She stood and addressed the room. “As I said, you guys are in control of all the day to day business, but you’re also in control of how you take care of one another. Pembroke is prestigious, expensive, and lacking in diversity. Some of you are already used to this fact, while others might only be recognizing it now. Some of you are here on scholarship, the first of your family to get to this stage. Some of you have the hopes of an entire community on your shoulders, right?”

There were a few nods from the students. “I can’t tell you that the pressure will ever let up. If you weren’t asked to the table, you’re always going to have to prove you belong there. For some of you that might never end. What’s your name?” she asked the student in the back.

“Adam O’Neal,” he said. “I’m a freshmen.”

“Adam, you belong here. If you made it this far, you’ve got the strength to go even further. That goes for all of you. Some of you will have to have the strength to convince Adam that he belongs here on the days he feels isolated. Can you reciprocate the encouragement, Adam?”

The boy gave a wordless nod. Victoria’s chest ached for him and his pensive expression. He was a small light-skinned young man with pale green eyes and tight sandy curls. He chewed on his lip and averted his gaze from Victoria. “Yeah.”

“Does everyone promise to give each other the encouragement they need to make it through their time here? Because if you can’t, a group like this cannot succeed.”

Murmurs rippled through the group, some nodding, others clapping and saying “yes.” The students closest to Adam clapped him on the back and pulled him in for hugs. When she saw his bashful grin, Victoria knew he’d be okay.

“I’m going to hand it back over to Maya,” she said. “But I just felt like I needed to say that. You don’t have to feel alone, any of you.”

“Thanks, Dr. Reese,” Maya whispered, her warm hazel eyes smiling. “We need to hear that.”

Victoria nodded and sat back down. The kids are alright. The students knew what they wanted and were willing to work for it. That’s all she needed to know. If they elected Maya as their president, they would be fine. She was reminded of what John had asked her when they spent the evening at his house. What you bring to your work that wasn’t there before? This was one of those moments she would hold on to. The smiles of students who no longer felt alone... Victoria had helped, in a small way, to create this feeling of comradery.