My teenage son Sammy returned home from high school incredibly frustrated and closed his bedroom door. Knowing he needed comfort after a difficult day, I carried a bowl of freshly baked chocolate treats into his room and sat on the edge of his bed. He eventually sat up and explained through tears that his classmates had cruelly laughed at him for failing his math test. He expressed a deep hatred for algebra and claimed he disliked the subject even more than our eccentric Aunt Ruby from Texas. I realized the best way to comfort his wounded spirit was to share a ghost from my own academic past. I explained to Sammy that my high school algebra teacher had made it her personal mission to convince me I was incapable of learning. Mrs Keller was a legend at the school but frequently used her influence to mock my questions and publicly suggest I lacked basic intelligence. She effectively silenced me for months until I finally reached my breaking point on a Tuesday in March and asked her to stop humiliating me. Instead of apologizing, she pulled out a flyer for the district math championship and challenged me to represent the school. She entirely expected me to fail publicly and prove her cruel point to the rest of the class.