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The small Texas school that I went to, had a tradition carried out every year during the eighth- grade graduation: a beautiful gold and green Jacket was awarded to the class valedictorian, the student who had maintained the highest grades for eight years The scholarship Jacket had a big gold 'S' on the left front side and your name written in gold letters on the pocket.My oldest sister, Rosie, had won the Jacket a few years back, and I fully expected to also. I was fourteen and in the eighth grade. I had been a straight 'A' student since the first grade and this last year had looked forward very much to owning that Jacket. My father was a farm labourer who couldn't earn enough money to feed eight children. So when I was six I was given to my grandparents to raise.We couldn't participate in sports at school because there were registration fees, uniform costs, and trips out of town; so, even though our family was quite agile and athletic there would never be a school sports Jacket for us. This one, the scholarship Jacket, was our only chance.In May, close to graduation, spring fever had struck as usual with a vengeance No one paid any attention in class; instead we stared out of the windows and at each other, wanting to speed up the last few weeks of school. I despaired every time I looked in the mirror. Pencil thin, not a curve anywhere. I was called 'beanpole' and 'string bean' and I knew that's what I looked like. That really wasn't much for a fourteen-year-old to work with, I thought, as I absent-mindedly wandered from my history class to the gym