‘What Is It You Plan To Do With Your One Wild & Precious Life?’

For 70 years, Vic Pinchin worked the land on his farm in Streetsville, Ontario. Over the years, seasons of lifting bushels of apples onto his rusty trailer bent his body almost in two. During my childhood, autumn revolved around the motions of apple-picking season as I worked in the orchard alongside my family: moving ladders, picking apples, and pouring brimming baskets of fruit into bags.

I fell in love with the small miracle of watching apples grow. That ordinary act of creation planted this within me: with a seed, hard work, and a little bit of luck you will always produce something of value.

When my grandfather passed away earlier this year, he left behind a world made better by his being in it. His was a life filled with love, hard work, and apples, and losing him made me realize I inherited more than his work ethic. I inherited his passion to create. — Veronica Pinchin

There are very few things in life that hurt as much as not being able to help an 11-year-old girl… Particularly, if you feel that you are her only chance…

In Turkey, almost a million students take an exam after primary school to be able attend a decent secondary school. One exam, two hours, 100 questions and almost no room for mistake…

I grew up in the slums. The path was super simple for us before this exam: 1-Ace: obtain a chance to have a life… 2-Fail: start working at the age of 11 and forget your dreams…

I had a classmate, Serap… A beautiful mind… Still the fastest problem-solver I’ve ever seen…

She was definitely going to be successful in the exam…

If she had taken it…

Her father did not let her take the exam as he wanted her to leave the school and get married to one of his friends… An 11-year-old girl… — — Ahmet Orhon