You sat sketching various set designs for possible photo shoots coming up but also to let those creative juices flow. You had an image engraved into your mind and you were going to achieve it! You made sure the direction of the lighting was showcasing the main colours that should stand out and contrast with the other elements. This was going to look so great for aesthetics; which designing was all about.

   At the start of every lecture, your professor makes the class draw different types of sets for 15 minutes so that the assigned sketchbooks are filled with possible projects; it was also a way to gain an extra 2 percent at the end of the semester. Sketching was actually pretty therapeutic, as it helped you to de-stress for the rest of the day, but also inspire you and improve. Looking up from your sketches you noticed the professor, Marc, wasn't in the lecture hall yet. Glancing around you noticed some other students working hard on their sketches, and some just hanging out with their group of friends and socializing.

   You have friends too; although they were in separate classes, which makes it hard to meet up with them. Every one of you have different schedules that it seems impossible to spend time together. Some of their programs cause them to take several courses as well, so they're too busy with their own schooling to hang out. But you understand the importance of doing well so you respect their decisions anyways, at least you can still text them. You were always there for them if they needed you anyways; just one text away.

  "Hey, Y/N what do your designs look like?" Broken out of your thoughts, you looked up at Aesha who was looking at you with a smile of expectancy that ignited hope about your designs. As you both started your first year of university together, you slowly befriended Aesha in class.

   "Oh, just this. Here." You slid the book over to her and watched her expression as she gazed at the design you were working on. Aesha's brown eyes sparkled full with admiration, you can tell she likes it. You felt pride and confidence swell up in your chest as she continued to flip through the pages.

  "No doubt about it, you'll get in the 90's again," Aesha smiles while flipping through the pages, "you art student, you." She teases. Closing the sketchbook and she handed it back to you.

  "Hey, you'll get a good mark too when Marc looks at your designs at the end of the year." You respond, reassuring Aesha that her designs are worth it. 
‎
  ‎"Besides, I like your abstract and symbolic work." You smile to Aesha, nodding slightly at her book.

   "They're mostly a work in progress-nothing extraordinary." Aesha looks over to her sketchbook that lies on the surface of the table. She waved your comment away, like only the professor's opinion matters. Which it kind of did for grades, but you also just wanted her to feel more confident in her work and to be proud of it.

   "The only thing that matters is that you work hard on them, and the commitment that you have for your designs is remarkable." You tell Aesha. It really was remarkable, for tiny details and patterns she was the master at it.

   She fixed her hijab by putting another pin in it to keep it from coming apart early on throughout the day. "Y/N, you're the only one who understands me. Thank you, I'll dedicate my book to you when we're out of here-"

   Just then, Marc walks into the room and everyone hurried back to their seats. Aesha scurries to her seat and sits down in front of you. And just like every professor and teacher she has seen... Marc has a bad fashion sense. Wide slacks with a checkered sweater; he may be good at designing rooms but why can't he design his outfits better.

   Everyone anticipates Marc's announcement. Usually, he arrives on time, if he was this late then something was up.

   "Listen up everyone! This class is being given the opportunity to do their practicum in an exchange program with one of our sibling schools in South Korea. It will be for two and a half months," Marc breathes in, looking around the class, "but only those with excellent grades and a relatively high GPA will be given the chance to go. There are six seats only."

   Everyone looked around at their friends, mouths wide open with excitement. Some stare at the floor, either they're not interested or they're disheartened because they know their marks are not high enough for this chance to go.

   "So use your time wisely as Midterms are coming up and that will be a major factor in deciding who will go." Marc finally ends his mini announcement, looking at the class with a stern look.

   Everyone was about to talk with their friends about this development but, like he had an afterthought, Marc spoke up again. "And don't worry about your other courses, you can take it online over there, or if you're in this set program and have me for most of your courses then you also have the chances to do online assignments, quizzes, and tests on moodle."

   You sigh then thought to yourself, 'bruh...' Your eyes travelled to your sketchbook.

   'Well damn, now I want to go.' You thought. No way were you going to lose this chance. It's a huge opportunity; to go to someplace new. You want to study, but also live your life a little. Although, it is a completely different place, language and atmosphere of the culture will be different for you too. You don't want to be completely alienated.

