In school, English was my second language. In fact, when we arrived in the US I spoke no English and was placed in a second-grade class, despite being eight years old. As I progressed through public school, I messed up a lot. I was placed in the work-study program in High School for students who were feared that they would not graduate. I did the things that youth do thinking that they would live forever. I started working at 13 years old (I lied about my age) and have been working ever since.  I tried community college at night and failed, but, frankly, school was not for me. I came to find out many years later that I have a nonverbal learning disorder ( NVLD
); you may remember me sharing that with you earlier this year.