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Eliana

O h my god. Is this real life? I pinch my arm to ensure I’m not dreaming. Ow. Nope. Totally awake. “I can’t believe I actually got it.” I say to myself, continuing to stare at the personalized email from Dr. Katherine Fisher congratulating me for being accepted as a summer intern in her lab.

I had to tell Violet. And Bethany. And anyone else who was in a two-mile radius.

A massive smile takes over my face. “Oh you know…”

She matches my smile with one of her own. “Could it be that you heard some good news today?”

“Sure did. You’re looking at Katherine Fisher’s new summer intern,” I squeal, not being able to contain myself.

Violet jumps to her feet and throws her arms around me in a big hug. “See? I told you you nailed that interview. She absolutely adored you. And can you blame her?”

“She was so hard to read when we met. I guess that’s the con of doing a virtual interview.

I was convinced she hated me and thought I was stupid.

” I normally had a good read on how people felt about me after any interview, but Katherine Fisher had a poker face that would probably win her a ton of money in Vegas.

“Well now you can bask in the glory that you’ve secured one of the most competitive summer internships you could apply to. And celebrate too. The celebration is non-negotiable, by the way.”

“I will, I will. I just want to accept the offer first. So it’s real.

Because right now, I still feel like I’m dreaming.

” I stare at the email from my phone, re-reading it to make sure it wasn’t one of those fake-out emails like, “ CONGRATULATIONS…you’ve earned a spot on the waitlist!

We’ll let you know if a spot opens up, but it probably won’t. Have a nice life!”

“Well, respond to her whenever you feel ready. Then tell Bethany so she can celebrate, too. And finally plan some fun this weekend to ensure that you do celebrate. Wins don’t come by too often in academia, so you have to make sure to appreciate it when they do.

” She gives me another hug. “I’m so happy for you! ”

“Thank you! Okay I need to respond to this email or else I won’t be able to stop thinking about it.

” I head back to the office and delete at least ten different versions of my reply before I finally settle on something that balances gratitude without coming off as a nerdy fangirl. Because that’s definitely what I was.

To: Katherine Fisher ([email protected])

From: Eliana Jasper ([email protected])

RE: Offer for Summer Internship at Boston University

Hello Dr. Fisher,

Thank you for your email! I am incredibly excited to accept this offer for the summer internship program. Please let me know if there’s any additional information you need from me for the onboarding process.

Looking forward to joining your lab soon,

Eliana

--

Research Assistant - Brain and Early Emotions Lab

Westchester University

I tried to distract myself with work after I pressed send, instead of re-reading the email a bunch of times and wondering if I used too many (or too few) exclamation points.

I was in a grove with recruiting participants when my phone buzzes, an email from Katherine Fisher popping on my screen.

Oh god. I messed up. I should’ve included an extra exclamation point in the email to show how excited I was.

She probably hates me now and is going to rescind her offer.

Relax Eliana . Relax. She’s far too busy to be analyzing your tone over email.

Oh, rational inner monologue. Why can’t you always show up in times of great panic?

I take a few deep breaths before reading her email.

To: Eliana Jasper ( [email protected] )

From: Katherine Fisher (fisherk@ bu.edu)

RE: RE: Offer for Summer Internship at Boston University

Eliana —

Excellent. We look forward to having you! HR will be in touch soon. Bethany invited me to give a talk at Westchester next Thursday at 4pm, in case you’re free. If I don’t see you there, I’m sure we’ll see each other plenty in the summer.

Also, call me Katherine.

Best,

Katherine

--

Professor

Boston University

Call me Katherine?! So much for not being a nerdy fangirl because right now all I could think about was how I was on a first name basis with Katherine Fisher. That and the fact that I needed to rearrange my schedule for next week because there was absolutely no way I was missing this talk.