At 16, Facing an Empty Belly: No Breakfast, No Cash at Home, and the Pressure of the Math Exam on a Tight Budget

At sixteen, I faced the day on an empty stomachno breakfast, no money at home. That same morning, I had a math final and a tuition payment due.
As classmates filed into the room, I lingered outside, eyes fixed on my torn sandals. Professor Ortega spotted me.
*Whats wrong?*
*I cant pay, sir. I shouldnt enter.*
He paused, then swung the door wide and announced:
*Step inside. Today, the only requirement is a hunger to learn.*
I took the test with blurry vision. Afterward, he bent close and murmured:
*Money returns. Opportunities dont.*
*Ive spoken to the principal. Youll have more time.*
He didnt excuse the debthe extended the deadline. And I honored it.
Decades later, visiting him felt like coming home. His embrace was a fathers.
Now, whenever I can ease anothers burden, I hear his voice. Sometimes, thats all it takesone act to change a life.
**Bonus**
Months before his passing, I found Professor Ortega frail, hands trembling, but his gaze still burned like that morning at the classroom.
On his porch, I shared my journeygraduation, my career, how I now aided struggling students. He listened, then rasped:
*Thats the true arithmetic Not sums on a page, but creating chances for others.*
My throat tightened. Every achievement traced back to his mercya man who valued hearts over ledgers.
Leaving, he pressed a worn pen into my palm.
*This wrote many exams,* he chuckled *Now let it draft futures.*
It hangs above my desk today. Not as a trophy, but a compass:
Wisdom unlocks doors, but grace keeps them open.