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Seren did not normally do the Student Helper tasks in the computer lab... She did tutoring, mostly, but during Summer Intersession, she was not very needed, and even during summer SESSION, most people were too busy with the intense workload to have time to do tutoring sessions. She needed a way to keep earning money, for the things her scholarship did not cover, and this was one of the ways she had found to make up those extra dollars. Food and utilities, she made sure she had enough for that and her daily necessities, and other then that, accepted what she could to try to have a little extra... But if she got nothing else, she was able to accept it.

This week, however, they had been UNUSUALLY short staffed in the lab, and had called her in to work full time. She had fit one of her classes in, and was there or in the lab when she wasn't at home. Right now, she was at the front desk, waiting for the next student who needed assistance to approach.

She watched the young woman walk in, and waited a minute... and a few more... Before she realized the young lady, for some reason, was hesitant to approach. She considered her options, before finally saying "Hi there! I'm Seren, and if you need any help with the lab today, I can assist you!" in her best customer service-friendly voice.

Seren smiled warmly at the other girl. "Ah. It's a pleasure, EunKyung." She pronounced the name with slow care, like maybe she had some familiarity with hearing the sounds of the Korean Language, but minimal to no experience actually speaking it. "So, since you're working with a fellow student instead of a counselor, who are all on vacation, and I'll have to see your grades... I need you to fill out this form. It's just basically your name, and then date and signature at the bottom. It grants me permission to pull up your record. Legal protection and all, you know?"

Seren picked up a clipboard, with one of the forms on it, and pointed where Ms. Lee would need to fill out, then handed her a pen. It was one of those triplicate forms... One for Ms. Lee to keep, and two for the school to file in their various places. Once the young woman signed it, Seren came around the desk.

"Come on with me... We have some small cubicles in the back..." She gestured to where they were. "So we can review your information privately." She began to walk towards it, her smile getting a little warmer as she went, trying to show the young woman that Seren was totally friendly and happy to help. "Do you know what your eventual field of study will be, or do you want to focus on general education right now?" She asked as they got to the cubicle. "This is just to give me an idea on what classes we should be looking at first! I know when I was in my first two years of college, I was focusing on getting my GE out of the way, so I could focus on my major after."

Seren settled down in the chair besides the computer, and gestured at the other chair to encourage Eunkyung to sit. "Thank you. I... Don't have much knowledge of how to speak Korean... Other then a few food words, one word I hope to not hear again, and some names, I don't know any, but I grew up hearing it." There was a note of discomfort as she mentioned that, and her smile flickered, as if the discussion brought up things the older girl did not want to talk about. "But I do my best to try to pronounce names right."

She pulled up the young woman's grades, and studied them, then smiled. "It looks like you were a very hard working student, I'd say." She looked back over at EunKyung. "Now as for what your family wants... Those can be important factors..." Her eyes showed no emotion as she talked about family. "But in the end, what you want, and what interests you, is more important. You're going to put more time and effort, after all, into things you care about and are interested in."

She tilted her head, considering the other girl for a long moment. "What interests you? What really catches your attention, so that you can focus on it, and really DO whatever it is, or study it?"

Seren's eyes widened slowly and she turned to look at the younger woman. She had been able to guess, from the accent, that EunKyung was Korean born, rather then born here, but this was quite a kind offer from the young woman, especially as they had never met before. She was frozen for a moment, then a huge smile broke across her face at the kindness. "I would... greatly appreciate that. I always wanted to learn. I never got to talk to my grandparents much, because of the language barrier."

She tilted her head, considering the other young woman's words. Helping others... There were so many options there. "Well... Your uncle's suggestion of Law might not be bad, depending on what type of law you do. Teaching is a hugely under considered field, though it is also often under-remunerated and under-respected, unfortunately... But it's amazing how much of an effect a teacher can have on a young person's life... Especially if they're having a hard time at home, or something." There was a suggestion that this was personal experience, though it was clearly not an intended implication. "Science is good, too... You can use it to help people as a whole. Political science is an option, psychology... There's lots of ways. It depends on how you want to help most."

She leaned back, her head tilted to one side. "I think, if you're truly undecided, I would suggest taking general education requirements, with maybe one class a semester in a subject you're interested in as a potential, then see how you feel after?"

"Then I truly am happy to accept. I don't have a lot of connections to that side of my family." She wished she could have had them, but her father had been pretty clear that she was 'UNWORTHY' due to being who and what she was, in her parents' minds, and so she was kept away from that stuff. She knew how to cook some of the foods, but... She pushed away from those thoughts, and just nodded. "We can discuss when and were to meet for this, after we get you all set up for the semester."

