A DAY AT SDSU: A Story by Isaiah Taylor

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[[LET US EXPLORE A DAY IN SDSU]]

You are a first-year student at San Diego State University. It doesn't matter what major you are. You've taken enough AP and dual enrollment courses to warrant only two semester of GE's in your schedule. You live in Zura Hall, one of the more popular and well-liked dorms to be randomly placed in by the school. Despite the help during orientiation, you still had to suffer through the class registration process, although you seem content with your 8am and 9:30am classes, thinking you'll wake up early enough for all of them and totally not stay up until 3am every night. On this specific, nonspecific day, you wake up at 8:03 in the morning, 30 minutes past your alarm but not late for your 9:30 class. What do you do first? [[check your phone]] [[get out of bed]] [[go back to bed]]

You go on Instagram to and scroll endlessly, watching what feels like hours of content in the span of ten minutes. One of these videos catch your attention: it's a highly edited video with captions that gets highlighted with every word the college sophomore said based on the intenation and subtle inflections in their soft-spoke voice and exubrant personality. Big letters fill the screen, saying "My Day at SDSU." You haven't been too much of a fan of these kinds of videos, but the setting of SDSU is familar to your current educational situation. Do you keep watching the video? [[Yes]] [[No]]

The stresses of college life don't typically get to you mentally; but physically, your body says otherwise. You decide to give yourself a day off. You miss one of your classes, but sometimes that's all you need to get back into the swing of things. [[fin]]

The cheery, on-screen narrator goes about her day at SDSU. She describes herself as waking up and washing her face, to which she then descibes herself as the studious individual, going to "the dome" and into the 24/7 section to study for her upcoming psychology exam. Do you keep watching? [[Keep watching]] [[Stop watching]]

Deciding against watching the video, you make the executive decision to [[get out of bed]]

Ending 0 of 6: Priorities

You barely make it over to the communal bathroom in your college dorm's wing. It's shared by almost 30 people, not to mention the people from other wings, floors, or even buildings who decide to use one of six stalls, separated by gender. You go in front of the mirror. You can see the bags under your eyes and the remains of the puberty years reasting lightly on both of your cheeks. What do you do? [[Wash your face]]

You splash cold water on your face, jolting you awake after 6 hours of sleep. The water in your dorm has to be cold, as people often took the hot water before you can get to it, both at the sink and in the shower. [[Start walking to your class]]

You do some small stretches before climbing down the ladder opposite from your pillow and plushies. Today, once again, you have been turned into a zombie from your poor sleep schedule. [[Go to the bathroom]]

8:13 in the morning. You start heading over to the library. You walk past the scattered people, of which there aren't a lot of, past the over-priced market, the expensive food places, the fast food places that aren't on your meal plan, walking over the bridge, past the student union, the second starbucks, down the walkway nobody knows the name of, past the expensive bookstore, and finally staring at a glass dome. The sun's light is beaming down through the clouds and onto this glass, making anything remotely meltable...melt. You walk past the landmark of the school seen immensely in the marketing for the school, both from the school itself or its myriad of content creators, similar to the one you saw last night during your evening doomscroll. Today is different, though. While you want to get your work done before your first class, you stop to think about whether you want to walk into the dome or not. What do you do? [[Walk past the dome]] [[Walk into the dome]]

You walk past what you consider to be an overrated building. I mean, a dome??? You hate circles, passionately. But the actual library next to it, now THAT's what you call a building. Its archtexture, the books, the study rooms; you love squares, and that's why you go into the library. [[In the library]]

You walk into the dome and feel the sun blaring onto your skin. You wonder why many people consider this place a landmark on campus before brushing it off shortly after. What do you do? [[Walk down the hall]] [[walk down the stairs]]

The library was bustling with people on their computers, chatting amongst each other about the tests and assignments these people had coming up. You had one as well, but not for another couple weeks. [[Keep walking]]

The narrator then describes the one class she had today, but it felt like she was being held at gunpoint, and that the gun would go off if she spent more than 5 seconds explaining her class experience. Do you keep watching? [[Keep going]] [[Stop watching]]

You stop watching the video, once again proving your theory that these sorts of videos just aren't for you. You figure that it's time to [[get out of bed]]

You walk past the students, and past another set of doors to find an elevator. You knew off the top of your head that you were on the second floor. However, the stairs were around the corner as well, and you haven't been to the gym in a while. The elevator is more convienent as they say. But what do you know? You live on the third floor of your college, some people live on the 8th at the same building. [[Take the elevator]] [[Take the stairs]]

