Chris

  “Mr. Smith, take a seat,” Dr. Anderson said to Chris as he entered the wood paneled office filled to the limits with old books.

  Dr. Anderson was assigned to be Chris’s freshman advisor. He had taught English Literature at Wellington for the past 20 years. He was fully tenured and looked like a stereotypical professor at a liberal arts college. He was wearing a green tweed blazer and a red plaid button up shirt with the collar undone. He had a thin spattering of grey hair combed back. His ruddy skin was flushed with rosacea. His nose ballooned into a bulbous gin blossom. His thin framed reading glasses sat low the bridge of his nose.

  Chris looked around at the office clutter. He noted what looked like first editions of old books buried among a multitude of keepsakes and tchotchkes. There was an object of sentimental value in every space on the bookshelf. On Dr. Anderson’s desk were several stacks of papers and notebooks. At any moment, one of the stacks could collapse.

  “So, I see you are from Tennessee,” Dr. Anderson said.

  “Yes, sir,” Chris said quietly as he sat down in the overstuffed chair across from Dr. Anderson.

  “Oh, don’t call me sir. You can call me Dan,” Dan said looking up from the manilla folder that was Chris’s file.

  “How are you finding Wellington so far?” Dan gave Chris a smile to indicate that Chris should let his guard down.

  “It’s been alright,” Chris said.

  “Just alright?” Dan said laughing.

  “Well, I just moved in and haven’t gotten out any,” Chris said. His leg involuntarily started thumping.

  Dan sensed that Chris was nervous. He reached around his desk and found a pack of cigarettes and a lighter.

  “Would it bother you if I smoked?” Dan asked.

  “No,” Chris replied.

  “Would you like one?” Dan asked as he opened the pack and extended it to Chris.

  “Oh, no, thanks. I don’t smoke,” Chris replied.

  “Okay,” Dan lit a cigarette and placed a coffee mug in front of him to use as an ashtray. Chris noticed a plaque on Dan’s desk that read “Thank you for smoking.”

  Dan inhaled deeply and exhaled. “Alright, the first thing I want you to do is to get out and enjoy Wellington. There’s quite an active social scene here. That’s the whole point of going away to college—so you can party without your parents knowing.”

  Chris was taken aback. Never in his life had an adult advised him of such. He knew the students loved to party but had no idea that adults condoned such behavior. Dan took another drag from his cigarette.

  “I will try,” Chris said looking down at the floor.

  Dan looked at Chris for a minute to gauge how receptive Chris would be to his laid-back attitude. He sensed that Chris was nervous and did not know how to react. “Listen, I was a student here way back. I know what goes on. My advice is that you savor every minute.”

  “Okay,” Chris replied with a half-smile.

  “What sorts of activities did you like to do in your free time?” Dan asked now halfway finished with his cigarette.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  “I played baseball, and I was in a band,” Chris responded.

  “A band? That’s exciting!” Dan exclaimed.

  “I guess so,” Chris replied quietly. He had never thought that being a drummer in a band was all that important, but everyone he encountered so far seemed impressed.

  “You think you might do that while you’re here?” Dan asked.

  “I don’t have a drum set with me,” Chris replied.

  “I’m sure you can find one,” Dan said. “What would you say sets you apart from everyone else?”

  Chris looked up at his advisor. He never thought himself special—never enough to be set apart from others. He had always been a part of the herd.

  “I can’t think of anything,” Chris managed to say.

  “Oh, bullshit,” Dan said stubbing out his cigarette in the coffee mug. “You wouldn’t be here if you weren’t special.”

  Chris was at a loss for words. He looked around at the office. Dan picked up on Chris’s modesty.

  “Okay, I get a sense you don’t want to open up. I understand. Let’s get to business then,” Dan said. “What are you interested in studying?”

  Chris thought for a moment. He had studied the various programs at Wellington. He knew the school was well-known for its humanities but not for its sciences. He had no interest in subjects like English or philosophy. He had always been much better at science.

  “I’m thinking of the pre-med program,” Chris spoke.

  “Okay, you’d like to be a doctor?” Dan asked.

  “I guess,” Chris said quietly. Dan chuckled.

  “Such decisiveness,” Dan said. “Wellington has a good pre-med program. It’s not our strongest program, but most of our pre-med students go on to medical school.”

  “That’s good to hear,” Chris said.

  “Okay, well, there are general education requirements you’ve got to tackle first. You’ll have to take English, a social science, a history class, a philosophy or religion class, a foreign language…all that kind of thing. You also have to take a lab science and a math class which will count towards your major as well. You won’t major in pre-med. It’s just a collection of classes. You’ll have to pick one of those classes to major in. My guess is that you may want to consider a biology major,” Dan explained. Chris blankly stared at Dan. “Does this make sense?”

  “Yes,” Chris responded.

  “Great,” Dan said and turned on his computer. “Let’s see what is open right now.” It took a few seconds for the screen to glow. Dan started typing in some commands. The clack of the keys loudly echoed in the office.

  “What does the usual freshman take first semester?” Chris asked as Dan continued to clack on the keyboard.

  “We will keep you at 4 classes every semester,” Dan said after pressing Enter. He looked at his screen and scrolled down with the arrow buttons. “Ah, I see there’s an English class you can take. Might as well sign you up for that. How does Tuesday and Thursday at 9 sound to you?”

  “I’ve got a free schedule,” Chris said. Dan started to laugh.

  “Now you’re opening up,” Dan said smiling. “Now, let’s get you started with a foreign language. You’ve got to take a foreign language up to the 300 level. Usually, that will take a couple of years unless you try to place out. Did you take a language in high school?”

  “I took Spanish, but I don’t want to take that,” Chris stated.

  “Okay, what other language would you like to take?” Dan asked looking at Chris.

  Chris thought for a moment. “I was thinking of taking Latin since I wanted to go pre-med.”

  Dan gave a look of contemplation. “Not a bad idea. Are you sure? That’s a tough one.”

  “I’m willing to try,” Chris said decisively.

  “Perfect,” Dan said and scrolled down the screen. “I see some availability in Latin 101. It’s Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 8. You think you can handle Latin first thing in the morning?”

  “Sure,” Chris said confidently.

  “Okay,” Dan said and typed. “Now, how about History?”

  “Okay,” Chris said receptive to whatever Dan suggested.

  Dan scrolled and found a World Civilization Class that met at 9:30 on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. “Now, let’s see if we can find you a biology class.” He continued to scroll and found a class on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 11 with a lab on Tuesday at 2. “Well, it looks like you’ve got a full schedule now.”

  “Okay,” Chris said. Dan printed out two copies of Chris’s schedule. He put one in Chris’s file and gave one to Chris.

  “You can go to the bookstore and get books for classes now,” Dan said. Chris took the sheet of paper. Chris got excited that he had an official schedule of college classes. “Unless there’s anything else you’d like to talk about, I’d say we are done.”

  “Thank you,” Chris said and got up from his chair. He folded the schedule and placed it in his back pocket.

  “Chris,” Dan said. “I’m serious about enjoying the social scene here. You should consider doing rush in a couple of weeks. It’ll be a great opportunity to get familiar with the Greek system here.”

  “Thanks,” Chris said as he left Dan’s office. He was going to consider Dan’s advice. The only way he could get out of his shell was to try.