My friend Valerie is on the board of directors of a New York City nonprofit that sends high school students, all living below the poverty line, to private high schools that prepare them for higher education. This year, 97% of their 233 graduates were accepted to college.

At a restaurant dinner honoring college scholarship recipients, Valerie sat next to a member of this year’s class who will attend NYU. When the waitress asked the young graduate how she would like her burger, she was befuddled. So the waitress asked again. Valerie explained that the waitress wanted to know if she wanted the burger “red in the middle, pink in the middle or brown.”

“Oh,” replied the NYU-almost-freshman, “In my house, my mother just cooks the burger.”