It was just another paper. Just another essay on some important medical device that saves a bunch of lives on a daily basis.

Scrolling to the todo app on her phone, Claire realized just how much she had to get done.

English paper on Hamlet due on Thursday, AP Chem lab analysis due on Wednesday, Spanish 4 presentation in two weeks. And that was only the first few bullet points.

From taking as many classes during school hours, working at Cluck Craze, trying to get clinical hours, taking classes at the community college, Claire never realized just how much work she was doing.

It just became a ritual: sit down at her desk, pull out her laptop, set a two hour timer, go to town. She never thought she was doing so much.

_It will all be worth it_, she thought. It was true, everything she was doing would be worth it, she could try to get less time in college, more time to study for the MCAT, get out of Indiana once and for all.

In part, it was a fantasy, how everything she had worked for could have done nothing. She could work and work as hard as she could, getting all the credit, finishing all the assignments, but it could all tumble out beneath her.

Claire looked at the time, 8:57. She could start will her todo list, work down the list, starting from closest to farther due date. She didn’t have work to day, to Karina’s disappointment, she could sit at her desk and work.

Plugging in her headphones and chosing her music, she began.