It was a hot day on NYU campus. Emily stepped out of the administration building and headed toward Washington Square Park. She had never attended University. In fact, Ms. Leveau had never had any institutional education before two years ago. On the plantation in the early 1800’s, she had a few private tutors in how a lady should behave and the skills to run a household. After then, she never found a reason to higher her education. She had protested on several university campuses and sat in lecture halls on subjects that interested her. But she was never enrolled.

When she returned to the South two years ago, a mutant at Louisiana State asked her about her education; asked her about her future plans. Emily had never thought about it before. Why, after all these years, had she never thought about it before?

So she thought about it.

Emily had very few skills to make a difference in the modern world. She thought about getting a degree in political science. She wanted the United States to be equal to all its citizens. But would anyone vote a mutant into office?

So she thought of mortuary affairs. Embalming, restoration art, and other such skills would definitely help the undead girl keep up her physical appearance. But there were too many drawbacks. She had worked at a funeral home for a few months in New York and while she enjoyed helping families pick out coffins and setting up the flowers near a burial site, she was not fond of the sadness, the feeling of loss. She had lost so many herself. And the bodies with no souls. They just laid there on the cold metal. If she stared at them for too long, she imagined that it should be her on the slab. So no mortuary science for Emily.

Emily had this feeling that her existence was perpetuated by her brain. Somehow, this mind of hers was keeping her animated. But how? The girl wanted to learn more. So she decided on cognitive science. She decided to attempt to become a neurosurgeon. It would take about a decade. But Emily had all the time in the world.

But Emily had a problem. Universities liked students who had graduated high school and took certain aptitude tests such as the ACT. So, after some research, Emily began working on her GED. It took her two years, but she received her certificate in May. Her first ACT score was a 14, but with diligent studying and tutoring, she raised it to a 30.

And now Emily was back in New York City. While in New Orleans, she had applied to NYU and was accepted. Today, she had enrolled in her fall classes and had put in her application for the dorms. Emily was on top of the world. For the first time in a long time, she was thinking about her future.

The undead mutant sat on the stairs in the park. She looked at her schedule for Fall. Her plan was to get a Bachelor of Science in Biology and then go from there. So, she was taking Principles of Biology I, General Chemistry I, Calculus I, and a Freshman Orientation course. Ooh, maybe she would even join a Sorority one day. To prepare for the upcoming semester, she would go to the local library and find some books on her subjects. But first, she was going to sit here and people watch.

So on August 24th, Emily moved into the dorm. Her roommate was a lovely girl who enjoyed pink and black together and some show called Pretty Little Liars. They got along well enough, especially since Emily kept her mutation a secret. Emily had told her she had a boyfriend off-campus so the un-dead girl would never be sleeping in their room. That was fine with the other freshman, Cynthia.

Greek Rush began the same week classes started. Emily joined a Medical co-ed organization. She found it the best for meeting the right people. There was another medical Greek organization on campus, but the one that she joined had the most diversity. There were even some members with visible mutations. Emily couldn’t have asked for a better organization to join.

She had done a bit of reading on her class subjects. The girl who did not need to eat or sleep had plenty of time to study. Classes had started September 2nd and were going pretty well. There was one man in her lab group that believed women had no business in the sciences. He barely let Emily contribute to their work, if at all. Since then, Emily had asked to change groups. She didn’t want to deal with some male chauvinist.

It was Saturday and Emily was once again in the park. There were a lot more students now. She sat with one of her Calculus friends and had just finished going over Monday’s homework. The temperature was beginning to cool. Fall would be upon them soon.