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grounds, I thought. One of the buildings called Massachusetts Hall was where the soldiers of the Continental army had stayed during the Revolutionary War.
    As I took a look around, I could almost imagine President Barack Obama walking these grounds when he attended Harvard as a law student. In fact, he was the first African American president of the Harvard Law Review. The Harvard Law Review —a journal written by students at Harvard about important legal issues. No other person of color had been Law Review president. The first African American president of the Harvard Law Review and the firstAfrican American president of the United States. So many firsts for him. He was someone that I could look up to, be proud of. I took a long, deep breath and then exhaled. Harvard was going to be cool.
    After picking up the key to my dorm, I dragged my black suitcase on wheels across the courtyard toward Harvard Square. Wearing a pair of denim shorts, a red T-shirt and Nike flip-flops, I held on to the strap of my gym bag that was heavy on my shoulder. I had intended to pack light, but it was hard considering I had to pack enough for seven weeks. Every pair of Jordans I owned was stuffed inside the gym bag, along with a pair of dress shoes. Pop had insisted on the dress shoes, a pair of slacks and a button-down shirt with a collar.
    â€œYou might need to dress up, son. You just never know,” he’d said.
    He was more excited about the summer at Harvard than I was. Which was amazing because the first time I’d told Pop of my plans for college, he had frowned on them. Said that I needed to stick closer to home and be prepared to take over our family’s property management business. But it seemed that the closer I got to my senior year in high school, the easier it was for me to talk to him about college. In fact, when I first mentioned the summer program at Harvard, he encouraged me to apply. And when I told him how much it was going to cost, he didn’t even flinch.
    â€œI’ve been saving my money, and I got part of it,” I explained to Pop, “and what I can’t cover, I can probably get some financial aid.”
    I wanted to make sure that Pop knew how important it was to me—so much so that I was willing to pay my own way. Every year, high school students from all over the world spent the summer on Harvard’s campus, attending collegeclasses and getting a taste of what it was like to be a college student. I knew that Harvard was my number one college choice, and I couldn’t think of a better way of spending my summer or my money, especially since my senior year was fast approaching. In the fall, I would be one of the big dogs at my high school. Preparing for my last year of high school and my future was the most important thing at the moment.
    â€œI’ve been saving some money, too, Marcus. Started putting it in a trust fund about a year ago, just in case you were really serious about going to this Ivy League school,” Pop said. “Ain’t that the school Barack Obama went to?”
    â€œSure is.” I smiled.
    â€œYeah, that’s where I want you to go, son. Maybe you’ll mess around and become the president of the United States one of these days.” Pop laughed. “How much money you say you need for that summer program?”
    Pop had written a check for the full balance to pay for my summer classes, room and board. I made sure my application was one of the first ones they received, especially since early applications received priority. Unfortunately, some people ended up on a waiting list and I was determined that it wouldn’t be me. I had received my acceptance letter two weeks after I’d submitted it. I didn’t waste any time registering for my classes.
    I stuck my key into the lock and entered my dorm suite, dropped my gym bag onto the floor before pulling my suitcase into the room. My roommate had already claimed the bed closest to