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Kerry grabbed a seat in the cafeteria and looked at her schedule for the afternoon. After lunch, she was due in Anatomy and Physiology 1 with Dr. Coburn, who had mixed ratings on Rate My Professor. Some students felt she was unfairly harsh with test questions and grading, showing no mercy. Others said as long as you were honest about what you were struggling with and turned in assignments on time and applied yourself, or let her know if you needed an extension, she was fine; she just had high expectations. At times, Kerry read reviews of other professors or course descriptions and wondered if she should really plan to go to medical school.
“Is this seat taken?” Kerry looked up and saw a Hispanic woman holding a tray with macaroni and cheese on her plate.
“Nope.”
“Thanks.” The other woman sat down. “I’m Sandy. And you are?”
“Kerry. Nice to meet you, Sandy. Sorry if I seem distracted. I was just trying to mentally prepare for A&P…I mean, anatomy and physiology. It’s my next class and I’m a little nervous. I need a good grade to put on my medical school applications in four years. I’m glad I came to community college to start my prerequisites at a little bit of a lower cost so I can focus on the higher-level stuff at a four-year school.”
“You didn’t have to explain A&P. That’s my next class too,” Sandy said. “You have Dr. Coburn, right?”
“Yeah. Rumor has it she can be kind of a bitch.”
“That doesn’t bother me.” Sandy started laughing. “I can handle just about anyone. I’m not sure what I want to major in yet, but my parents wanted me to go to college. My mom said the least I could do was take some general ed classes and figure it out. I know I don’t want to be a doctor, though. I’m more interested in nursing or the EMT program.”
“So why don’t you want to be a doctor?” Kerry asked.
“Too many years of school. I figured if I’m this hung up on college now, then I won't have what it takes to get through med school and…what comes next? Practicing?”
“Well, residency, but you were on the right track. Residency is about four to six years depending on what area you practice. I’m thinking of doing emergency medicine, which is four years, or maybe pediatrics, which is three years. I love kids.”
“Me too, but I can’t see myself ever having any. I may not know what career I want yet, but I do want to work, and I don’t want to set myself back. Luckily, though, I don’t have to worry about kids right now since I’m single; not to mention I’m barely a legal adult myself.” Sandy brushed her dark hair behind her ear and started to eat her macaroni and cheese, and Kerry felt her heart skip a beat. There was something intriguing about that simple gesture, but she couldn’t figure out what.
“You OK?” Sandy asked. “You look like you’re zoning out. Don’t worry so much about class. I’m sure you can retake it with a different instructor if you get a bad grade, or transfer sections before the withdrawal date.”
“I don’t think it’s class,” Kerry replied quietly. “I’ve been struggling with some personal things this summer and they just crossed my mind. I’m sorry but I don’t know you well enough yet to really discuss them…”
“Oh, it’s cool. You just met me like five minutes ago; I don’t blame you. I hope everything works out. Do you have pushy parents too?”
“They’re pretty religious and expect me to get good grades, so they’re similar to yours, but they’re supportive of me wanting to become a doctor at least. I think if they knew some of my other secrets, though, they’d freak out.”
“I see.” Sandy nodded. “You don’t have to say anything more to me. Just solidarity. We can stick with that until you’re more comfortable opening up…if you decide you are, that is. But we can be friends and classmates for now. Do you want to sit next to me in A&P or be lab partners or something?”
“Sure.” Kerry was still trying to wrap her head around the fact that she had something significant in common with a classmate she barely knew.
“Awesome. And it’s OK. I think everyone’s nervous on the first day of the semester, especially in such an intense program. I decided coming into this, though, that if I had to be here, I wasn’t going to let one professor or class ruin my college experience. I’ll just take it for what it is, do my gen ed classes, and then see if I can make any decisions. Maybe go to the majors fair just to please my mom and tell her I was exploring possibilities.”
“You’re not the only one who’s undecided for sure,” Kerry said. “I hope this doesn’t sound too weird, but I’m actually glad you joined me. I have a feeling we’ll be able to help each other get through A&P, or at least make it seem less scary. You have a good attitude about it.”
“That’s a high compliment. Now come on. Let’s eat. Unfortunately, we can’t avoid going to class forever.”
Kerry smiled and picked up her sandwich. She planned to hold onto her feelings until she and Sandy spent more time together, but it felt good to have a crush.