Page 64 of The Charming Checklist
Tonight, she was early as usual and sat in her front-row seat. Her buddies Marge and Jeff came in shortly afterward, always front and center, too. All three might be called teacher’s pet in any other situation and none of them cared. They were here to learn. But privately, they occasionally poked fun at their professor, a former CEO who had found another stream of income teaching accelerated courses at an online university and community college. Rumor was that he’d been quite wealthy at one time, having invested in Apple early on, but lost half in a nasty divorce. The other half he may or may not have lost in subsequent businesses. No one actually knew.
He was fortysomething but looked good for his age. Still, Ava hadn’t yet gotten past the fact that he’d asked her out once. He was obviously a rule breaker but seemed to have recovered well from her rejection.
“Hey, Ava,” Marge said. “Traffic okay?”
Ava was the only one who came from Charming.
“Not too bad.” Ava pulled out her laptop and set up.
“Maybe we can go for coffee afterward,” Jeff said.
“Yeah, maybe.”
Marge claimed Jeff had a raging crush on Ava, and now, she elbowed Ava and smirked. Maybe she should mention something about Max soon.
“What’s up, kiddos?” Mr. Keith sauntered into the room, a smug smile on his lips. “Tonight, we’re going over return on investment, or ROI.”
“Oh, good!” Ava said. “It’s the most important part of a business.”
“It sure is,” Mr. Keith said, setting up for a PowerPoint presentation. “Listen to Ava, kiddos. She knows the drill.”
“Thanks, Mr. Keith.” She would never brag but she studied every night.
“In fact, class, did y’all know that we have a bona fidePrincetongraduate with us?”
Ava turned around to see who else had graduated from Princeton. She’d never told anyone. But no hands were raised. When she looked back to Mr. Keith, his smile was tight as he zeroed in on her.
“That’s right, our very own Ava Long.” He clapped slowly. “Congratulations. That’s an Ivy League school, of course. Class, only a realgeniuscan get into Princeton. I know I didn’t get in. Most of us would never even think to apply. The cost itself?Prohibitive.”
Ava swallowed hard, crossed her arms and slid down her seat. She lowered her head and studied her keyboard. Apparently, Mr. Keithhadn’trecovered from her rejection. She couldn’t imagine what else she’d done to offend him. She’d always been on time and respectful. Always turned in her work on time.
He had no right to judge her. Her professor himself had plenty of opportunities and had done rather well for himself before he screwed it all up, but of course he wouldn’t mention that.
Many of the students were now staring. She could feel their gazes on her, feel her skin prickle with heat.
“So, speaking of ROI, and the prohibitive costs of an Ivy League education, let’s discuss.”
With that, he opened up his presentation where he’d analyzed the costs of a Princeton degree with the salaries of a four-year graduate. Ava’s palms were sweaty, and she wondered if anyone would notice if she snuck out of here. The perils of sitting in front. Oh, to have been late today, and been forced to sit in the back!
Mr. Keith continued to click through his slides, analyzing cost of room, board, tuition, books. Ava tried to take notes, but her fingers trembled as she hit the keys. Marge squeezed her arm, then went back to her notes. Ava didn’t blame her. Marge wanted to learn ROI. So did Ava.
Through the rest of the class Ava had to sit and take notes on how her parents had wasted hundreds of thousands of dollars on an Ivy League education. Because the only graduates making a good ROI were those that went on to law school and medical school, according to Mr. Keith’s analysis. Approximately three-fourths of Princeton graduates went on to those careers, or Wall Street. Ava briefly wondered if Mom hadn’t slipped Mr. Keith a few bills for this lecture. Because if guilt was usually only an occasional fly that she couldn’t swat away fast enough, now an anvil sat on her chest.
Jeff raised his hand. “But should an education really be viewed as a business model? Isn’t education itself its own reward?”
Ava sent him a grateful smile, and Mr. Keith went on to make his point. Not surprisingly, he disagreed. A much more economical, just as functional education could be found elsewhere. Where? Anywhere, according to Mr. Keith.
After class, in the parking lot, Marge and Jeff surrounded Ava by her vehicle.
“You need to report him,” Marge said. “This is inexcusable behavior from a teacher.”
“He’s a bully,” Jeff added. “We’re all adults but give me a break.”
“It’s okay, guys. I’m tough enough to take it. He does have a point. My parents paid for my education, and yet here I am at community college studying what I’d wanted to all along.”
“I’m with Jeff.” Marge elbowed him. “Education is its own reward. That’s how I grew up.”
“I still think you need to tell the administration,” Jeff said. “We have an anti-bully policy and I would imagine it includes teachers.”
