Page 81 of Shattered

She sat down and stared at the floor below, letting her vision swim unfocused with the curved designs in the marbled grooves under her feet. It could have been five minutes or five hours by the time they called her in. She wouldn’t have known either way.

********

When she sat down in the chair once more and looked up, she was shocked to find only the woman, Ms. Clemmings, standing before her.

“Samantha?” Ms. Clemming questioned.

“Where is everyone else?”

“I dismissed them. Sometimes, it can be a little overwhelming when you are being stared down by a room full of people you do not know.”

Sam nodded her head in agreement, thankful to not have to sit in the spotlight with all those peering eyes. Ms. Clemmings slowly dragged over another chair and sat beside her.

“Your record is impressive. You’ve made it to the last semester of your junior year juggling a 4.0 GPA, multiple jobs, and volunteer work. I personally believe you will one day make a fine doctor.”

“Thank you.” That was only if Sam actually made it into med school.

“However, mistakes were made and there are consequences to that.”

Sam nodded in agreement.

“But I didn’t run for this position in order to take away someone's funding at the first offense. So, I have a proposition. I don’t want you to lose all your funding for the next year. It took some back and forth and not everyone on the board agreed, but I have the final say in the matter at hand.”

Sam's heart was racing.

“You will lose your funding for the upcoming fall semester.But, if you sign up for Biological Sciences 428 in the fall and can finish the class with an A, I will reinstate your funds for the spring semester. I will also write an addendum to any med school of your choosing, helping to explain the pressures placed on you at the time, your full course load, part-time job, and community service hours. I don’t think this will be an issue in the long run, but I will do what I can if it becomes one.”

“Thank you.” Sam started crying. “I’m so very sorry. I have never messed up like this before.”

“Samantha. You are human, and you are allowed to make mistakes.” There was nothing but kindness in Ms. Clemmings voice. “Can I tell you a little secret?” She reached out to place a comforting hand on Sam’s shaking fingers and, in that moment, Sam was almost positive the woman was a mother herself.

“Of course.”

“I was in foster care as a young child.”

That revelation made Sam sit up a little straighter.

“Really?”

“Yes. I was very fortunate that I was adopted by my foster family, but I was a preteen by that point. So, I know firsthand some of what you have gone through.” She gave Sam a knowing smile. “They didn’t have this program when I was your age, but, to be honest, despite the good it does, I still don’t think it’s everything it could be. I know the stipulations are rigorous, almost too much so. But I plan to change that.”

“How?”

“Well, between you and me, I don’t think we should have the mandatory 4.0 GPA and job and community service hours. It's too much. How are you supposed to let loose at least one night a month if all you ever do is study?” She gave Sam a wink and laughed.

“I don’t think I have ever truly let loose.”

“Maybe it’s time to live a little, then. People make more mistakes when they don’t take time for themselves. Consider this me telling you to take a little time for yourself, okay?”

Ms. Clemmings patted Sam’s shoulder and stood up.

“Go do great things, Sam. And when I see you for our follow-up mid-fall, I know you will have wonderful things to show me.”

Chapter 34 - Sam

She was practically a zombie as she walked into work two days later. She hadn’t yet told Kristin, or anyone else for that matter, what the decision from the board had been. In all honesty, she was still trying to process it herself.

So it came as a complete shock when she went to hang her bag up that she noticed all the new items placed on top of the coffee station. She was so deep within her own thoughts that it took a second to reconcile with what she was looking at.

---