How Far We've Come

Chapter 1

Three months passed by far too fast for my liking and suddenly it was mere weeks away from school. My mom had told me to get the mail, but when I opened it, there was a letter from Prestwall High School. Addressed to me.

I furiously opened the letter and read the page. My eyes skimmed over the usual "Dear Anasika Grandle" and "Congratulations." Wait, Congratulations? I reread the sentence.

"Congratulations on being accepted into the Humanities program at Prestwall High School and getting on the wait-list for the Science, Math, and Computer Science program along with the Global Ecology program. We look forward to..."

My face fell. The program I had most wanted to get accepted to was Science, Math, and Computer Science (SMCS) or Global Ecology. Humanities was one I had simply applied to because I could. Frowning, I passed the paper to my parents.

They read it, but their faces were a blank slate. Afterwards, they turned to me and smiled, saying, "Good job getting into Humanities. And maybe you'll get into Global and SMCS later." I let out a deep breath I hadn't realized I was holding. I hadn't let them down. They weren't disappointed. Everything would be okay.

On the course of the next few days, I talked to many friends of mine and consistently felt worse. Everyone was shocked I hadn't been accepted into SMCS and Global. My mind flashed to the five math problems I had written random answers for on my test. I mentally cursed myself, positive that they had been the reason I didn't get into either program.

I constantly worried for the next few days, but life had to go on. Until one day, when I walked into the house, coming back home from a friend's house and my mom smiled at me. She was holding an opened envelope with a letter inside, once again addressed to me. I frowned when I realized she had opened it without me, but my anger was forgotten when I opened the letter. I had been accepted into both Global and SMCS.

I threw my hands in the air and whooped like there was no tomorrow. I had gotten into the high school of my dreams and been accepted into all three programs. What more could I want? Happiness flooded through me and my heart beat faster and faster as I thought of what this could mean for my future. But the future didn't matter at the moment. All that mattered was this.

The next weeks were filled with constant contemplation. Humanities was a no-brainer, with SMCS and Global as an option. I loved reading books and writing, but I could never see myself pursuing it as a career.

That left SMCS and Global. SMCS was a rigorous program where students took courses designed for one year in one semester and spent an extra hour in school taking an extra class. But, it was all of my favorite school subjects and subjects that I wanted to pursue. Global on the other hand was a program of real life application. It consisted of field trips every two weeks and focused on science and history. To anyone, Global would have been an obvious choice. But not to me.

I spent sleepless nights sorting out the dilemma that would determine the next four years of my life. Plus, there was always Southeast High as an option, where I could prioritize my social life over my academic one. But, I never fully considered that. I wanted a challenge, one only a Magnet school could offer. And there was always the fact that it was my dream school.

The Magnet office gave us three weeks to decide which program we would choose. I had already sent in my rejection letter for Humanities when it was time for the open house. Maybe this would finally help me decide what program I would choose.

The open house began with showing us around the school. While it was rather small, the rooms were still unusually numbered. It was last renovated in 1980, and was built in 1950, so things weren't exactly up to date. But, it was still a beautiful school, one I had always dreamed of going to. And now, I was living my dream.