Somewhere between Sunset

One ~ North and South

September, 2009
South Carolina

Reed House

"Kelsea, have you looked into quitting your internship job and just focus on your upcoming architect registration exam?" Her father asked as she passed by him. He was seated with stacks of paper works and rolled up blueprint plans at their home's makeshift study at a corner cramped with a bookshelf, file cabinets and a small desk. He works as an engineer, who rarely used it except for the occasional times he's at home on weekends because he travels a lot for work as an project manager for a construction firm.

"I am. I'm also applying to other companies while I'm focusing on my studies as a backup plan, just in case." She answered straightforward while pulling some of her own personal files from one of the cabinet.

"Just in case what? That's not called focus right there. You only want to take this exam once. There's no excuse for failure. You'll just get disappointed and eventually give up." Her father added without looking at her and just focusing on finishing his work.

Yes, there is. That's called life. You just keep trying. She murmured softly to herself as she hurriedly left the room to prevent another debate with him. They both have different perceptions especially when it comes to her career decisions.

She's the eldest in the family and she was raised with high expectations mostly from her father. He who grew up in this town, who have to juggle multiple jobs just to earn a degree and become the engineer that he is today. Her mother isn't any different, coming from a big family that moved to the United States decades ago, they struggled a lot and if not for her mother getting scholarship grants and student loans, she won't be the nurse that she is today.

They constantly reminded her and her only sibling, her younger sister, Sophie, how blessed they are not to go through the same hard journey and that there's no need for them to lift a finger just to make ends meet. All they have to do is just focus on doing two things— excel in school and pursuing their dreams. Her sister, Sophie, doesn't have any issues in this matter, she consistently gets the high grades and awards since she started going to school. She was naturally smart. Kelsea, on the other hand, have to work extra hard to get the grade in hopes of realizing her own dreams and making her parents proud.

Oh, those dreams. Her dream was always to pursue art, to expand her skills as an artist and to have her work displayed in a museum. How she loved to sketch and paint, growing up. She never get any formal training except for her art class in school that she enjoys. But her mother would always praised her for her natural talent. She who would collect and even framed some of her works to decorate their home.

But as soon as her father learned of that, he was quick to point that artists starve or they come from families who doesn't need to work in order to have food on their plate. He won't take any of it and choose instead for her to take a profession similar to his, and that lead her to where she is today, pursuing the field of architecture.

It makes sense, her dad was an engineer and she can help built a more stable future for their family this way. Maybe someday they can do projects together or even open their own company. But each passing day, she felt the pressure growing to prove herself to him. She's starting to feel the need to be on her own, to go after her dreams and not her father's.

Someday I'll go as far as I could and never turn back. No one else have to tell me what I should be doing and how should I do it. She promised herself from time to time. But the recent events in her life have pushed her more towards going in that direction.

Oh, young love. Not too long ago, her first and long time boyfriend of five years broke up with her. They met through friends while she was studying in college while he was starting to chase his dreams as a young tech professional. She thought it would last forever, all first love feels that way, it ended with him cheating on her over his very own best friend. Why does your first love have to be dramatic? There's a thin line between fact and fiction among the many novels and movies about first love that ends in heartbreaks.