took 10,000 hours of dedication, grit, and determination to achieve expertise in any field, ranging from the violin to swimming to physics. In school, it has become so common...

Today I saw a girl sleeping in the bathroom stall. Her phone screen lit up with a notification as papers lay scattered around her. She was curled up on the cold, unwelcoming floor while the shuffling of students between classes somehow didn’t wake her. I didn’t know her. I didn’t recognize her backpack or her shoes. But I understood her exhaustion. March is a long month. There are no breaks, just a steady stretch of assignments and “almost there”s. February was short in numbers but not in new...