Sometimes going forward means looking back. Megan Blaising has served in various low-performing schools and provides us with detailed accounts of the challenges the students faced while attempting to acquire an education. Her experience there was transformative. With painstaking detail, Blaising reflects on the "oddly-comforting" sounds of gunshots early in the morning and why late night calls have her fearing another life has been lost. But she doesn't seek a movement against social unfairness. In truth, Blaising uses her memories and the diverse students who inhabit them as a way to show that educational institutions should be a place of consistency, protection, and empathy.

While good intention is rife within our society, it is often met by powerful, negative forces seeking to keep the status quo intact. In this groundbreaking memoir, Blaising examines the lingering effect of discrimination and the way it has impacted our schools, students, and current societal constructs. Question: How can one fully develop and function when living in a constant state of uncertainty and fear? Answer: They cannot. Blaising challenges the current educational system to address the why behind students' behavior instead of the behavior itself.