Page 66 of Collin: Episodes 1-3
“And some students are stuck with a professor who is clearly unfit for the classroom.”
Collin sighed. “And yes, that.”
Mr. Reevesworth shook his head.
“Do you have a degree, sir?”
Mr. Reevesworth smiled. “Two, and an all but dissertation.”
“You didn’t finish?”
Mr. Reevesworth tilted his head to the side, something dark and bitter in the curl of his lip. “My dissertation was rejected. It was finished. I had it reviewed by a panel of worldwide experts in the field in a blind review, paid for before they delivered their opinions. They found the results to be significant and sufficient, but the school in which I had enrolled did not.”
“So, you resigned?”
“No. I published my dissertation as a book under a pseudonym. My adviser had me expelled for it.”
Collin laughed. He searched Mr. Reevesworth’s face in shock. “So, should I call you Sir Dr. Reevesworth?”
A smile cracked through Mr. Reevesworth’s face. “Mr. Reevesworth or sir is fine, Collin. I have no need to be addressed as doctor. I did go on to receive a PhD in international political economics, but I don’t advertise the fact.”
Collin swallowed. “And after all that education, you don’t like colleges?”
Mr. Reevesworth hummed in the back of his throat. “I don’t like what we’ve made them. I adore them as concepts and, in some cases, for what happens inside their mental greenhouses. I adore what they can be. And I’m still perplexed at how they can be improved for all of society. And until I have something better to say on the matter, I’m not public with my disapproval, hence the pseudonym. We were, however, Collin, discussing your future.”
Collin burrowed into the couch. “I’m not stupid, sir. I know you’re suggesting I quit.”
“I would use the word ‘resign’.”
“It still feels like quitting.”
“Why?”
Collin flipped over on his back, pushing his hands through his hair and gripping it as he stared at the ceiling. “I already started late. I’m already older than is expected for undergrad. It feels like I’m behind.”
“This is an artificial social expectation that you are giving credence and allowing to rule your own judgment of your own worth. You started late because you were the caretaker and protector of your family. Would that not place you ahead of this social timeline of maturity?”
“One would think.” Collin laughed without humor. “There’s just this weight, you know. Like I can talk to myself about it, but it’s like, all these looks, the way people ask questions. When are you graduating? Do you have a girlfriend? Do you have a car? It’s kinda easier to just…make the questions go away. Get the expectations settled and done and try to move on with whatever my life is going to be after.”
Mr. Reevesworth sighed. “Collin, those expectations and milestones never go away. You can go to school, get the degree, buy the car, but then the questions change.”
“Yeah?” Collin slumped down so far his shoulder slid under Mr. Reevesworth’s thigh. He wrapped his arm around it.
“Yes. The next questions people ask are just as bothersome. When are you having kids?’ How’s the job going? Did you get a promotion? Have you thought about buying a house?”
Collin groaned and covered his face with his free hand. “That’s it. I’m not making any more friends, and I’ll stay away from family.”
“That will be difficult to do, considering you’ve agreed to be mine.”
Collin grimaced, then smiled. “True, but you didn’t say I had to make friends in the contract.”
“I’m sure Damian will be very hurt.”
Collin flinched. “Fair, sir. I’ll make an exception for Damian.”
“And what of Ellisandre? They are quite interested in you.”
Collin pressed his lips together. “Ellisandre doesn’t care what people think. I think they plan to live as a gothic non-binary in service to Madam Reevesworth their entire life. Sorry, I don’t think we have a term for nun or monk.”
