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F is for Finance and Future

Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2019 10:17 am
by BROseidon†
(Cassandra Black –> Start)

Cassandra sat with her open economics book, staring blankly at the pages.

I'm not getting any of this.

Cassandra had read and re-read the chapter about securities, what they were and the different kinds of securities that existed, but she just wasn't understanding it. Maybe it was because she was just tired, since she had just had multiple exams that day and had been up late studying the night before.

Fucking hell, I should just put this away.

Cassandra closed the book and opened up her laptop. Her aunt and uncle had given her the laptop for high school, and the wear of nearly four years of use was showing. Even when they had offered to buy her a new one, Cassandra had refused. After all, she hadn't had her own computer before she had to move to Seattle, so she sure as hell didn't need a new one when this one was still functional.

Hmm, this would be a good time for actually running through various options about majors.

Cassandra had already spent a fair bit of time analyzing what she would study during her time at Dartmouth. An economics major was non-negotiable, and she has already planned out several ways in which she could complete the major and write a thesis in it. Nevertheless, a single major wouldn't necessarily be good enough to guarantee the top-tier banking job out of college that she was going to gun for, and there was plenty of room for her to put in a second major. Dartmouth allowed for triple majors or double majors with a minor, even, and Cassandra was even looking into whether she could get some magical combination of econ with two other solid majors to work out.

I haven't looked at the CS department yet. Probably too many prereqs for it to fit in neatly, but let's see how this goes.

So there Cassandra sat during her free period, trying to plan out her courses for college in a way that would guarantee her an eventual spot at a top private equities firm.

Re: F is for Finance and Future

Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2019 10:17 am
by ThePureLight7†
[Jesiree Merridew - Continued from Hit the Ground Running]

Oh, thank God no one's here, Jesiree thought as she walked into the library. If there was anything she needed after her workout, it was peace and quiet. She was hot and sweating. Her hoodie wasn't helping her very much in that respect, but she didn't feel like going through the trouble of actually taking it off. She hunkered down in a chair and threw her backpack to the ground with a loud clunk. She looked around the room and saw one other girl that she recognized from some class which she couldn't be bothered to remember - one of them over-achiever types, probably wasn't loved enough as a kid and just wants to prove to mummy and daddy that she's not a prime example of the importance of birth control. She sighed. At least thank God there's no one who's gonna be a pest...

She bent down and unzipped her bag, looting through it and pulling out her computer and a book she took out a while ago - Truth Like the Sun by Jim Lynch. She hadn't gotten very far into the book at all, but she liked what she read so far. She set her closed computer in her lap - she hadn't really taken it out for anything in particular - and started reading more of her book.

Re: F is for Finance and Future

Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2019 10:17 am
by BROseidon†
Cassandra had been deep in thought about her course planning. She had been looking at the computer science department page, and seeing how she could sequence out the major to optimize how it would fit in with the various econ major tracks while still permitting for either a third major or a minor. With only three classes most terms, it was pretty difficult to fit in all the requirements for multiple departments without coming across places where two classes that she needed were at the same time in the same term.

*Clunk*

The loud noise jolted Cassandra, and she looked over to see where it had originated. She recognized the girl; most of Aurora was white, so anyone of a non-white ethnicity stood out a little. Cassandra also vaguely recalled having a class or two with the girl, but couldn't recall her name. Then again, Cassandra didn't really know the names of a lot of her class mates, because she had never tried to get to know them. There were, in the long term, not of use to her. They weren't part of her plans. Most of them wallowed in their mediocrity, ultimately going to second-rate schools that would limit their options for getting to Wall Street.

Then again, most of her class mates had probably not thought that far ahead about their futures, or, if they had, a most of them probably didn't want to end up in the finance world. After all, most of them had grown up with some amount of money, with safety, and were thus free to follow there passions. Or follow some other cliché about making yourself happy, because life's not all about money. But, Cassandra wanted the security that money would provide, to take her as far away from the wretched neighborhood where she grew up. I'm never going back.

With that in mind, Cassandra just gave the girl a dirty look for causing so much noise, and returned to planning her future. Let's see if I can force something by sharing science prereqs between majors.

Re: F is for Finance and Future

Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2019 10:17 am
by blastinus
(Daniel Worcester continued from Quarter Turn Punch)

Daniel liked the library, which was hard to believe, given its normal state of disarray. It was probably the books. While not much in the ways of fiction adorned these shelves, some of the academic books were a pretty fun read, though he wouldn't admit that to anyone else. But another important aspect of it was the quiet. Though the hustle and bustle of the school halls leaked in sometimes, more often than not, a fellow could just lean against a wall and finish a book in total silence, if he had the time. And since Daniel had his homework for tomorrow already finished, he certainly fit that category.

