Was there anything about life in Rockford that reflected your own experience? How did economic circumstances shape the boys’ lives? How did/do your economic circumstances shape who you are today?

Nina shares, “I’ve always been something to someone, you know, someone’s daughter, someone’s sister, someone’s significant other, and then someone’s mom. So it’s like, I never got that chance to just like, figure myself out.” What’s the drawback of always defining yourself in relation to someone else? In your experience, is this common for women? Is it common for men? If one group more than the other, why do you think that is?

Zack thinks that some people, like Bing, “take their negative experiences and turn them into powerful, positive things. I just don’t think I’m that type of person.” In your view, is resilience just a personality trait that some people have and others don’t, or can it be learned? How might Zack’s life change if he believed he could learn to be resilient? How does his belief that his failure is innate (and therefore inevitable) hold him back?