   'Time to learn some Korean phrases and culture so I don't look like a dingus.' You breathe in. 'Also, I need to notify my parents.' You exhaled, hoping that they would let you go.

   Throughout the rest of the day your mind kept buzzing back to the exchange program. You were excited at the prospect to travel somewhere far away and completely different from your daily life. Hopefully, you would make some foreign friends. Going to a new country alone would also be kind of nerve-wracking, but you haven't even started yet. You would deal with those emotions once you got there.

   Of course, you knew about Kpop and Kdrama's; mostly thanks to your friends dragging you into it. You were a fan of some and knew a few of the different types of groups, but that came second to you, school first.

   There was still a very low probability-more like non-existent-chance for you to even have time for yourself to go out and even shop or try and see any concert or music show. So it's better to be realistic and not have high hopes. You don't want to be crushed before you even start, but also you don't want to spend so much money. You would rather save for tuition.

   You made up your mind that once you reach home, you will have a talk about this with your parents. Your grades are good, and you believe in your GPA. All that is left is your desire to take one of those seats and travel to South Korea. If your parents allow you to travel that is.

   You hope things go well in the way you want them too.

   With that thought in mind, you got on the bus and plug in your earbuds, ready to daydream.

 

 

   "Hey, hey, heeeey. Mom, Dad. Guess what?" Okay, that was a rhetorical question because you were going to tell them anyways. Dinner was the perfect time to tell them because that's when you were able to all get together and sit down. And also when they were in a better mood, psh. Your siblings were there so you were able to show off the opportunity you were given.

   They looked at you; waiting for the answer and so you continued on.

   "So, I might be travelling to South Korea in 2 weeks after midterms are over for 2 months and a half. I'll be going to the school there and will still be able to keep up with my classes. But only if I get high grades. But you know how good I am already." And you beamed them a smile to prove that you were a good student with a GPA of 3.79 and a sweet child to stop their worries and convince them further.

   "That sounds good. We always say for you to take the chance to travel when you get it and it's good to go when you're young. As long as you get your studies in, we don't want you fooling around just because you're in a different country." Your Dad gave you a stern look to get his point across and your mom continued after him.

  "Stay close with other people that are also going on the trip with you and never wander off. Do you know where you will be staying? Dorm? Hotel? Host-family? And will it be free or will we pay for it?"

   "Mom, Dad. You two can trust me. You know I don't get out much to fool around anyway. I will be staying with a host family, whose background will be checked and the trip is already included in tuition under 'practicum' so consider it "free"."

   Those last couple of weeks before midterms started with you filling half of your notebook with notes and going over jargon and diagrams. If this was a movie cutscene to show a montage of the protagonists training, this would be it. At the end of it all you felt confident, let's just hope that shines through for your results.

 

 

   You walked into class early, like 30 minutes early. The bus always dropped you off early, like by half an hour early, but that was fine because there were not many people in the class. The classroom is mostly empty and the teacher isn't here yet either, which makes the classroom look like a total ghost town. However, this didn't bother you and it made you look like a good student, so that was a bonus.

   You knew that today was the day you would receive your exam results. This thought that zoomed through your mind made you feel anxious about the marks, but to calm yourself down you took out your phone to get a distraction from the anxious thoughts. Soon a steady flow of students started to enter. The classroom that was once silent turned into mumbling chatters full of different emotions. A lot are nervous in fact, from what you could hear.

   You were the youngest in the class, the only minor. The oldest person here was in their late 30's and had 2 kids a few years younger than you. Way to make you feel like a baby, but at least you used your image so they would treat you kindly and think of you as cute. It wasn't really something you took advantage of often, just most of them are generous and kind in the first place which makes this class less intimidating.

   "Okay class, here are the results of your midterm."

   Marc walked in with a thick white envelope with the university's logo printed on it. Everyone already knew what it held and fidgeted nervously in their seats. You could feel yourself break out into a cold sweat. Truth be told even though you were a good student, you still got anxiety before every test and when receiving the results. That was something common, there was always doubt in your heart; a lot of insecurities in your own abilities and how those around you really felt.

   A wave of relief washed over you when the professor handed it over to you. You quickly glanced at your percent circled in red pen; 92 percent. You mentally let out a long sigh of relief. Going through the paper you quickly checked what you got wrong. It was mostly in detailed diagrams and your essay portion with the grammar. But other than that you knew your facts well.

