From Hidden Brain Media, I'm Shankar Vedantam.

This is My Unsung Hero, stories where one person reached out to help another in a time of need.

My Unsung Hero is a boy named Spencer.

Every Sunday, Julie would drop off soup at our house.

I look forward to it every week.

I would say thank you for giving me one of the best gifts of my life.

Today's story comes from Silvana Clark.

When Silvana graduated from high school, she wasn't sure what was to come next.

She wanted to continue her education,

but she wasn't sure how she would cover the cost. Luckily, Silvana's high school drama teacher

had just taken a job at a community college and suggested she'd register there. She had just enough

savings to pay for housing and attend classes. I saved every penny I could and got to college, had a wonderful first semester.

I still was very tight on money.

I remember not having enough money for toothpaste, and so I just brushed my teeth a long time with water.

But anyway, at the end of the first semester, I realized I didn't have enough

money for the second semester. I just couldn't make it on my own. So I told my drama teacher,

I said, I can't come next semester. I'm going to have to just, I'm going to try to work really,

really hard so I can come next year, but I just can't make it again. Well, two days later, he comes up to me,

and he's always been kind of gruff, and he goes, well, you don't probably really deserve it,

but I found out there was a college drama scholarship, and well, you got it. So your next semester

is totally paid for. And I was just in shock. I couldn't believe it. And so, you know, the next

semester, I still, I got little part-time jobs. I was at Easter Bunny at a mall. I worked at the

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