InsaneJournal

Who: Elena and Lily
What: Med school discussion
When: Morning of May 20
Where: Coffee Shop
Status: Complete when posted
Rating: Low



It was a bit disconcerting how quickly Elena’s life was starting to move now. She had effectively been head-hunted, landing a wonderful residency at a clinic founded specifically to help those dreamers in Orange County. And no sooner had that happened than she found herself tapped to be something of a mentor, offering advice on medical school to another wannabe doctor. It felt sort of amazing, honestly.

She’d suggested that they meet for coffee when she had some free time planned and she actually managed to arrive a bit early, grabbing a latte and enjoying the taste of freshly ground coffee, not the stale stuff that tended to be dispensed by the university vending machines.

Spotting the girl who must be her appointment, Elena smiled, offering a wave across the room.

***

Lily generally spent her day off doing housework or as in the case of the past week or so, puttering around James’ house trying to make some sort of order out of it without making it too obvious that she had for when he came back. And it kept her busy so that she wasn’t doing nothing but pouring over her textbooks or bothering Amycus to see if he had any news from home. But when she’d heard back from the young woman the school had paired her up with to answer her questions before the semester started asking her to coffee so they could talk face to face she’d jumped at the opportunity. Making sure James’ porg was fed and comfortable on the mermaid pillow it had claimed before heading out to meet her.

She looked around for a moment before spotting the dark haired girl waving at her and she smiled back, holding up a finger before stepping into the line so she could order her own treats and then carrying them over to the table and taking a seat. “Elena right? Pleasure to meet you in person. I’m Lily.”

***
“Nice to meet you, too Lily.” Elena stretched out her hand with a wide, friendly smile. “So how can I help? What questions do you have?” She knew that the girl was interested in medical school but concerns could vary widely among students.

***
Lily shook her hand as she made herself at home and sipped at her coffee before answering those questions. “How many classes am I going to be able to not drive myself nuts over thanks to graduating with a degree in Biology? Does that one count?” She said with a smile, hoping the other girl realized she was joking. “It might sound utterly horrible and selfish but a real one of mine is am I going to still have the occasional weekend to spend at the beach? Or working events for my business.”

***
Elena’s smile widened. “It depends, honestly. I was trying to graduate a bit early so I took winter and summer classes. I just wanted to maximize my efforts. But if your timeline is a bit more flexible, you might be able to take on a lighter load. It’s something you’d probably want to discuss specifically with your faculty advisor.”

Taking a sip of coffee, she shrugged. “I wouldn’t say it would be completely out of the question. Just know that it is a pretty demanding schedule. I manage some nights out but not a ton.”

***

“I’m not sure it’s my timeline being more flexible so much as wanting to work to minimize the debt and summer is prime party time for children which is most of my business. So many little girls want an actual princess to spend their birthday with them after all.” Lily said with a small smile.

“I’m not much for the nightlife anyway. Occasionally with James or one of my friends but most of the time give me comfortable pajamas and a book or Netflix.” There was something about Elena that made it easy for Lily to talk to her even though this was the first time they’d been face to face.

***
“That’s a pretty sound strategy.” Minimizing college debt always was. Elena had been lucky enough to have some money left to her from her parents as well as some grants and scholarships that covered a good portion of the tuition.

“You should also look into scholarships. There are a ton available. I can give you some resources. And I know what you mean. I tend to be a homebody, too.”

***
“Resources would be brilliant. I filled out the grant and loan papers and dropped them in the mail the day I got my acceptance later but scholarships could help me able to return at least a portion of the loan money before they can start charging interest on them.”

***
“I can definitely help with that,” she smiled. “I did a ton of research when it came to my own loans. And you should look into special scholarships. I mean, everything from oboe-players to high jumpers. You never know what you can find that might apply to you.” Every little bit helped when it came to college debt.

***
“You wouldn’t happen to have an inside lead on scholarships for British redheads would you?” Lily asked, half joking.

***
“Not red-heads specifically, no.” Elena’s eyes twinkled. “But I’m sure there are more than a few for international students. We’ll definitely find you something.”

***
“I just don’t want to go any further into my savings than I have to for tuition and labs.” Lily said, giving the brunette a friendly smile.

***
“I totally understand that. And it’s certainly a good plan to minimize debt as much as possible. Especially with how expensive medical school is. Here…” Elena jotted down a few things, offering Lily the paper.

“There are some websites that are really good compilations of various grants and scholarships. Advisors are also really great at combing through things. You might even consider making an appointment with the university financial aid department to see where they can point you.”

***
“I think the knowledge of how expensive it will be is why I took so long off between University and Medical,” Lily admitted as she reached out for the paper, scanning it quickly. She’d heard of some of these but most of them were completely new to her.

“Brilliant. And I have a call in to them already. Just waiting to hear back from them about what time they have available.” That was the worst part of school for her since boarding school - the waiting for appointments.

***
“It does take longer than you’d like.” Elena remembered that very well. “But hopefully it won’t be too much longer. And I’m here if you need anything else, remember that.”

***

“Thanks Elena. It helps to have someone I can talk to about all this.” Lily said honestly, giving the dark haired girl a grateful smile as she reached for her drink to take a sip.

***
“I’m glad to help.” The words were sincere, Elena smiling at Lily as she said them. “It’s a tricky process but there are lots of people who can help and who want to. So reach out if you need anything and otherwise, I’m sure you’ll do well in school.”

***

“Speaking of people who want to help. I actually have a job lined up as receptionist at a local clinic. And one of the doctor’s there has offered to help me with my studies and figuring out what kind of medicine I want to practice. If I end up deciding that I want to specialize that is and not being a general practitioner like the plan is right now.” Lily said, something about Elena making her feel that she could trust her.

***
“That’s fantastic! I want to be a general practitioner, too. My dad...he was one. I always liked the thought of it. It makes medicine more personal if you’re following people for years of their lives, not just popping in and out during the worst parts.”

***

“And I think you can help more people that way than some surgeons do. And maybe this is just wishful thinking on my part but I kind of like the idea that maybe I’ll be able to do something to help someone not have to go through the worst part of their life. At least not quite as soon as they might have otherwise. If I stay with general practitioner that is. But specializing can help people too I just...Need to figure that out before I graduate right?”

***
“Yeah,” Elena nodded. “Sometime in the first year or two you should decide what area you want to work in so that as you start to take more advanced classes you are focusing on the right things. But I think you’ll be fine.”

***

“Thanks Elena. Talking to you helped a lot with figuring what order I needed to do things in and that I’m not completely wrong for not having a path set in stone for me starting school.” Lily said giving her a friendly smile.

***
“No, you absolutely aren’t. That’s what college is for, right? Figuring out what you want to do.” Not everyone knew exactly what they wanted to do from a young age. In fact very few did.

**

Lily smiled at her. “One of the things it’s for at least.”

**
“It’s about discovering who you are. In the classroom and as a person,” Elena agreed.