A large part of my job is to conduct “articulation visits,” traveling to middle schools to speak with interested 8th graders about their high school options. My first trip took me clear across the city to south Baltimore to visit Lakeland Elementary/Middle. From the outside I wasn’t impressed: an old brick building that looked like its best days were in the early 1970s. But as I walked up toward the building, something caught my attention. The squeals of kids on the playground for recess stopped me in my tracks. I paused for a second to watch them rip and run and play with an innocence I had forgotten could exist. It energized me for my speech, but more importantly it reminded of my ignorance: that even I, a kid who grew up on Baltimore’s west side and had people make assumptions about me, was capable of casting judgment on others from my newly minted middle class perch. I entered Lakeland, and the enthusiasm of the students was infectious. I instantly became excited to talk to them about high school and their futures, and they were even more excited to talk to me.