Which floor do you wish to go on? [[L1]] [[L2]] [[L3]] [[L4]] [[L5]]

Nearly all the seats in this floor are taken off, even in the Digital Humanities center. You have no idea on why that is, but you decide to question it later. Right now, you need to find a place to study. Defeated, you walk inside the elevator and close the door. [[Take the elevator]]

You click the floor 2 button numerous times, wondering why the light pops up for a second before stopping, only to remember that you're on the second floor, silly. You decide to leave the elevator and [[Take the stairs]].

You walk into a vast room with numerous students and groups of students speaking amongst each other. Some to people there, some to people on Zoom or phone call. You could hear the echoes of laughter amongst peers regarding events and videos they had seen in the past. A select few students had these name-brand headphones on, writing away their notes on their iPad with an Apple-branded stylus. Do you wish to study here? [[Perfect place for studying]] [[Maybe I'll do my work elsewhere]]

When applying for colleges back in your fourth year of High School, you had decided to also apply for the school's honor programs. Your reward for this, given that you go to this school? A study room on the fourth floor. The room had a long table you would write on with dry-erase markers, of which were resting under a whiteboard that was on the hall under a sign that said, in big, bold letters, "Weber Honors College". You walk inside to find somebody who was just setting their stuff down on the table and pulling out their computer. Studying in this room had always worked wonders for you, often garnering A's on exams and quizzes when studying here the night before. But the idea of someone else being there meant you couldn't talk yourself as loudly about the material. What do you do? [[Sure, I'll study here]] [[Maybe I'll do my work elsewhere]]

You go up to the fifth floor, which was the quiet study. You walk around the floor; it gives you an uncanny feeling. The buzzing of the fluorescent lights seem to ascend and descend in pitch. Although, it could just be you, given your lack of sleep. Do you wish to study here? [[I guess I'll study here]] [[Maybe I'll do my work elsewhere]]

You chose to spend time before your class in a book-filled void, as though you had been transported to some nihilistic variant of an afterlife, filled greatly with books whose dust could make a healthy student come down with a cold. Although psychology, to you, has inherently easy, you can't quite recall what you had studied that day. Do you wish to keep studying? [[Keep studying]] [[Finish studying]]

You have this feeling in your gut that tells you to study elsewhere. And so, you begin to leave the floor, deciding to [[Take the elevator]].

You walk down the hall into the 24/7 study area. You remember some student online, who's in your college's student government, talking about how they've sometimes spent some late nights studying, leaving at around 11pm or so. [[Study in the 24/7 study area]] [[Find another place in the library to study]]

You decide to spend an hour studying for some sort of math class you can't remember since all lower division math classes are fundementally the same. [[Finish studying]]

You go back to the entrance of the dome. [[walk down the stairs]]

You walk down the stairs and make your way down the hall, towards the actual library. [[Keep walking]]

You felt the world being weighed down as you take out your sticker-decorated laptop. Your hands shake as you sporatically turn around every couple minutes or so, trying to caught the other person in the room staring at you, but to no avail. Do you wish to keep studying? [[Keep studying]] [[Finish studying]]

After the short segment on her class, she explains her lunch, going to Broken Yolk--which you know is one of more expensive places on campus, given that it's in South Campus Plaza--and ordering the chicken and waffles, costing her 17.95, not including taxes. She calls it the best on campus. You're not so convinced. But then again, The 34 dollars and 50 cents you get each day from Flex 5 wouldn't allow you near that place with a 39 and 3/4 mile pole. I mean, it barely allows you to go to The Garden, which you plan on going to for dinner, alone. Do you keep watching? [[I'm too entranced in the video]] [[Stop watching]]

She talks about how she decides to burn off calories after a good, hearty lunch by going to the Aztec Recreaction Center, a gym that is all the way across campus, about 20 minutes from Broken Yolk; a fact she doesn't mention, instead speaking more about how it's free for students and about its different areas than the contents of a psychology class you are talking currently. Do you keep watching? [[There's a lot of time left, let's just finish this]] [[Stop watching]]

She ends the video with a quick summary of the night: studying with some friends on one of the floors in the library (you can't quite remember which one), eating dinner with some friends at The Garden, a buffet styled restuarant nearby your dorm, taking a shower and going to bed. The video ends but loops back to the beginning. [[Stop watching]]

