Synesthesia, he said, is the union of senses otherwise unconnected in a normal brain. He described Albert Einstein using shapes instead of numbers to complete mathematical algorithms, and briefly scoffed at the absurd idea of colored letters. Could it be that none of my classmates saw our teacher’s name in purple with flecks of sandy brown? Were As not inherently fire-truck red nor Z’s metallic gray? Didn’t everyone find it efficient to memorize phone numbers according to their unique color palates?

My work on this project has made me see the connection between science and the social policy and historical issues that are so important to me. I did not understand before how valuable and critical social science analytical tools could be in understanding what I consider to be key moral issues of our time, such as what I studied here – how to reduce health and poverty in this country and abroad.

When one asks a group of students at any school in the country if they have ever been involved in and/or affected by bullying almost every hand shoots up into the air. Such instances demonstrate the rising incidence of bullying in each community, the country, and throughout the world. Although it is obvious that bullying occurs in schools, teachers, the adults closest to the problem, have been avoided by students. Prior studies already established statistics indicating that teachers are the last group to be approached, followed by family and friends, in cases of students who witness bullying.