Gemotions

The email arrived like a cold gust of wind, rattling the windows of her tiny dorm room. Maya reread the subject line: “Scholarship Review – Urgent Action Required.” Her fingers, suddenly clumsy, fumbled with the mouse as she opened it. Her breath hitched. The carefully crafted prose of the university’s financial aid office blurred before her eyes as she scrolled through the details. The scholarship, the one that had saved her from working two jobs and attending classes, was…misattributed. A knot tightened in her stomach. She felt a pressing urge to pace, back and forth, from her desk to the window, unable to sit still.

She pictured her parents, the relief etched on their faces when she’d received the good news. They’d sacrificed everything. She knew what this meant, and a tremor ran through her. She felt a need to swallow, and her throat was dry.