9:28 in the morning. You lose track of time and have to rush out of the library to your class in the physics building, speed-walking down the old building's halls and into your psychology class (I don't know why it's in the physics building either). You hastily sit down in your class, feeling the many eyes of the unattentive students stare you down as you breathily take out your notebooks to take notes. [[After class]]

From the immense studying of a subject you despite with every fiber of your being to the lecture feeling like a drag, you hobble out of your first of three classes. Your stomach gets mad; it hadn't been nourished with 11pm yesterday. Do you wish to eat? [[I need to save my money for dinner]] [[I can splurge for today]]

You peer over to the clock steadily as you follow along to your professor's notes from back in the ancient year of 2020, making sure you're not late to your class again. You look once more. 8:38. You feel as though you're studying is done, but want to make sure you absolutely have the content ingrained in your mind. What do you do? [[I think I'll do some more studying later]]

The constant sounds of the students chatter distracts you from the study session at first, but you quickly get accustomed to it, as you always have so far. [[Keep studying]] [[Finish studying]]

You end your study session early as to make sure that you make it to your class a little earlier than usual. A couple other people who got their early normally question you for a bit until class began. You attempt to make a big smile when pulling out the purple notebook labeled "PSYCH 101" alongside your multi-colored pens and highlighters, eagerly awaiting the instructions and teaching of your professor. [[after class]]

From the immense amount of note-taking you willingly endured from the classes you had to take back to back, your stomach is empathetic to your arms. So much so, that it takes the pain and tiredness from your arms and puts itself into yourself, informing you that you're hungry. Keep in mind: it's 2:00pm right now. Do you wish to eat? [[I need to save my money for dinner]] [[I can splurge for today]]

You decide against eating, once again. Deciding to go to the Aztec Market nearby to stock up your food for the weekend and upcoming spring break. [[Aztec Market]]

You decide to eat somewhere. Where do you want to go? [[Broken Yolk]] [[Jamal's Chicken]] [[Panda Express]] [[Olive Oil Cafe]] [[The Garden]]

You walk into the crowded breakfast/lunch chain. You had always heard of the place, being in a town next to your home town as well as having a much larger social media prescence than some of the influencers your small group of friends talk about. What do you buy? [[Chicken and Waffles]] [[Eggs benedict]] [[Pancakes]]

You walk into the crowded commons and gravitate towards one of your favorite places to eat on campus; a chicken place that was unlike the chicken you had back in your hometown. What do you get? [[Combo #2]]

You walk into the pavilion to go to Panda Express, only to find a line larger than scalpers trying to get into Costco on the release of a Pokemon set, taking anything Pokemon related for themselves and their bloody wallets, leaving the children of the younger generation getting into the hobby with nothing but the smell of the empty cardboard display that used to hold an interest of theirs, stripped so mercilessly away by heartless monsters. As overly dramatic as the comparasion way, the line for Panda Express still went out the building. So, you decide to leave, telling yourself, "You what what? That's fine! [[I need to save my money for dinner]] anyways."

You walk into the market filled with overpriced items. Which item will you buy? [[A bottled soda]] [[A cheap sandwhich]] [[A bag of chips]] [[Some other non-perishable]]

You go towards a small pseudo-cafe underneath an introductory computer science class and walk inside to find almost nobody there. What do you buy? [[A 14 dollar sandwich]] [[A drink you can buy anywhere else]]

As you stand in the aisles of the market, you simultaneously think about what you want to eat for dinner, and how you can optimize your money spending so that you can spend the enough money to have the coveted 0 dollars on your meal plan money for the day so as to not give a cent of that financial aid money back to the school. 32 dollars and 95 cents you have. You figure that by going to The Garden for dinner tonight, you can easily spend a total of 14 dollars and 95 cents. And so, weighing your option, you decide to buy a bottled soda, a cheap sandwhich, a bag of chips, some oatmeal, and a couple of tiny candies and mints at the checkout, succesfully spending exactly 14 dollars and 95 cents. No more, no less. [[Leave]]

Despite being able to get a sandwhich for cheaper at the market, you decide to spend nearly half of your meal plan money for the day on a sandwhich you found to be just alright. "Those influencers must have taste buds from outer space," you think to yourself as what is hyped to be some of the best food on campus, and not said to be some of the most expenive, even though you can see it is, you only find it to be "just alright, but defintely NOT worth 14 dollars plus tax." [[Leave]]

