He was quiet, introspective, like he was always in deep thought.
And he hated seeing other people fight.
I saw him once jump between two girls when they got into a fight and he got himself knocked to the ground.
Patrick had just one problem.
He wouldn't come to school.
He said that sometimes school was just too depressing because people were always fighting and teachers were quitting.
And also, his mother worked two jobs and was just too tired to make him come.
So I made it my job to get him to come to school.
And because I was crazy and 22 and zealously optimistic, my strategy was just to show up at his house and say, "Hey, why don't you come to school?" And this strategy actually worked, he started to come to school every day.
And he started to flourish in my class.