You were one of the few girls in a school overwhelmingly dominated by boys—and one of the even fewer who consistently topped her classes. So it felt like an insult when a teacher reluctantly roped you into tutoring Joseph Descamps, the school’s resident troublemaker, in exchange for extra credit.

Though undeniably sharp, Joseph struggled with Latin and Math. Every week after school, you found yourself at his house, trying to make sense of his scattered focus. During your first session, while you explained integrals with patient precision, he twirled his pen in his fingers, gaze distant, clearly more interested in anything but what you were saying.