For those who don’t celebrate it annually, National STEM Day was November 8. The day is meant to inspire the exploration of and promote education through science, technology, engineering, and math. Unfortunately, it’s also a good time to recognize something less joyous: Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities are sorely underrepresented in STEM fields.

Lately I’ve been fascinated by Alexander the Great. Or should I say, adaptations and appropriations of Alexander, which are still on-going. In the past year I’ve encountered Alexander in unexpected places. I’ve watched him streaming on Netflix as the enormous, red-haired, oxen-driving hero Iskandar, resurrected to fight for the Holy Grail in the Fate/Zero anime.

Here’s a twist on an old proverb: “You can put a student in a classroom, but you can’t make them learn.” In the early 1990s, this was more or less how most educators felt about a particular class in Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach, California. The fault in their logic was it presupposed they were unteachable. Erin Gruwell, a 23-year-old first-year teacher, proved them wrong.

Special [spesh-uhl], adjective: of a distinct or particular kind or character; held in particular esteem. 

Rare [rair], adjective: seldom occurring or found; marked by unusual quality, merit, or appeal.

Unique [yoo-neek], adjective: existing as the only one or sole example; having no like or equal.

Christopher Hoolihan, librarian emeritus of Rare Books and Manuscripts at Edward G. Miner Library at the University of Rochester Medical Center, spent 42 years working with collections on the history of medicine. He probably had some bad days during that time, but he doesn’t remember them.

“What I remember is the great happiness my work brought me,” Hoolihan says.