“You don’t need to clean this much,” he said as I disinfected his desk for the second time that week.

“And you don’t need to help the mango grandchildren all the time,” I countered.

He chuckled.

“There can never be too much math education,” he said. In that moment I agreed with him, found myself thinking of the multivariable calculus class I should have been taking that semester. I dismissed the thought before I could linger on it too long.

On the other hand, all things EMBRS have been going super well. I did that presentation Prof. Logan asked me to do for the freshmen. It was weird doing it over a video call, but at some point, I got into it, murmuring to myself as I worked as usual. It’s a habit I picked up from grandfather. In any case, Prof. Logan gave me loads of compliments afterward.

“You made it very accessible,” he said from his office, during our weekly 1:1. “The students loved it. That self-deprecating humor really works for you.” Then he paused. “Of course, you don’t actually feel that way about yourself, do you?”

“Of course not,” I lied. Perhaps I had referred to my work as “trash code” one too many times.

He raised an eyebrow. The delay in the video connection pixelated his eyebrow, making it appear fractured.

“I’m only going to say this once, Monica. You are likely the most talented sophomore I’ve ever worked with. Not only in your code, which is clean and beautiful, but also in your communication, which is transparent and accessible. Those are really the most important things about being an engineer. When EMBRS succeeds, it will be in large part thanks to you.”

I’m going to be riding this high for a while.

When I mentioned his compliments as my 😄 for the day to Louise, she demanded the presentation recording. I was nervous, waiting for her reply, wishing the video wasn’t so long, suddenly fearing she would contradict everything he had praised about me.

But she didn’t. As soon as twenty-seven minutes passed, she replied:

wow, that was really great! even I understood

And a few seconds later:

and damn, youre cute

I melted into my bed and couldn’t move for a while. I lay there staring at the ceiling, at those stars that don’t light up anymore, grinning uncontrollably. First Prof. Logan’s compliments, then this. It was too much. I felt like an electron when it’s given too much energy and all it can do is vibrate over to the next orbital. And somehow, the only thing I could think to send back was:

and you’re late with your email about your major!

Which totally killed the vibe. But she took it in stride.

lol I know. im terrible with deadlines. gimme a few more days