Life changing events always seem to happen suddenly and unexpectedly. Just when you think things are going well, or when you’re going through some of the toughest times of your life, something always happens to switch your perspective. Some people have to wait longer than others though, and others are still waiting. I wouldn’t need to wait much longer though.
I woke up in my usual fashion. My neck hurt and my eyes felt hot. I’ve had trouble getting sleep for a while. My body’s internal clock always gets me up at the same time every morning, 6 A.M. sharp. No exceptions. You’d think that going to sleep at a decent time, like I often did, would all but guarantee a well-rested awakening, but you’d be wrong. My mind was always going a mile a minute even with my eyes closed. There was just so much to worry about. Many people are jealous of our youth, but it isn’t always easy when you’re transitioning from a kid with a twinkle in your eye, to a young adult who finally realizes they need to change everything about themselves to make it in the world. Not to say the world isn’t a beautiful place. Many of these comments seem dreary, but the thing about life is that it’s full of the most heinous things and the most beautiful things as well as everything in between. These things are always bouncing off each other and showing themselves in any and every situation.
The first thing I do when I wake up is check my phone, as most people do. Checking social media to see if a random girl professes their love for me (yeah, right), to see sports highlights, to see what people I went to high school with are up to, etc. Then, I check my email, never quite sure what I’m looking for though. Scrolling past the usual spam, I see a strange message. Life changing events always happen suddenly and unexpectedly.
Congratulations Ryder!
You have been chosen to be the Lucky Student and have been awarded free tuition to join this year’s freshman class in enrolling at Fortune’s Favor University! We are contacting you, so we may confirm that you would like to take this once in a lifetime opportunity to go to the greatest university in the country. If you decide that you will not be enrolling, please let us know before 11 P.M. on August 1st. Thank you and we hope to see you on campus this fall!
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Sincerely,
FFU Enrollment Team
I just looked at my phone, unable to process what I just read. I checked the sending address to make sure it wasn’t some sort of phishing scam. It seemed legitimate. I re-read it five more times just to make sure I was understanding it properly. I was. The next step was to figure out what I was going to do next. This opportunity would solve the majority of my current problems, but it also adds a couple more of them which makes me hesitant. The first of these problems being that massive life changes are scary. The second being, am I really good enough to go to one of the top universities in the world? It seemed like I would be under a lot of pressure to succeed, or else the school’s reputation would take a hit. I always hated being the center of attention, and it felt like that might be the case if I enrolled. On the other hand, my resume would be perfect for any job, I would be able to learn in one of the best environments on the planet, and I would finally be able to become someone successful without having to go through a terrifying interview. There were so many variables to take into account. I didn’t know what I’d do, but I knew what I should do. It was obvious. Of course, I had to take this opportunity regardless of how shaky my resolve was.
Another thing that bothered me was just what kind of people would be enrolled at this school. It’s invite only, and I’ve heard that the class sizes are quite small, but no one really knows because most information about the students is not released to the public until after their graduations. Many of the students are famous before their enrollment, so it’s a no-brainer to try to keep their enrollment secret to prevent a large influx of hungry paparazzi. Trying to keep students a secret can’t be that easy though. I imagine there must be strict restrictions for the students and pretty tight campus security. I already have problems making friends normally so having to deal with people who are leagues above me in most likely every way is going to be challenging to say the least. That’s another thing that is making me not want to go through with this. The more I think about change, the more I want everything to stay the same. But life can’t become better like that. Something’s got to give, and for once, it’s going to be me.