She turned back to the computer as she listened to the other girl talking about what she was considering, and nodded. "All right. So based on your grades and all..." She typed a bit, then hit the print button. After a moment, she grabbed the paper, and turned it towards the younger woman. "So here's the recommended Math class for you... You'll also need these English classes, they're a requirement, and also these other requirements here, for general education. Some of them have various options, some don't." She showed the elective options, the language options, and all. "Why don't you decide how many units you want to take in the first semester? Remember that 12 is a full semester load, and you don't want to kill yourself. 18 is considered a LOT, and to get more then that, you need Dean's approval... And you probably won't get that as a first semester Freshman."

She sighed a little, before continuing. "They don't want students giving themselves stress related breakdowns, plus you need to be able to have enough time to do your homework, study, eat, and even have a life, because all school and no relaxation makes for a very unhealthy mental state. So when deciding what to take... I suggest a balance of heavy and lighter. Like, say, taking an Arts req class and maybe a phys ed, along with one or two of the heavier courses."

She paused, considering the other offer, and finally said, slowly, "I want to learn a lot. I want to know about the culture of that half of my ancestry. I want to learn as much as I can. I am trying to teach myself the cooking of Korea... I use recipes from Maangchi, and a few others, but since I don't know how they're supposed to taste, I... have no idea if I'm doing it right."

"This will mean a great deal to me." She said, with quiet enthusiasm. She was going to learn the language of her grandparents... She'd have to email her brother, find out how they were doing. Maybe... maybe she'd learn enough to talk to them some, soon. Or at least before it was too late. She would send little prayers of hope to whatever was out there that this would be the case. "Perhaps one of the little private rooms in the library?"

"I... don't know. I took Spanish because I already spoke a little bit of that, as there were a large number of Spanish speakers in my home town, and I worked with a few, so I didn't... look into other options." She pulled up the Language Classes lists. "As for English Literature, that would be an elective unless you were majoring in English... You need English 1A and English 5 as the General Ed requirements." She turned and looked at her again. "And I understand that, about Korea, but I'm just saying the Dean might not be willing to sign off on that. Why not stick with 12 to fifteen, see how you like it, then if you really feel you can handle it, go for the whole deal? College is a lot heavier then high school classes."

She paused, then added "I've seen kids who insist they can handle it, because they handled a heavier load before, who end up taking on too much and washing out, or having to take a break because they stressed themselves to the breaking point. We try to encourage people not to do that to themselves, especially with all the Destiny City insanity." It was the closest she'd come to referencing the regular news reports about bad things happening, the so called terrorists. She didn't know what was actually going on but it did add a rather different level of stress then most university cities in the US had.

She considered the offer regarding the cousins. "I... Perhaps I can invite you over to try the food I make sometimes, see how it goes? I am... Not sure I would feel comfortable with lessons or even critique from a strange man." Let alone a strange Korean man. She'd never be able to stop thinking about her father, in that situation. She didn't know it, but her tone held some residual fear from the memories that were trying to bounce into her active thoughts. "But perhaps once I've gotten a bit more confident." She tried to sound positive, because she wanted to be able to not be terrified.

"You're certainly welcome to come to my home, if you wish, and I can try cooking while I learn." She gave a calm, warm smile, and avoided mentioning that cafes cost money, that she rarely had. "I am good at cooking, generally, so I hope that I will learn to do things right."

She didn't talk about how she had to learn to cook well, or it was a painful lesson for her on failure. She didn't talk about humiliation, she didn't talk about shame, she didn't talk about being considered a curse. Or that word. She just kept that warm smile on her face, and if her eyes held a little pain, she hoped the other girl saw the warmth instead.

"Japanese could be a very good choice. It's a useful language for business, certainly, and other such things. We can look up what language options are available, once we get the rest of this set up." She nodded at the suggestion of 15 units. "It seems like a fair amount but I think that's manageable as long as they're not all heavy classes. Gotta remember that the expected out of class work will be commensurate to the level of the work. You can expect essays in English 1A, possibly a research project... Lots of Math homework, trust me on that... So definitely balance. So you want to take your Math requirement... That's..." She checked it. "4 units. Do you want to do 1A, or look at other reqs?"

The suggestion of meeting the girl's cousins at a later date was met with a small, if nervous smile, though the mention of a husband had the smile warming significantly, as did the adopted child. "Congratulations to them, and good for them, taking a child that was unwanted and making it loved and wanted." There was honest, and slightly raw, joy in her voice at those words. She still seemed uncertain. "It's... not... That I think he is... like anything." She just looked down, and simply said "Sometimes bad things happen to people when they are young, and fear can be hard to avoid. But perhaps. Perhaps it would help." Or perhaps she would get a reproving frown, if she did something wrong, and have a flashback.

This girl didn't need to know what had been done to Seren. No one did.