Swished Hearts

The Offer

To say the campus was huge was the understatement of the year. Despite leaving 15 minutes early to find her way, Sofia was already almost late to class. She managed to catch a seat on the last row of a fully packed room.

"Introduction to Motor Learning and Control " the title flashed on the board, and Sofia couldn't help but furrow her brows. It seemed like familiar territory. Glancing at the semester's curriculum, she sighed inwardly. 

Anatomy and Physiology II.

Biomechanics II.

 Functional Movement Assessment

Those names rang more than one bell. She had already attended similar classes in her two previous year back home. Though the familiarity of the subjects should have brought comfort, Sofia couldn't shake off the feeling of disappointment. She had traveled across the globe for a great education opportunity, looking forwards to having some hands-on experience. Yet, this semester seemed like it would be a breeze, and she couldn't find it in herself to be happy about it. It rather felt like she was set for boredom after just the first week. At least she had gotten in with full scholarship and was not wasting any savings.

After 3 days, Sofia realized this would not work. She had just gotten out of Biomechanics class, and the teacher had already done a pop quiz at the end of the class. Half of the room had looked genuinely panicked, and she had heard some students speak in the corridor about how "this class is already so fucking hard I didn't get half the words he used in the exam". Sofia had finished the quiz in 2mns and had been the first one to walk out of class.

As she debriefed her week with Angela, sprawled on the sofa, the frustration bubbled within her. "Girl, you should contact maybe the admission center," Angela suggested, trying to offer some advice.

"I mean, I don't even know what I'm going to ask for. It's not like I want to switch majors," Sofia replied, feeling stuck.

"Are there really no classes you feel you haven't taken yet?" Angela probed gently.

"Maybe two? I had not taken anything yet on nutrition and psychology" 

Angela winced sympathetically. "Yeah, that's rough. I think you should talk to one of your teachers or someone responsible for international admissions. Maybe they can allow you to attend senior classes. That could be your best shot."

"That's not a bad idea actually, thanks, girl," Sofia said, grateful for Angela's insight. She immediately pulled out her laptop to draft an email, with Angela lending a hand in polishing her words.

"I'll wait until tomorrow so I can justify this after attending all the classes. Fingers crossed," Sofia remarked, feeling a glimmer of hope.

Ten days later, Sofia found herself called into Dean Douglas' office. Nervously, she entered as he gestured to a chair across his desk. His warm smile instantly put her at ease.

"I was very happy to find your email, as I was about to call you in either way. It seems that our consideration of the situation is lining up," Dean Douglas began, his tone friendly yet businesslike. 

"Your teachers have brought to my attention that you appear ahead of the curve in almost every class. Whether it's the questions you ask or the quality of your presentations and answers, it's clear that you have a strong grasp of the material. Your email also outlines that your education back home has given you some core fundamentals of the junior program".

"We've considered your situation carefully," Dean Douglas continued. "And we believe there's a solution that might work well for both you and the university."

Sofia leaned forward, her curiosity piqued yet her heart still pounding. "Yes, sir?"

"We suggest that you continue attending the few classes you haven't taken back home," Dean Douglas explained. "Instead of advancing you to senior classes, we have a different proposal in mind. We've been in discussions with Dr. Borowiec, the head of our Physical Therapy department. She's in need of an assistant to work with her for our women's basketball D1 team. Given your background and expertise, we believe you would be a perfect fit for the role. Usually such roles would be given to seniors, but they are all already enrolled in apprencticeship or internships as part of their mandatory curriculum."

Sofia's heart skipped a beat. A part-time position working with elite athletes while gaining hands-on experience in her field of study ? It was more than she could have hoped for.

"This would be conditional on you passing a finals-like exam by the end of next week to confirm your proficiency in the classes this job would make you skip" Dean Douglas said, his tone encouraging. "But we believe it could be a great opportunity for you, as it would allow you to stay within the 2-year frame of study you signed up for in the first place."

"Yes!" Sofia blurted out, almost instantly clasping her hand over her mouth. "I mean, yes, thank you very much for this amazing opportunity. I am very grateful for your trust, and I would be happy to take the exams next week. I honestly don't need much time to think this over, sir. It is an opportunity I simply cannot let pass."

The Dean smiled knowingly, not bothered a bit by her outburst. "Well in that case, I'll let Mrs. Borowiec know we have a candidate for the position. And if you confirm by passing the exam, you will start in the next 10 days. You are exempted from classes next week to revise the class material. I wish you good luck, Mrs. Padilla. I'm personally looking forward to seeing where this journey takes you."

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If you didn't guess it by now, this is about to be slowwww burn because I personnally can't really get into a story that starts straight away, with most of the plot just out of the blue. Stay along for the ride I swear more chapters are on the way :) Votes are always appreciated <33