Jeff in Boston: Halfrican

More and more these days Jeff finds himself thinking about race and being forced to answer the question "What are you?"

"When I was younger - you know my father's black, my mother's white - that's the way it was supposed to be: father meant black person, mother meant white person. Race had no bearing on anything. To me, two Asian people could just have a black kid. It made perfect sense when I was younger."

Melissa in New Haven: Teen Mom

Melissa didn't mean to get pregnant. But now, after 12 years of living in the foster care system, she's trying to build the family she never had.

"The funny thing about a having a baby, especially a boy, is that he always pisses on me. Always. Any time I change him, he's always peeing on me. I don't know why. He's marking his territory. Like he says, 'This is mine.'"

Josh in New York City: Growing Up with Tourette's

Josh has Tourette's Syndrome, a neurological disorder that causes uncontrollable tics and involuntary verbal outbursts.

"It feels like there's a big balloon inside my stomach. And the balloon keeps growing bigger and bigger, like every second extra the tic stays inside it feels like somebody blows up the balloon another notch, until I let it out."

Juan in Laredo: Looking at the Rio Grande

Juan and his family crossed the Rio Grande illegally into Texas four years ago. Now they live in a poor community just this side of the US-Mexican border.

Frankie in Mentone, Alabama: Welcome Home, Dad

Frankie always thought his family was pretty normal until the day the FBI showed up. His dad had been hiding from the law for 15 years, and Frankie had no idea.

"I was coming home from school. I got off the school bus. My Dad and Mom were in the kitchen fixing a waffle iron. And about 10 minutes after I got off the bus, all these cops pulled in our yard. And my Dad looked out the window and he looked at our family in the kitchen. And he said he loves us and he'll never forget us."