You buy a drink from the sandwhich place. What did you expect? In fact, you literally could've gotten it from anywhere else on campus for cheaper. Whatever, it's your money that financial aid covers; not mine. [[Leave]]

You've chosen the only correct choice. But to you, my opinion shouldn't matter. Given the habit of skipping breakfast when coming to college, you ignore the fact that it costed half of your meal plan money for the day and enjoy your breakfast for lunch. [[Leave]]

Honestly, I've never heard of anybody get this. I'm more of a chiken and waffles person, but, you do you. Anyways, my opinion shouldn't even matter to you. iven the fact that you've built up a habit of skipping breakfast when coming to college, you ignore my musings and enjoy your breakfast for lunch. After you eat, you look on the website that you had to find on your own to see that half of your meal plan money is gone. [[Leave]]

It doesn't matter what pancake you get--you're still a pancake person. Personally, I don't care, but you're wallet does, seeing that half your meal plan money is already gone for your decision to eat lunch. In your defense, you did get blueberry pancakes (the best pancakes according to me and some influencers). [[Leave]]

You walk out of the building, letting the fresh, San Diegan air fill your body as you take solace in realizing that you have no more classes for the rest of the day (Perks of having them early in a row, I guess). With no other committments due for the rest of the day, not even a homework assignment, you weigh your options. What do you do? [[Go back to my dorm]] [[Go to the gym]]

You starting walking from your class to The Garden, a buffet-style restuarant on campus near your dorm, only to realize that it just closed and that it'll open back up again at 4:00pm. You tell yourself, "You know what? [[I need to save my money for dinner]]."

Despite seeing many other options on the menu, much to the dismay of your meal plan money, you spend 14 dollars on a combo of 2 large chicken tenders, a decent portion of fries and a medium drink (no tax since the pavilion's food place don't charge you taxes, except for subway). The fried chicken reminds you of high school when you would go to KFC during lunch and buy a chicken little combo for a little under 10 dollars with the fries reminding you how overrated McDonald's is. Your meal plan money doesn't like being spent on such frivilous meal, but it understands at the same time.' [[Leave]]

You dread the potential 10 minute walk to the gym, so you decide to take the 10 minute walk about to your dorm, Zura Hall. [[Back to Zura Hall]]

Despite being a slow walker, you drag yourself across campus to find the gym that every college influencers speaks about. You walk in, resisting the urge to spend the rest of your meal plan money on Shake Smart, a smoothie / Acai Bowl place. You fiddle with your phone to look for the Aztec Recreation app on it; and when you realize that you never even downloaded the app. You sit on some chair off to the side and spend some time setting that up, given that the gym is, at the very least, is free for a student like you. After you set up your account, you're able to walk through some small, revolving doors and marvel at the amount of exercise equipment there is. So much so, you feel your body constrict in awe, and totally not because you haven't been a treadmill since Junior high school. [[Let's start exercising!!]]

The first floor was nearly empty, inhabited only by two or three students who looked to be setting up their phones, proping them on some object you couldn't quite make out from that far. Regardless, you get onto one of the machines and start using it. You don't really have a concentrated area to work on today, unlike the other students who you would see go to only leg-related machines or arm-related machines. While getting off of the treadmill, a student next to you walks up with a small, black, pill-shaped object with some fur at the end of it, pointing it in your face. "Hello," she says with a cheer. How do you respond? [[Hello?]] [[Goodbye.]]

"Hi, my name is Seraphina. Can you introduce yourself for the camera?" ""Umm, sure." You stare at the multiple cameras of her latest iPhone. "Uh, hello. My name is <<textbox "$name" "">>." [[Continue forth]]

Any and every possible outcome swarmed your mind as you make the hasty decision of grabbing your stuff and bursting out of the gym and back to your dorm, the most exercise you may get for the rest of the year. [[Back to Zura Hall]]

After going through the lobby, showing your ID to the desk aisstants, and going up the elevator. You rush up to your dorm and remove everything from your body, even some clothing. You climb the wonky, steel ladder to your bed on the top bunk and fall dead on your mattress. The euphoria of your feet being released from its stress fills you as the hours you lost of sleep you come back. Only four, but progress nonetheless. [[Awaken]]

