“Let’s leave the cooking to me,” Stephanie teased. “You can take out the trash or something.”

Karina agreed, laughing.

Since Stephanie wasn’t around much, Karina tried to get to know other girls in her dorm. She struck up conversations in the bathroom, tagged along with groups going to the cafeteria, and spent evenings studying in the common room. Her days were full those first months on campus, but it was hard for Karina to get into gear. That desire she’d had to roam and explore, that curiosity to discover all that was different from what she’d known, began to recede a little. Karina found herself missing the comfort and familiarity of her life at home, as imperfect as it was. When she saw signs appear around campus for the Indian Students Association, she heard her mother’s voice in her head and went to the first meeting. She saw Priya from her dorm there and hoped they might sit together, but Priya was already ensconced with a group of friends. Karina sat through discussions of a bhangra dance competition, throwing colors for the Holi spring festival and monthly Bollywood film nights. There was the temptation to fill her social calendar here, with events every weekend. But she couldn’t keep up with the conversation over which films to select and knew nothing about bhangra. Other than food, her familiarity with Indian culture was limited to her mother’s classical dancing and prayers—which she preferred to forget. She realized she wouldn’t fit in here any better than amongst the dorm girls.

Before coming to campus, Karina had imagined it would be very freeing to be someplace where no one knew her or anything about her. Instead, it felt like a burden she was carrying: who she really was inside, that person and those truths only she knew. She didn’t know how to be the person she was and also someone new here at college.

* * *

A few months into her freshman year, comfortable with her classes and earning good grades across the board, Karina was eager for some additional way to occupy herself. She approached her biology professor, Dr. Choi, knocking tentatively on his open office door.

“Hi, Dr. Choi. I’m Karina Olander. I’m in your—”

“Advanced Biology class. Yes, Karina, what can I do for you?”

“Well, I was wondering if there might be any way of earning extra credit?”

“As I recall, you’re already doing quite well in my class. You want to bump your A to an A-plus?” He smiled at her as he slid his pencil behind his ear.

“Well, I . . . it’s less about the grade, I guess. I’m just looking for some way to get more involved on campus, and I’ve always loved plant science, environmental science. I helped my biology teacher with projects in high school. I thought you might have some ideas?”

Dr. Choi reclined in his chair and studied her for a few moments. “Yes, in fact, I do,” he said at last. “I cross-teach in the Environmental Science Department, and I usually ask a few students to work in our Botany Lab over there. Four hours a week for a half-unit of credit. Some students do it their whole four years. Sound interesting to you?”