“I didn’t—I just opened a book—”

Elias hesitated. Potential wasn't a grade. It wasn't a score on a college entrance exam. It was the version of himself that stayed up late not to memorize formulas, but to understand why they worked. The version who didn't hide the Kumon worksheets he struggled with.

He wrote: Potential = the first time I explained a derivative to my little sister and her eyes lit up.