Greater Good · 5 hours ago

An Awe Walk Through History and Possibility

When teacher Bob McKinnon discovered Alexander Hamilton's house around the corner from his City College campus in Harlem, he realized his students might be walking past history without seeing it-and missing the connection it could offer to their own struggles to move up in life. On an awe walk through Harlem, students stood in the Great Hall built for working-class families over a century ago, learned that Hamilton was a Caribbean orphan sent to America on community donations, and discovered that Langston Hughes is interred beneath their feet at the Schomburg Center. "I finally feel like I belong," one student reflected, "because people like me have been here before." The walk revealed how noticing the stories embedded in public spaces can shift students' sense of what's possible-offering not just inspiration, but a belonging that helps them push through doubt and keep going.