postcards from grad school

September, October 2088. Justin Nova is 28, Calvin Banks is 21, Amy Jones is 22, Natalia Deppiesse is 23, Andre Sylvester is 23. Cynthia Kim is 52. Selena Sosa is 25. April Hutchins is 25, Beau Jackson is 24.

#1: welcome to grad school

Grad school is happening at Magnolia Graduate College. 

Leading our group is Dr. Heather Thompson, Dean of Students. She specializes in biology. (Hi, Ingrid’s mom!)

Our students this year: 

Andre, Calvin, and Steven are all working on their medical degrees. 

The others are non-medical graduate programs. Justin (architecture), Amy (nursing), and Natty, (teaching).

commencement

June 2088. Selena Sosa is 24, Andre Sylvester is 23, Luis Talbot is 24, Evie Bachman is 24, Odin Grant is 27, and Summer Phoenix is 23.

previously: Selena and Luis were so in love for many years… // but Andre is in love with Selena, too? // in the end, Selena and Luis can’t make it work // despite the initial rejection, Andre and Selena give it a shot

—

The graduation ceremony ended and everyone filed into the reception hall for drinks and congratulations. Selena joined everyone, standing nearby Andre and his parents like an afterthought.

Everyone congratulated him on his acceptance to med school and on his big move across the country which didn’t involve her for at least the next three years. No hard feelings, though. They all knew he’d go to med school next. They knew he planned to live in the dorm housing and bury himself in his studies. It wasn’t exactly a breakup, but the fact was that there was no room for her in his immediate future.

But, summer break! Yes, they still had summer break. Then maybe they would talk about the end of things. Or maybe they would try to make long-distance work. Or maybe they would just let the relationship fade and cut the cord over the phone on some random weekday night this fall when they both decided it wasn’t worth the trouble anymore.

Seven months was such a precarious length of time. Too little to make a big deal over, but long enough to feel its loss.

Gosh, he was going to be a doctor. Emergency room trauma. He was going to save lives. Surely that was more important than some college girlfriend. He was so good and so giving, and she felt so petty for feeling sorry for herself.

But all this talk of his bright and bountiful future was getting her down.

postcards from (probably not) your biggest mistake

November - December 2087.

#1: you're not my husband  

Aurora Harris met Clark Beech, as romantic as this sounds, when he stopped by to talk to her about her taxes. 

She wasn't aiming for a romance, of course. 

Joel has been gone for a little over two years now. Sometimes she still imagines herself waiting for him to come home from deployment, when in fact the war is long over and everyone has been home from even the furthest reaches for years. Two years for a grieving widow is not that much time, she reminds herself. But when Clark asked her out on a date, she felt compelled to give him a shot. As friends, to start. She’d like to go out with him as a very handsome friend. 

And, ugh, admitting that she found him so handsome made her feel like a cheating trollop. She would have to get used to that feeling eventually, unless she wanted to be alone for the rest of her years. At barely 42 years old, that could end up being a long time.  

it's your day: Selena

August 4, 2087. Selena Sosa is 24. Luis Talbot is 23.

previously: Andre's confession at graduation // gossip floating around about Luis

 

He bought her a necklace for her birthday. She could tell immediately from the shape of the box that it wasn’t a ring. 

3rd quarter grades and graduation, spring 2087

June 11, 2087. Congratulations to this year's graduates: Selena Sosa, Dallas Deppiesse, Liza Hathe, and Marcus Sylvester! 

* grades at the end

Tonight we gather at the theater hall of the Casbah Arts Center in San Myshuno, California to celebrate graduates from the nation's universities and high schools. Students and their families have traveled from near and far to commemorate this great occasion.

first comes love... gameplay notes on love and marriage in TS4

Jacob is a sweetheart. But he is also very trusting and naive and a little bit oblivious. Lauren is moody and dramatic and a little bit narcissistic. Are they a match made in heaven or hell? I don’t know, but I’m gonna throw my hands up at them and let them find out.

He has not dropped any pressing questions just yet, but he did say three very heavy words, and I caught him in this very romantic scene with a very telling thought bubble over his head. I do think that he means it. Whether or not he should mean it is another question entirely, but I do think that he’s in love with Lauren. He thinks about her constantly. He wants to kiss her and hug her when she’s near, and he’s rolled several very weighty engagement/marriage wishes for her. For a sim, in my gameplay style, that means love. And maybe that love will at best drive him crazy, and at worst destroy him. I guess we’ll see, but one way or another, he’s in love.

Selena

age 23

Selena Grace Sosa

story tag
simblr tag

born: August 4, 2063 — Leo
parents: none local
siblings: 3 brothers, none local
children: --

education: 

- Sierra Nova University, Class of 2087 (Culinary Arts)

career:
- kitchen staff/bartender at Riley Sky Suites (culinary, level 3)

career history:
- barista (college), 2083-2086

skilled at: 

- cooking 8, gourmet 7, mixology 6, charisma 5, writing 4, baking 4, gardening 4, comedy 3, logic 3

child aspiration: social, achieved
aspiration 1: foodie, master chef (15%)
aspiration 2: family, big happy family (10%)
traits: essence of flavor, family-oriented, romantic, outgoing, foodie, socially gifted

loves: red roses, summer garden parties, classic romance films, cooking for people
hates: the cold

orientation: straight
IFS = 6

romance:

- single

romantic history: 

- Martin Harwood, dating October 2088, broke up March 2089

- Andre Sylvester, dating November 2087, ghosted October 2088

- Luis Talbot, dating since March 2084, broke up August 2087

friendships: Luis Talbot, Evie Bachman, Summer Phoenix
enemies: none

DNA: hair, dark brown; eyes, brown; adult height, 5'6"
weight: + 8.8
fitness: - 32.8

health history:
- birth control risk: 4%, fertility: normal for age