“What happened to the boy who told me he wanted to build things people actually use?”
Evan shrugged.
“Maybe he figured out he’s not that special.”
Mrs. Carter apparently leaned forward.
“Who told you that?”
“No one.”
“That’s worse.”
He looked at her.
She tapped the college application sitting between them.
“Being overlooked doesn’t mean you’re incapable.”
He later told me those words stayed with him.
She helped him apply for scholarships.
Reviewed his essays.
Encouraged him to choose a college based on opportunity instead of whether people from his high school would recognize the name.
When he got accepted, she celebrated harder than anyone outside our family.
Ten years later, Evan had built a life none of us could have predicted back then.
He had started a small technology company with two friends.
The first few years were rough.
They worked out of a rented office with stained carpet and folding tables.