"$name, it's nice to meet you. I just wanted to get your input on the best places to eat on campus!" She said this with a beaming smile that can pierce through the clouded you've seen for months now here at Sunny San Diego. You reply with a slight stutter, "Uhh, the best place to eat on campus is <<textbox "$name2" "">>" [[Continue the conversation]]

6:00pm. You wake up from a refreshing nap. The consequences of staying up until 4am are still as present as ever but at least you can keep it at bay for dinner. You think about going to The Garden for dinner, but your friends want to hang out with you that night. You ask them on where they want to go, to which they answer $name2. [[Sorry, I was thinking about going somewhere else]] [[I need to do some work, so I'm probably going to eat by myself]] [[Sure, I'll tag along]]

"Oh, that's fine," one of your friends say, although, you can't felt but feel a sinking feeling, as though you keep this behavior up and you'll soon leave the only friends you have in college. However, your body is also getting this feeling of fatigue from the somewhat active day you had (depending on how you look at it). It wants to go to bed, but doing so would mean only eating one meal that day. What do you do? [[Listen to my body]] [[Listen to my stomach]]

You climb back down from your bed, grab the your school ID and phone, and head over to $name2. You spend some with friends there, eating and talking about the latest gaming news. The food you guys found to be delicious, you found it to be sort of alright. After eating, two of the five total people in your friend group went back to their dorm to do some homework. The remaining three, including you, spend the rest of the night playing board games and tradicing card games like Pokemon. [[after dinner]]

With a little half-truth, you decide to stay in your dorm, climbing down your bed's latter, clearing the desk you haven't cleaned since you first moved in that's filled with merchendise of your special interests, and carefully set your laptop down as you prepare for a couple hours of studying for the next test. What starts off as a healthy study time gradually devolves into a nonstop, hypnotic grind of watching videos from back in 2020 and quick writing down notes as your professor goes over content that you feel should be easy to nail down, instead being a hassel and a half. You think to your uncle's graduation; those people up their who juggled many classes, jobs, volunteer work, and extracurriculars with a 4.0 in every semester, raises, and comfrtable jobs with support that'll last them and their family their entire life. But for you, you can barely even get past a basic, introductory psychology class; a thought that still haunts you in your dreams as you finally go to bed at around 4:03 in the morning. [[ending 3]]

"Oh! $name2 is a pretty interesting place, I'm more of a fan of the Broken Yolk in National City. I go there with my friends every week or so." "Of course you do," you think to yourself. "[[Yeah, The Garden is pretty cool too]]," you respond out loud.

"The Garden," she questioned, "I'll have to try it out some time. Thanks!" "[[No problem]]," you respond, nodding.

You give her a psuedo-friendly smile as she skips on about, putting her phone and microphone into her back and front right pocket, respectively. After that experience, you decide that's the gym was enough for you that week. [[go back to my dorm]]

Ending 1 of 6: Companionship

Ultimately, you listen to your body. Despite getting some sleep today, it still isn't enough to be as hyperactive as a college influencer. You even wonder if they're human from how energetic they always seem, especially the ones who upload daily on their social medias. The guilt reigns over you still, but you do as your body commands, going to bed, probably waking up at around 2:00am. [[ending 2]]

Ultimately, you listen to your stomach and decide to climb down your dorm latter, taking your ID and phone, and going to The Garden. [[Onwards, to The Garden]]

Ending 2 of 6: Better Sleep, or is it?

Ending 3 of 6: Atychiphobia

You hobble off and down your bed, making your way down the hall, once again, down the elevator and out of the residential hall. Unlike other places on-campus, you don't have to take a pilgrimage under the dull-looking clouds under the night sky to eat dinner, as The Garden is the nearest restuarant from your dorm. Passing by the just as close Aztec Market and walking up a couple flights of stairs, you see a group of people in the doorway. One of them, who was holding up their phone to themselves, looking familiar but you couldn't quite make out their face from the crowd. You walk behind them, waiting for them to pay their way in (presumably with their swipes, as you've seen with your dormmates). After some time, you're able to pay the last 18 dollars on your meal plan for your way into the buffet, having virtually unlimited food and drink at your disposal for around the next two hours. [[Get my food]] [[Sit down]]

You wonder why you came here given the amount of people that are normally here at around this time. Groups of friends line up for a bowl with white rice, potatoes, and salmon, just what your mind felt like craving for the past couple of days. There were also a couple of people writing their names down on a pieces of paper and placing it on a tray to parasocially tell the cooks what burger they want. Barely anybody was at the pasta station nor was anybody at the desert station (for now ). The drink fountation had a variety of drinks, you decide to get one first, punching the machine when it keeps flowing. You then grab a table, setting your backpack and drink down so to mark your territory, and grab a bowl of food alongside a burger; you'll make a decision on whether you want desert later or not. [[Let's eat!]]