But, and this was crucial, the most important thing about the library was that it was easy to hide in. Lots of aisles and alcoves to read books in where nobody could see him and ask what he was reading. For their information, he was reading Machiavelli's The Prince, not because he believed that political stuff, but because the guy made the political stuff interesting to read. Daniel had had that same sort of paranoia about people jumping to conclusions when he'd been reading Nietzsche. Far too many people, at least so far as he'd heard, not that he'd ever seen them, liked to assume that people who read those kinds of things were arrogant pretentious intellectual types, but in all honesty, Daniel just liked Nietzsche's sense of humor.

That clarification to nobody in particular out of the way, Daniel resumed reading his Machiavelli in silence, only to jump suddenly at the sound of a large bump. Craning his head over the bookshelves in order to see what had happened, he spotted a girl sitting down at a table with a laptop, looking unconcerned, while another girl had turned suddenly as well, so it was probably not her. And by process of elimination, that meant...

With a light huff, Daniel walked down the aisle, leaving the book open on top of a shelf. "S'cuse me," he said to the girl with the backpack. "Was it you who made that noise? Some of us are tryin' to read, you know." Fact of the matter was that Daniel was making more noise than Jesiree just by this outburst alone, but he hadn't really considered that. If he had, he would have also noticed that he'd left The Prince halfway off of the bookcase, such that the instant his back was turned, the book fell, hitting the carpeted floor with an audible thump of its own.

"Darn it, Machiavelli! You're making me look like a hypocrite here!"

Re: F is for Finance and Future

Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2019 10:18 am
by ThePureLight7†
Oh, that's just fucking perfect.

Jesiree had just begun reading her book when, all of a sudden, some douchebag was calling her out for setting down her computer. She looked up at him to get a better look - big guy, Jew-nose, hair that just screams "My mom thinks I'm cool!" He struck her as the kind of person who joined one of the really tough lesser-known sports teams just to look cool. He didn't look quite douchey enough to play lacrosse, maybe wrestling, or no, wait. Hockey. Yes, he was the perfect level of douchebag for hockey.

"S'cuse me," Mr. High-and-Mighty-Ducks said, "Was it you who made that noise? Some of us are tryin' to read, you know."

Just then, a book fell from the area of the library from which the guy came. She could only assume that it was his. He was probably in too much of a hurry to tell her off that he didn't even realize that he was doing the exact same thing. That was the worst kind of tool - the kind who doesn't realize they're a tool. She looked up at him, smiled smugly, and said, "I could say the same." She was trying to think of something else to say that would sting - maybe calling his hair lame or something - but by the time she thought of anything, it was too late. She'd have to save it for if he commented back at her. Oh well, hindsight's 20/20.

She turned back to her book and continued to read.

Re: F is for Finance and Future

Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2019 10:18 am
by BROseidon†
Cassandra looked up again when she heard a boy's voice in the direction of the of where the first interruption had come from. Okay, now this is getting absurd.

She recognized the boy. Hair like that was hard to forget, after all. Like with the girl, she didn't remember his name, since she had had, at best, a marginal amount of interaction with him.

Shortly thereafter, a book had fallen from a shelf. The black girl scoffed, said something briefly, and went back to reading her book. Ugh, if a scene breaks out, I won't be able to get any work done.

If things got bad, Cassandra could step in and try to dissolve the tension. Otherwise, she had no purpose in stepping into other people's business. She had her future to plan, and any unnecessary distraction was immensely unwelcome. Indeed, she would only step in when she deemed that not stepping in was going to cost her more in the way of net work than would be lost by taking the time to remove the distraction.

Re: F is for Finance and Future

Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2019 10:18 am
by BROseidon†
Cassandra finished what looked like a pretty good course plan. It took her through her time at Dartmouth with an Econ/Math double major and French Lit minor to round out her academics. Granted, the plan required her to ace all of her AP exams, but that wasn't even a concern; anything less than a 5 would be an impossibility to her, since she was going to make sure to be hyper-prepared.

She looked up, and saw that the conflict between the boy and the girl had gone nowhere, and decided that it wasn't her place to intervene. Thus, Cassandra walked out of the library, proud of the work she had done.

(Cassandra Black continued in After the Battle)

Re: F is for Finance and Future

Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2019 10:18 am
by ThePureLight7†
Jesiree had put in headphones and started listening to her favorite song - Liebstraume #3 - at full blast. If the guy had anything more to say to her, she didn't want to hear it. Actually, she wasn't even going to be in the same room as him when he said it. She was already done with classes today, so she could just well up and leave. Yeah, that's what she'd do. That would definitely give him a sting.

She started packing her belongings, not even giving a passing glance in the boy's general direction. Hell, for all she knew, he might not even still be there. She picked up her bag once she had sorted everything into it, and walked out of the library to head home for the night.

[Jesiree Merridew - Continued in Adapting the Orchid Thief]