A closed meeting with the Head—a first for Evita. Impress him. One helpful statement would prove her.
“You represent the students,” her department head explained and sent her to the far end of the meeting table. Brian’s eyes were small in a deeply bearded face, and his gaze rested entirely on the three close colleagues seated near him.
Evita straightened her back, lifting her narrow chin. Almost two hundred students. As a student herself, the most she’d done was admin work for the union.
“Big decision,” Brian announced. Everything about him was big, including his voice. “We promised the students industrial experience. We have a grant. It’ll be on our public record.”
I never got this. She’d been lucky to secure this internship. I want to be there when it’s announced, to see their faces.
“Time to study the options.”
Evita held her breath. She’d only been shown one option—from a former lecturer who had since moved to industry. There would be more; there must be.
“We committed to providing twenty placements. We’ve received three offers.”
Three? Evita looked down the table. The others were stern-faced or staring at their laptops. No one seemed surprised.
“The cost will eat our entire budget. We’d have nothing left for the other seventeen.”
Is this how all the Brian Meetings work?
“The best option comes from our old friend who went over to the Dark Side. He’s offered to take all twenty—for two weeks, onsite here. He’ll give them exercises, use his own lecture notes, and talk about what it’s really like at work.” Brian looked down the table at Evita. “What do you think?”
Evita shifted in her chair. “Sorry—you said they’d be listening to lectures. What kind of work experience is that?”
“The best possible, within our funding. So—you endorse it from a student’s perspective. Excellent. I knew you’d be a good addition to the meeting.” He stood, turning briefly to her. “You—explain it to them.”
Evita watched open-mouthed. Something in her settled as she saw the way questions folded into answers before they could land.
“You—explain it to them.”
Evita nodded slowly. “I will.”
But as she picked up her notebook, she wrote the first question again—larger this time.
The ideas and text for this story are mine. AI was used for research, analysis, editorial testing and image generation.