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I went into this thinking I'd fall behind. I didn't expect to take as many courses as I got caught up in, and thought that would reflect most in this course. I even planned to repeat it when thinking about picking summer courses. And then it clicked.

WHAT IS THE POINT OF IT ALL? Stress it. Prove it. Present your point in the most authoritative sense, but really understand it. Most the time I under researched and over opinionated and stopped making sense all together.

And then I met Lucky. He approached me at the Brainwash Cafe the first time I had ever been, and gave me this unique perspective on the place. He had just gotten out of jail, for what he never quite said, and couldn't believe how different life had become since his eight years of incarceration. Very few of his observations were positive. He was shocked at all the cell phones, a point he would reiterate time and again.

He learned how to cut hair, and said he would work for a family member's hair shop. But the gentrification of the SOMA changed that. The shop didn't need the extra help, and getting rehired elsewhere with a stain on his record hadn't been easy. But he was always on the hustle.

And I saw how he didn't want to hustle, but it was the only thing he could do to keep living.

Putting a face to gentrification drove me to an epiphany. Explaining people to one another allowed me to be concise.

Lucky showed me his streets, and introduced me to staples of the community. And he let me feel confident about my right to know. He never kept appointments with me and our relationship fell through the cracks, as they say. But the few times we spoke changed any and all stereotypes of my neighborhood I previously had.

I really expected to write about nightlife, and bar hopping. Maybe some art gallery openings, or a fashion show. I wanted the glitz of San Francisco, which seems so shallow in retrospect. But I'm glad I found something much different. And in doing so, found something I actually care about. I found a passion for people, and rediscovered a connection with the rest of humanity.

Oh goodness, I'm sucha cheez bahl.