She held the doll she had had for over fifteen years in her hand. Cleaning her room and packing away for college was a hard time for Melanie. A few months ago a big fat envelope had arrived to her. Rumours always had it that if you got a big fat envelope from the institution meant that you made it; a skinny one means you didn't. She had been delighted to hear that she was accepted at the University of Alberta but when she held that small old doll in her hands, a tear came down her cheek. The boxes around her, filled with all of her belongings, meant that she was going to live on her own. Sure, she was going to have a couple of roommates at the campus' dormitories, but she would be away from her family and friends. This meant she was growing up. A new life, she thought, with responsibilities. There would be no more games after this.
She remembered the time when she was young and choosing a candy bar at the grocery store was a hard choice. Even well before that, what shade of red to colour the clown's nose in her favourite colouring book. Her choices had been easy then. As years went by, her choices became harder. What type of clothing to where, which friends to be loyal to, and how to handle her young love life were some of the many options she had made. All of which, at the time, were thought to be important and yet, she realized, weren't as important as the choices she knew she was going to take.
Just a few years ago, Melanie's high school counsellor asked her what would like to do for a career. She had sat there for quite awhile and remained speechless. She knew she would get into medicine. The was obvious even in her elementary years, when her science and mathematic marks were higher than her social or English. Her parents were both pharmacists and so she had naturally thought of going into that department when she was young. Now, as she stared at the boxes, she knew for sure it was medicine, but she didn't know which field.