Several years ago, an executive for a national non-profit and I were discussing the difference between the low-income students who overcome long odds to enroll in and graduate from college -- and those who drop out of college or never enroll.  He told me that he believed the difference was  "grit." Since that conversation, I have noticed that this topic has become more commonplace. Books and articles have been written about grit in the past few years.  A few recent studies strongly suggest