Edrick Sabalburo

When we considered doing long distance, I was reluctant. I didn’t want us to waste each other’s time in pursuit of an empty “maybe.”

Crispell’s energy is contagious. As Danielle Johnson, group exercise coordinator at the RSF put it in an email, “I love having Mitch on my team because his passion for dancing and teaching dance is like no other. His ability to teach any and all genres of dance is amazing.”

I was told growing up that my great-grandfather was the first member of my family to come to the United States. He arrived in 1930 after a monthlong journey by boat, first setting foot in San Francisco, just across the Bay from where his great-grandson is now pursuing a college degree.

...my initial anger was directed at my own negligence. But that anger morphed into a fascination with the stain — Stainley, I call him. The more time I spent hovering over Stainley, the more intrigued I became about his origins.

For so long, I knew myself as the friend of Felicia and Albert and so many others, but without them, my identity collapsed.

But the problem isn’t with students, and it isn’t necessarily with teachers; it’s with the education system as a whole.

You spoke with such passion and determination. I hope your charisma and faith take you far, even when you are 364 miles from Hollywood, where you should be.