  You looked down at Aesha and caught a glimpse of her mark. It was 84 percent, that was a low A.

   "Hey, Aesha, what did you get?" You asked her even though you already knew just so she thought you weren't snooping around like a snake.

   "Oh, 84 percent. I'm surprised, but at least I know what to focus more on now. I need to do better because I know my parents want high marks." That's right, her parents wanted her to go into a more serious type of career but she chose this, and in exchange she had to achieve high marks.

   "We should do a study group together sometime, maybe in the library?"
‎
   She smiled, "I'd appreciate that. But after you come back from the exchange."

   You gasped dramatically and placed a hand on your chest. "How could you say that? We don't know what the others got on their exams either. And you got a good mark too, don't count yourself out just yet."

   Aesha didn't say anything, instead, she nodded slightly with a small smile.

   "Okay, ten minutes is up. You may hand back your exam results to me, please." Marc's voice grabbed everyone's attention, everyone got up and walked over to Marc and handed in their results.

   You had to hand them back to the front since you couldn't keep them. Collecting them from others as well, you gave the papers back to Marc who mumbled a small 'thanks.' You had to get back to finishing the sketchbook in the meantime.

   Class ended after learning about the new topics of the colour theory; tomorrow would be a review of a theory then symbolism in movies and music videos. You would stay behind to talk more with Aesha, but you had to quickly catch the bus after every class since it came ten minutes after dismissal.

   Later into the evening when you got home your phone buzzed. Ah, it was Aesha.

AshAsh: did u get the email yet?
i didn't get in gehfskfj 
but its fine bc my parents would rather want me here anyway to help take care of my siblings

(username): lmao i havent checked yet too busy on my laptop. lemme check now

AshAsh: okay okay. tell me when you get it
i think i already know the results ;)))

(username): dont ever make that winky face at me again and i got in like the last third spot omg had to fight for it
i was wong,,, there are lots of smart students in our class
well some of them take architecture courses soooo

AshAsh: WONG
but also congratzzz XDDDD
now start packing for the trip, convert that $$$ into won(g) 
and learn korean phrases, u are now a weeb

(username): One day,, u will be stopped
and i meant wRONG*** grdbkj
okay goodnite im out its like 1:30 am

AshAsh: u say that but ur just gonna go on youtube for another hour

(username): << ;

   You exited out of the app and opened up youtube because damn she was right. But the app was also helpful for learning how to correctly say Korean phrases, and there were also videos to help memorize the alphabet. You wondered if falling asleep listening to Korean would help you? This was a time to experiment and learn from as well ha ha.

   Would Korean variety shows help? It would have slang in there and examples of when to say what. Yeah, that's good. Welp, time to search up shows to put on your "To Watch List." Oh! and google terms as well so you can study on the plane. Your (e/c) eyes stared blankly at the bright screen in the dark, they must be going red by now with strain.

   So far you racked up some shows like Running Man, Weekly Idol, Law of the Jungle(this would also help you to survive in the wild), something called Exo Showtime, and a few instructional videos such as the alphabet and phrases.

   You were starting to feel cold around the shoulders so you snuggled further into your several layers of blankets and sheets to feel cozy again; and of course making sure your hair was out of your face. Plugging in your earbuds and making sure your phone was charging beside you, you clicked on the video meant for falling asleep to. Checking it was on repeat you fell asleep to the darkness of the room, the voice speaking Korean then English, and the little bit of light coming from your alarm clock.

 

****

 

Quick question! What year would you all like this to start out? I already want to solidify that the reader is born in 1999, bc I have an idea for that. The reader is also Canadian bc that's what I know best and I will use female pronouns. I also want her to have her first practicum a few years back but then she would have to younger than the usual 17-18. I know some people skip years in elementary and high school or take online school during summer to also move up grades. So I'm willing to make them. I think 2015 would be the limit i would go back bc then the reader would be 16. And I know some 16 year olds who were in their first year of uni so its not that improbable...

Also! ignore the tags pls and tell me for sure what groups and companies you want involved in this, you can say multiple. The more that are said, they more they'll appear.

So what year do you want this to start and who do you want to see?