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Every once in a while, I'll have a 'Do you know who I am?' moment, at least in my head. I hate that.

When people think of me initially, they remember me as 'Akeelah.' Sometimes it can be frustrating to be remembered at an age that you've outgrown.

I see myself first and foremost as a student of expression.

I always want to stay focused on who I am, even as I'm discovering who I am.

You don't wanna walk around and say, 'I'm somebody's niece, I'm somebody's cousin, I'm somebody's daughter. Who are you?' And I think that's always the challenge when you grow up in a well-known family, is ultimately, you have to face yourself in the mirror and say, 'Who are you? What have you done?'

I am a daughter. My father is an example for me.

I call myself a teacher because they want me to call myself a teacher, but actually, what I'm doing is I'm studying.

When I'm around the kids I feel like I act the most grown-up just because you're supposed to. And I say things, like every other day, that remind me of my own parents.

When I read profiles of myself, I sometimes think: 'I have spent my whole life struggling to understand my motivations and impulses, and I've never quite sorted them out.'