How Far We've Come

Chapter 10

Days passed and every one took me closer to college. It was time for me to think about college. Now, I wasn't going to go as far as taking the SAT or looking for internships, but I needed more extracurricular activities. Other than piano and religious school, I had pretty much nothing.

My mom consistently urged to join some clubs as well. Finally, I decided to. I was watching the morning announcements in Spanish class when an interesting club came up on the screen. "Kids Are Scientists Too." It was a club where high school students went to the local elementary school and helped teach elementary school students and perform experiments with them. It sounded fun, educative, and just my kind of thing, so I decided to go to the interest meeting.

At the end of fourth period, the lunch bell rang its sweet sound across the school. I slung my heavy blue-black backpack over my shoulder and stumbled out of the classroom, being my uncoordinated self.

I racked my brain for the room number of the meeting, until it struck me. Room 8. I followed the classrooms from room 13 all the way down to room 6. Room 10, room 9, room 8, room 7, room 6... Wait, room 8? I took a double take, and sure enough, there it was. I nervously ran my fingers through my hair and took the first step into the room.

I looked around at the sea of unfamiliar faces, hoping to find one I recognized, but there weren't any. Most of the students were from the SMCS program, and most of them knew each other. I scanned the room and finally found one girl eating her peanut butter and jelly sandwich at a lone table. I crinkled my nose at the smell of peanut butter. I had always hated it, but walked to the table anyway.

"Can I sit here?" I asked. She nodded. I took a seat in the desk across from her and pulled out my lunch. Luckily, it was something easy to eat- pasta.

"So what's your name?" she asked, giving me a single-sided smile as I rushed to wipe my sauce covered mouth.

"Anasika," I introduced. "What's yours?"

She smiled. "Reyna. I'm in Humanities. You?"

I raised my eyebrows. It wasn't everyday you saw a Humanities student in a science club. I mean, it wasn't common for a Global student either, but at least one of our advanced subjects was science. It was even worse for her than it was for me. "I'm in Global. Seems odd to be surrounded by SMCS students." She nodded.

I was often asked if I was in SMCS. SMCS was mostly composed of Indians and Asians, and I was Indian. That combined with my love for science and math made me the perfect candidate. I had spent sleepless nights wondering about my decision, but in the end I picked Global. I don't think I could have handled the work load, or grades for that matter, in SMCS. Plus, Global was awesome. I told Reyna all this, and she identified immediately. Apparently she loved science, but didn't get into Global or SMCS. Since she still wanted to go to Prestwall, she chose Humanities, the only program she did get into. It wasn't my exact situation, but it was similar.

A tall girl with stick straight black hair, oval glasses, and wide eyes turned to us and clapped her hands. "Hi everyone!" she introduced. "Welcome to KAST, or Kids Are Scientists Too. I'm Amanda Bao, your club president. I am in SMCS, but this club is open to all programs. We will be having short five-minute interviews for the rest of lunch, so get ready. You there, in the Redskins t-shirt, come up here first."

The boy's eyes widened and he picked up his papers, scuffling to the front of the room. He was obviously nervous as he tugged on his shirt and ran his hands through his messy black hair that covered his forehead. Amanda began asking him questions, but I couldn't hear a word, so I turned back to Reyna.

"I didn't even know there was an interview," I complained.

She nodded. "Me too. I just hope they don't base it off of skill. I'm not that good at science, but I love working with kids."