Many of the students at Olive-Harvey College, a community college on Chicago's south side, are struggling to balance their education with low income, service sector jobs and family needs while living in communities plagued by drugs and violence. The question is how teachers can help these students to attain their educational goals, despite their life crises. To find the answer, one instructor turned to the students who had successfully completed her English 102 capstone writing course the previous fall--students who are the exception and not the rule. She interviewed 13 out of 20 students in the class and found that some interesting patterns emerged. The successful students were not demographically distinct from the general student population and did not have academically privileged backgrounds. Nine of the 13 had children and 7 were single moms. Four things that did stand out were that: (1) parents of young children were not making it through; (2) successful students had at least one person in their lives who encouraged them; (3) all the successful students could articulate their motivation for being in school and had a clear plan for their education; and (4) students should be taught to use the academic skills they learned to make sense of and respond to the problems that threatened their learning. To respond to the four things that stand out, the English 102 instructor suggested various things the institution could consider implementing.