My Sister Called Me a Leech at Thanksgiving Until a Colonel Stood Up and Changed the Room

cryptography and military history on weekends. When I placed third in a state math competition at sixteen, the first student from our school to make that level in eleven years, Amanda looked up from her phone long enough to ask whether there was prize money. When I said no, she said, “Then what’s the point,” and went back to scrolling.

My mother caught continue reading …