Day 2 - The Move

James sat at the coffee shop and wondered whether he should call his parents and let them know that he was okay but he knew that if they didn’t even bother driving up with him to the university he wasn’t going to put in any effort either. He knew that this would have happened but he wasn’t willing to give up on his dreams just so that he could have his parents’ approval. He wasn’t going to let their decisions influence his life. They had done enough damage already. James had just moved in a few hours ago and was exhausted with the amount of unpacking that he had to do. A treat was definitely long over due.

James decided to study teaching at the University of California. He was really excited to start making a difference and he knew that the future lied in the hands of the children. His parents and grandparents all came from a political background so you can understand why his parents were not keen when he told them about his teaching career. His father would soon be running for senator and for them this seemed like a big smack in the face. They wanted to know how being a teacher would help a political campaign.

James came from a wealthy family so he moved into his own place that wasn’t too far from the University. He knew that the only support he would get from his parents would be financially but he seemed to be able to make peace with that idea. The less they were involved the better for him, less complications for his future career. As it is, children would prove to be too much too soon.

James had big plans on improving the education system and he couldn’t wait to begin sharing his ideas with his soon to be peers hoping that he could find a few people that shared the same ideologies as him and perhaps even start a movement to create about this change. According to James, the current education system was failing simply because the teaching methods that were used in the classroom was by far out dated and the syllabus focused on ensuring that the children would be helpless out in the real world. James always taught that education should be more practical and scenario based rather than just regurgitating information from a textbook. James washed down his Mozart cake with the last remaining sips of his latte and rushed out of the coffee shop.

He was late to meet his high school sweetheart, Samantha Ashburn, they were together from high school and were still going strong, so it seemed from the outside. Samantha was accepted to study Biogenetics at UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) but they decided not to stay together because they were both not ready for such a commitment and their future careers were more important to them than anything else. James wasn’t sure if that meant that they were on a break but he was certain of one thing and that was his love for her.

James could still remember the first time that he and Samantha shared their first kiss. It was warm, soft, touching, real. Never again was he able to recapture the magic of that moment, no matter how hard he tried to squeeze his eyes shut! Strawberries. She tasted like fresh picked strawberries.