A June 24, 2011, graduation ceremony on St. John’s University campus in Queens, N.Y. (Robert Nickelsberg / Getty Images) “Dem can tek anything, but dem cyant tek yuh education“—which loosely translates to, “People can take anything from you, but they can never take away your education.” My roots are in Guyana, a Caribbean nation, and this mantra of resilience echoed through generations and followed me from Guyana to Queens, N.Y. It is a saying that my father and grandmother always told me—but...
