Now I think it’s one of the most useless questions an adult can ask a child—What do you want to be when you grow up? As if growing up is finite. As if at some point you become something and that’s the end.
Preface, p. ix
There are simply other ways of being.
Chapter 6, p. 80
Do we settle for the world as it is, or do we work for the world as it should be?
Chapter 9, p. 118
I’d learned that planning and vigilance mattered a lot. It could mean the difference between stability and poverty. The margins always felt narrow. One missed paycheck could leave you without electricity; one missed homework assignment could put you behind and possibly out of college.
Chapter 15, p. 225
Grief and resilience live together.
Chapter 22, p. 343
But what America got that night was a moment of release, a chance to feel its own resilience.
Chapter 22, p. 364
Becoming requires equal parts patience and rigor. Becoming is never giving up on the idea that there’s more growing to be done.
Epilogue, p. 419
There’s power in allowing yourself to be known and heard, in owning your unique story, in using your authentic voice. And there’s grace in being willing to know and hear others. This, for me, is how we become.