Throughout Dr. Luff’s young life, he found himself torn between two masters: the selfish and the spiritual. As one of four hardworking children born to a loving and hardworking—albeit disadvantaged—mother, Dr. Luff faced learning challenges, hunger, and homelessness, giving in to the temptations of drinking and gang life in order to survive. At the peak of his struggles, he recognized that an education would help pull him out of this cycle—for good. Watch Me Rise is a memoir of hope, determination, and eventually a graduate degree from Harvard—and all from someone who was told he was not “college material.”