You sit down near one of the only outlets in the building and begin working on some small assignments, often rewarding the completion of these assignments with getting some of the nearly infinite food and drink that you spend your last 18 dollars of the day on. At the end of the four hours, you've completed enough work to warrant rest for the rest of the month. You are accompanied by some background noise in the background, especially from a group of students with their cameras up in the air, talking to it as though God were on the other end. Despite it being the beginning of the month, it already feels like the end. At closing, you pack up your belongings and make your short way back to Zura Hall. You take your shower, and begin going to bed. As you climb up that ladder to your bed as though it were heaven, you sigh in melancholy as you tell yourself off for not doing anything that day. You've had these thoughts before, but it feels...worse? You feel as though no matter what you do, it will never be anough to satisfy you for the day. Saddened, you close your eyes, hoping that you do more tomorrow. [[ending 6]]

You make your way to a table with an outlet on the side and set your stuff down. You decide that you're going to eat your food and then do some work. However, before you can do either one of those things, a girl approaches you. "[[Who's this?]]"

6:00pm. You wake up from a refreshing nap. The consequences of staying up until 4am are still as present as ever but at least you can keep it at bay for dinner. You think about going to The Garden for dinner, but your friends want to hang out with you that night. You ask them on where they want to go, to which they don't answer, hoping you would come up with an idea on where to eat. "How about we go get some <<textbox "$name3" "">>," [[huh? How does that sound]]?"

"Sounds good," one of your friends respond in a sea of agreeing utters. One of your friends had already eaten, but decided to tag along. [[Let's finally eat!]]

You climb back down from your bed, grab the your school ID and phone, and head over to $name3. You spend some with friends there, eating and talking about the latest gaming news. The food you guys found to be delicious, you found it to be sort of alright. You look on a webste that tracks your meal plan money and find that you only three cents remaining. After eating, two of the five total people in your friend group went back to their dorm to do some homework. The remaining three, including you, spend the rest of the night playing board games and tradicing card games like Pokemon. [[ending 1]]

After eating, three of the five total people in your friend group went back to their dorm to do some homework. The remaining two, including you, spend the rest of the night at the your friend's dorm: Maya/Olmeca. You too decide to play a couple games of Pokemon. Perhaps once or twice, you would take some time to leave the room and go to the restroom. Numerous groups of friends would be out in the halls, banging loudly on the doors of unsuspecting residents. Others, simply to talking at one of the friend's doors. You walk into the dorms restroom, sit down in one of the stalls, and think about what other friend groups in Zura Hall are doing right now. "Maybe they got an ice cube and threw it on the floor," you think to yourself. It's happened once, perchance it can happen again. You about what else they could be doing." "Maybe they're <<textbox "$name4" "">>, [[or something.]]"

You think that these large groups of friends, who've know each other since junior high, are probably doing something crazy like $name4. It doesn't matter, and yet it does. People online often describe hanging out with their friends as such a leisurely activity. You want to think the same, but can't. You think that these friends that you've garnered in college are a fluke. It's a thought you decide to brush off, before flushing the stinky toilet, washing your hands even harder than before, and going back to your friend's room, having a genuinely good time. The thought disappears until you're going back to your dorm at 1 in the morning, all alone under the clouded sky. [[ending 4]]

Ending 5 of 6: A New Perspective

Ending 4 of 5: Alone in a Crowded Room.

Ending 6 of 6: Glass Half Empty

You remember her as an influencer you used to watch before you came to SDSU. You couldn't put your finger on it, but you feel as though you've seen her elsewhere as well. "Okay, well, I'll [[say hello]] to this person"

You give friendly greeting to this person you barely know. You even stand up to shake her hand. "Hi!!!" She exclaims calmly (you didn't even know that was possible). "Can I sit with you?" [["Knock yourself out."]] [["Uhhh, no?"]]

"Alright, that's fine." She leaves with a skip. "Huh, weird," you say with a small scoff before dismissing the situation. [[Let me sit down, once again]].

