Part Five - Sophomore Year, Fall Semester
Whatever I expected out of my sophomore year, that isn't at all what happened. Between the events of the fall and the events of the spring, I started to learn just how much not only I was changing but my outlook and perception on life itself was changing.
I've mentioned this before, but Dr. Igarashi had a way of essentially convincing you that you'd come up with an idea she'd actually suggested to you. I'm still not entirely sure how she did it, whether it was some sort of hypnosis trick or neurolinguistic programming or just good old-fashioned conning, but a lot of the core beliefs that I adopted in sophomore year I'm betting came from her suggestions and not from my own deductive reasoning.
Our second partner, Chelsea, wasn't even close to what Julia and I had thought she'd be like, and she arrived under rather chaotic and unexpected circumstances. It was the first time an entire second wave of students were rolling onto campus, and I'd sort of expected... well, I'm not entirely sure what I expected. But having the freshman alphas show up before anyone else? That wasn't even in the realm of what I'd considered.
As you probably remember me telling you, during my freshman year, the betas all showed up basically a week before the alphas did, but I guess that was only because we were the first class, because that never happened for any of the following years. In those, the freshman alphas always were the first to show up for the fall semester, ahead of any additional students that were being introduced to the campus.
This gave the older alphas a chance to explain things to the newer alphas how things were going to go, and to set expectations properly about what was and wasn't fair game. Each of us was given a handful of students to 'mentor,' and I drew three names - Ali, Jake and Brianna, each of whom had loads and loads of questions, but all of whom seemed like they were good enough people. They didn't just have questions for me, either, but also Julia, who was kind with her time and willing to be open about how unusual the program was, but that it worked.
I did notice during freshman orientation that there were a lot more women in the alphas for this incoming freshman class than there had been in ours. It was thirty-five women compared to the fifteen men in the class. Based on that, I remember deciding that each year would be different than the preceding year. I'd find out next fall that I was right, but I shouldn't skip ahead too much when I'm telling you about all of this, because the order of my discoveries figures into some of this, I'm sure, even if I can't see it.
The three people I were mentoring were very much in the same vein of what kind of person I was - mostly a loner, not a strong friend group, not a lot of family attachments with a strong sense of drive to make a mark on the world that lasted beyond when we were gone. Ali and Brianna both had interesting paths mapped out for themselves that I could barely wrap my head around. I'm sure you know them both, though, based on where they are now. Ali Ferguson is the CEO of FarDream Industries, which has the telecom company, the electronics company, the food company... I've lost track of how many fingers in pies FDI has. Brianna Greene is the US Ambassador to China. Jake's not doing anything these days, for reasons that'll become clear later.
The freshman alphas had shown up about ten days before fall classes were scheduled to start, and their betas began trickling in literally the next day, first thing in the morning. They were pretty much in line with our alphas - they were all ridiculously fit, beautiful and sexually aggressive. As soon as they showed up, since our alphas knew what to expect, they typically didn't leave their dorms all that much for the next day or two.
One of the things that Julia and I had talked about was that we weren't sure if our later partners were going to be transfer students with a year's equivalent of education or freshman. The Friday before the week of classes starting, an orientation was called, and all of Class 1 (that was us, the first class of CARP) were brought into the large lecture hall, which could hold about 150 people total.
"Good morning, students of CARP," Dr. Igarashi said from her podium up front. "This coming year in particular, we have been presented with a very strong opportunity, so we are going to be taking advantage of that. What this means for all of you is that none of your round 2 partners will be US born citizens - it's vitally important that the work we do here transcends such petty boundaries as country borders, and as such, a more globalist outlook is needed. Because of that, you will find that your new partners will come from countries all around the world, and for many of them, English may be a second, third or even fourth language. This will require a bit more patience in your initial months, so we are asking for extra patience in getting to know your new partners. We will, of course, offer the option of splitting in between semesters if you feel it isn't working out with them, but we ask that you wait until at least the beginning of December before making your mind up in such matters, and keep the most open of minds until then. Language barriers may present a bit of a challenge, but I have faith that you will all be able to work through it and find your common ground on which to build your foundations together."
The good doctor paused for a moment, looking over our sea of faces, a smile upon her lips. "They are all, like you, second-year students. I'm sure many of you have been wondering about that, but we will be bringing in outside students for most of the years to give you partners who will only get a partial education here at CARP. We feel like that's important, as it lets philosophies outside of our own get mixed and entangled with what we're trying to do here. So, in many years, we will be getting transfer students to add to your existing unit. Not
all
years, but
most
years."
I remember distinctly making a mental note of the way she phrased that, and wondered what sort of implications it was going to have down the road. Any time the good doctor stressed words in her speech, it was a cue for us to pay close attention to what was coming next. That meant at least one year, we wouldn't be getting transfer students, which probably meant incoming freshman.
"It's also important that you know they won't be arriving soon - they've already arrived. While we've been going over what your second year here will be like, they've been moving their things into your dorm rooms. You don't need to rush into sexual activity with them immediately, as we recommended you do with your initial betas. These people are here to center you emotionally, to bring you into focus, and as such, you should try your best to be as open and trusting with them as you can. We ask you to keep a lot of secrets here at CARP, but you should have no secrets from any of your partners and so be open and caring to those whom you let into your lives."
There was a quiet murmur going over us in the crowd. I think we didn't like the idea of someone just wandering into our dorm rooms and making themselves at home while we weren't there, but it was in line with what we'd signed up for, so none of us could complain too much. It was just that sort of subtle line push that the university was great at - finding what we were comfortable with and edging that just a little bit further down the line.
"Classes start on Monday, and if any of you have any severe problems with whom you're paired with, you can come and see me personally in my office," she said. "I think we rooted out anyone who was racist, misogynist or hateful during our screening process, but I have to admit there is always the possibility of someone slipping through the cracks. Anyway, that's it, and I'll see each of you during your one-on-one sessions sometime this month. Get out of here and go have fun!"
"Non-US citizens, huh?" Julia asked me as we slowly waited for the auditorium to empty out. "That'll be wild. You hoping for anything in particular? A sexy French girl? Some slinky Indian girl?"
I remember laughing, shaking my head. I wanted to remind Julia that she was more than enough for me, but I knew that it'd only anger her. She was into the whole thing of us forming a group right from the start, and was always disappointed when I showed any signs of traditionalism. "I'm going to go into it with an open mind and no expectations. We'll just play it all by ear. If I'm not expecting anything, then there's no possible way I can be disappointed."
"You know how good Dr. Igarashi is. You think she's going to disappoint?"
"I think that no matter how good anybody is, they occasionally make mistakes and sooner or later, I should be prepared for that. Remember, she didn't get all of the freshman class right, did she?"
