Summer Soap (Episode One): Life at a crossroads... Natalie chooses Cork

Natalie sat at her desk late into the afternoon, staring at the small collection of acceptance letters, dread sinking low in her chest.

As graduation drew ever closer, a feeling of dissatisfaction was growing more and more insistent. Her eighteenth birthday was a week away and she hadn’t once left the state of Virginia

Generations of her family made their lives in this small town two hours from the sea. Her family had connections and a successful business here. Her spot in the community college and her pick of internships were quietly guaranteed.

Her brother Gregory decided he would attend the University of Virginia to study engineering. The family called him ambitious. Her father would always joke that “the prodigal son’s returned” whenever his car rolled down the driveway every weekend.

Whenever she was asked what her plans for college were, she told them she planned to study marketing at the local community college.

It was comfortable. She was comfortable.

But was this really all there was to life? Following footsteps?

Most of her classmates had agonised over their choice of college and for years Natalie considered herself lucky. She hadn’t needed to worry about her future, with so much of it laid out for her already.

But that was back when college and adulthood were distant eventualities, too far away to fathom. Now that the reality of it was marching closer, Natalie began to feel like it was a mistake to take so much of her life for granted. The ease of it felt dangerous.

The more she thought about it, the more foreboding the whole thing felt. As tempting as it was to take her first steps into adulthood with her parents holding both hands, she knew that if she did, Natalie would be stuck in place for the rest of her life. 

She had one chance. One perfect opportunity to circumvent this stagnation before her feet became stuck in their place.

She reached for the letter furthest from her, sent by University College Cork. She’d sent the application on a whim, a dream more than a genuine expectation of getting in. She hadn’t even told her parents she was applying. It seemed too long a shot.

Now that the letter was in her hands, it seemed like a real possibility. Could she really do it? Natalie was nervous just thinking about it. She wouldn’t just be attending college for the first time, she’d do it thousands of miles away. She couldn’t run back home if she’d forgotten something, or just to taste her mom’s cooking again. She’d have to do everything on her own.

There was a knock at the door, but her mom opened it before she could answer.

“Natalie, honey, come up for dinner!”

Natalie looked at her with a raised brow. Her mom seemed oddly excited for mashed potatoes, her smile wide and eyes bright. Maybe her brother made it home early this weekend?

“Right behind you,” she said, and her mom left, leaving the door ajar behind her. Natalie sighed, but decided not to comment on her mom leaving the door open behind her, despite her repeated requests to leave it closed.

Natalie was about to close the door behind her and walk down the hall, but something made her pause. She turned and grabbed one of the letters before heading down to dinner.

Natalie had been right about her brother coming home early, as he was already seated at the table, giving her a smile and a nod as she sat down across from him. What she hadn’t quite anticipated was the letter from Virginia Tech.

“I remember that being one of your reacher schools!” her mom said as she set the mashed potatoes on the table. This was news to Natalie. As far as she remembered, she applied to Virginia Tech because everyone else in town applied, though very few actually attended. It seemed more for bragging rights than anything else.

“Actually, I wanted to talk about that,” Natalie replied as she sat down. She still wasn’t sure if this path was really the right one, but she needed to follow this momentum wherever it took her.

“I was thinking I could try to study somewhere else?” She placed the acceptance letter on the table, pushing towards the centre. Her father picked it up and looked for a university seal, her mom peeking over his shoulder.

“University College Cork? Where’s College Cork?”

“I think it’s in Massachusetts.”

“One of my golfing buddies mentioned heading to Cork this summer. I’m pretty sure it’s down south.”

“It’s in Ireland,” Natalie blurted out. A moment of stunned silence hung in the air.

“Like, in Europe?” Gregory asked, incredulous. Natalie nodded, holding a breath while she waited for their reaction. Studying abroad had never been considered in their household, so she had no idea how they’d react.

To her relief, her mom started screaming. In delight, of course, wrapping her arms around Natalie in an ecstatic hug before the family finally settled down to dinner, chatting away about Natalie’s upcoming adventure.