She is so dedicated to her dream of attending the best university that Canada has to offer, to follow her ambition to become a lawyer, a criminal lawyer no less, that she is distraught at the very real possibility that she will be unable to find herself at one of the universities of her choice. She is overly annoyed at the fact that the school guidance counsellor assigned to her high school grade level has been of little assistance to her. She speaks of her aspiration to attend Osgoode Law School, and he speaks of the wonderful curricula available at Nipissing University.

She already lives in the backwoods of Ontario. She has no interest in spending her life in any rural area. The city calls out to her. She has done her due diligence, checked every resource available to her, from Macleans magazine's yearly university ranking edition, to everything available on the Internet on Canadian universities and their law programs, to the literature produced by the universities themselves.

She is very well aware of stiff competition for desirable university spots. She knows she must have exceedingly good marks, present a high grade-point average to be able to successfully apply. Her marks in most of her subjects are in the mid-to-high 80s and in the low 90s. With the exception of math, which infuriates and mystifies her. Last year she received some tutoring and her math teacher aided her to enable her to get a mark of 74 in math. This year, her university-course is in math statistics and although she hoped it would help to bring her through, it has proven to be as confoundingly difficult for her as previous math courses. No tutor this year, but a sympathetic math teacher willing to help her at the lunch period, but it seems to be that she is destined to squeak through, which will certainly bring down her grade-point average.

And she despairs.

She is passionate about attending university. She wants to receive the very best exposure to a good, sound education in Canadian law and specifically criminal law that is possible. Attending a prestigious university guarantees she will have guidance from the very best teaching staff, she has convinced herself. And that would have the ultimate effect of not only providing her with the opportunity to become a really good, effective lawyer, but it could open opportunities for good employment.

She queries her distanced two uncles half-heartedly; their experiences throughout their university years in obtaining doctorates lead them to express opinions to her that don't quite mesh with her expectations, despite that she is so big on "reality". Life can seem fraught with blockages to attaining one's heart desire when you're only 17, looking toward adult maturity and fulfillment in a profession that has appealed since childhood.