The hum of a running engine grows distant as your parents drive away, leaving you at the front gate of your new school. Supposedly it’s one of the top private colleges in the state, though you yourself know nothing about it. You stand alone with nothing but yourself and the clothes on your back, your luggage having been sent separately. The school had informed your parents that your supplies as well as your uniform would all be given to you on the first day.

The gate before you carries the name of this new school, the metal shaped into an almost regal font across the top arch. “Ms. Magnolia’s Institute for Outstanding Academics.” A bit of a mouthful of a title, but according to your parents they had heard nothing but great things about the institution.

Tiring of standing alone on the edge of your home for the next four years, you begin your ascent up the small staircase and into the school grounds.