Promise Neighborhoods Institute at PolicyLink Director Michael McAfee had a few words of inspiration for graduates in the Huffington Post:

Need Inspiration for Your Graduate? Start With the Time 100 List

We all need a little graduation inspiration, especially when it can feel like we’re sending our graduates off on ice floes. So let me share my inspiration: the Time100 list.

Jeremy Lin made the list this year, and from Secretary of Education Arne Duncan’s comments about him, it’s clear that Mr. Duncan and I see the same spark. It’s not just Lin’s moves on the court that inspire us; it’s what he represents.

“I don’t care whether you are an Asian-American kid, white, black, or Hispanic,” Duncan wrote inTime, “Jeremy’s story tells you that if you show grit, discipline and integrity, you too can get an opportunity to overcome the odds.”

Duncan should know about opportunity. The US Department of Education is entering its third year of the Promise Neighborhoods program, which uses the principles of the successful Harlem Children’s Zone to provide comprehensive community supports to allow children of all races and income levels to learn, grow, and succeed. Jeremy Lin’s story shows us that when children get the opportunity to reach their full potential, the results can be spectacular.

Read the full article at the Huffington Post.