Memories of Jane

Chapter 2 - A New Feeling

Could you still remember your first day in College? The feeling of excitement, pressure and nervousness, all those are hard to forget. You got caught in the moment that you somehow ran out of clues about what you were doing and why you were there. The sense of being in a brand new environment was something that's tough to explain. The thought of being surrounded by a crowd of unknowns and the idea of the probability of getting to know them all of a sudden was surreal. That may be someone from that crowd will come out, get near you and play a vital role in your life.

Me? I perfectly remember almost everything. The struggle of looking for my classroom, the moments in my first, second and last class; it doesn't matter. But those kinds of petty memories could instantly disappear from my mind. There are two things that I swear will never become obsolete – the first time I set my eyes on her and the first time her voice touched my ears. Until now, it echoes inside my head. Her sweet and serene voice was unbelievably angelic. Sadly, the sound of her voice in my mind is like paradise but it hurts. Again, it's a paradise, but it hurts.

How cruel can life be?

I'm starting to sound dramatic again. Don't tell me I didn't warn you about it.

Let me just tell you what happened.

Room #313, College of Architecture.

The facilities are well-designed architecturally-wise. Its appearance is sophisticated. Paintings and artworks, some dated back 1980's, created by former top students are all around the place. It's just right since this building was erected to produce great architects and artists. The program I can say is well-represented.

When I entered the room, I sat at the rightmost corner. I didn't give a thing about anything and I didn't interact with anyone because I had some pretty heavy pressure in my chest. The AC was turned on but I was sweating. The subject was Algebra and unfortunately, I wasn't good in Mathematics. It's safe to say I was in big trouble.

A voice of a man suddenly echoed in the classroom. The murmurs and noises created by my classmates suddenly died.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Blue Star University, one of the finest universities in Los Angeles."

He grabbed a marker and wrote his name on the white board with conviction.

Mr. Allan Jefferson is a professor with a vigorous temperament. A person who seemed to has administered the Military. He's upright, and that makes him intimidating. Judging by the looks when we met, he was around 40-45 years of age. He's towering at 6'6 feet in height, fair-skinned, had a wide forehead and a border of white hair around his scalp. Hearing his voice was like hearing the rumbling of the thunder during stormy nights.

"Algebra surely looks like an easy subject (no it's not) but let's see how far you can go, KIDS." He said.

A birdbrain inquired if we could introduce ourselves to each other one at a time. It's the norm, but Mr. Jefferson was not a fan of such tradition. Expecting that first classes in College start with introductions, he was like a myth buster.

"Introducing yourselves on the first day of your class is pointless. You will gradually get to know each other; it's natural. Don't get me wrong, I have interests in knowing you all. But you got to work hard for that to happen. Let your skills do the talking. Let's use the allotted time for learning." He said.

Surely, he was results-oriented. His rule was very simple:

If you do not perform in his subject well, there's no way he would exert even a small amount of effort to know you. And if he would not get to recognise you, you will not get good grades. Not getting good grades speaks for failure. That's the basic equation. Wow, that sounded mathematical. I guess I'm good in making equations but without the numbers.