We can’t know young people or assess their potential by looking at their grades or by sizing up their music or clothing or what they do on Friday nights. We can’t predict their futures by looking at their pasts. We can’t tell their motives by looking at their friends. We can’t pick out who will succeed or who will fail—who will lead or who will follow.

We tend to define success and failure according to the ditches we’ve already dug ourselves into. There’s a much bigger picture that others fit into, along with all their heartaches, frustrations, and disillusionments, and it’s beautiful.