I guess it was approximately fifteen years ago that I met one of my favorite people on the planet. At the time, Nate was only in seventh grade... but even then, he was an old soul. He viewed the world in a way that most people his age didn't; he imparted wisdom that I doubt he realized he even had. Nate walked into my classroom at a time when my self-esteem was at its absolute lowest. He didn't know that, of course. Or, if he did, it's because it was intuited rather than told