"Alright!" She sits down at the table across from you. "My name is Anihpares, but you can call me Anih for short." Her voice cut through the crowd of people at the tables with relative ease." "Hello, my name is <<textbox "$name5" "">>. [[It's nice to meet you as well]]."

Once again, you sit down near one of the only outlets in the building and begin working on some small assignments, often rewarding the completion of these assignments with getting some of the nearly infinite food and drink that you spend your last 18 dollars of the day on. At the end of the four hours, you've completed enough work to warrant rest for the rest of the month. You are accompanied by some background noise in the background, especially from a group of students with their cameras up in the air, talking to it as though God were on the other end. Despite it being the beginning of the month, it already feels like the end. At closing, you pack up your belongings and make your short way back to Zura Hall. You take your shower, and begin going to bed. As you climb up that ladder to your bed as though it were heaven, you sigh in melancholy as you tell yourself off for not doing anything that day. You've had these thoughts before, but it feels...worse? You feel as though no matter what you do, it will never be anough to satisfy you for the day. Saddened, you close your eyes, hoping that you do more tomorrow. [[ending 6]]

"It's a pleasure to meet you $name5, you seem like a nice person." "It's who I strive to be," you respond with a shrug. Anih gives a chuckle, pulling her collar, "Well, you come here often?" [["Yeah, all the time."]] [["When I have the money."]]

"Oof, you tell me. Normally, my sister would take us to the Broken Yolk at National City today so that we can save our money, but she decided to use today to vlog again." "Your sister [[popular]], or something?"

"That sounds fun. Normally, my sister would take us to the Broken Yolk at National City today, but she decided to use today to vlog again." "Your sister [[popular]], or something?"

Anih though about it for a couple seconds. "I guess you can say that," she finally responds, "She makes those videos on YouTube about this school. Perhaps, you've heard of them." [["Not a clue'']] [["Maybe one or two"]] [["I binged them before I came here."]]

"Well...she does exactly that. It's cool having a sibling who does that, even if she always feels the need to make some content." [["How come?"]]

"Aww, that's nice. So you know that makes videos about this school already, that's nice to know." She fidgeted with her hands on the table for a few moments before speaking again. "It's cool having a sibling who does that, even if she always feels the need to make some content." [["How come?"]]

"Okay, so you know OF her, gotcha. But yeah, it's cool having a sibling who does that, even if she always feels the need to make some content." [["How come?"]]

"I mean, anytime I talk to her, she always goes off on any part of her social media, both the good and the bad." [["Like how?"]]

"Okay, so one time I had tried to ask her for some tips on an interview for a Desk Assistant I had coming up, and all she had to tell me was to 'flaunt my streaming career'. And I'm just sitting there like, 'Sera, I haven't had one for literal years now. You're the one who has a social media prescence; YOU can do that, not me.' And she just shrugged it off!" "My gosh," you utter to yourself, "I'm...sorry that happened to you." She sighed heavily, "it's fine, you weren't there. Besides, it's not like she can talk to anybody else about it. Outside her group of fellow social media stars like fucking Zachary, and her family, she has nobody to go to anybody to." "I wouldn't say she has NOBODY to go to, there's some resources on this campus that'll allow her to [[spill all her guts out!]]"

"Someone like you," she questioned, rubbing her hands together, "who has to but up with some influencer bullshit almost everyday?" "Some better and more qualifyed than me," you respond with reassurance. Anih stands up from the table and pushes her chair in. "Well, I think you're very qualifyed. Thanks for the talk, $name5, but I need to go eat. Have a good day." "You too, Anih." You [[wave her goodbye.]]

As Anihpares fades into the background of the ever-coming crowds of The Garden, you dwellin your thoughts about the short, but interesting, conversation you just had. Are all influencers like this? It's not often you talk to an influencer, but it's even rarer to get their experience first hand from a sibling of theirs. It's a thought that stays in your head even after leaving The Garden and preparing for bed. You realize that day that school influencers aren't the gods that people make them out to be, but students just like you and me. Whereas your obsession is for your ever-changing special interests like Kirby or Pokemon, or perhaps doing your school, hers is just posting videos online, feeling seen with the information she gives to prospective SDSU students. Something you can at least commend a school influencer for doing, being human, something that the school just doesn't do well. You learned today that not all students on your phone are robots reading off of a script. [[ending 5]]