Major in astronomy.

It's Monday morning-- the first day of your astronomy class-- and the lecture hall is bustling with students. According to the registrar's website, the class if full, but it's clear that this theater has more than enough seats for everyone. Some things don't change from high school, though: most people dare not sit in the first third of the classroom. Well, as it turns out, you're not most people (at least, that's what your mother says), which leaves the front row to you!

Professor Shin, a Korean gentleman about forty, is looking pleased as you move down the first aisle. You might have taken the seat dead center of the row if you weren't colliding with a classmate right now.

"Ow!" Notebooks and papers spill into a messy heap around the girl's red sneakers. A long curtain of bright yellow hair veils her face as she quickly stoops down to retrieve her things. Joining your classmate on the floor, you help her gather up what's hers.

"Thanks," the young woman says, gratefully accepting her belongings, "Sorry about that." You both stand, and with a smooth sweep of her hand she tucks the resplendent curtain behind her ears. She smiles upon seeing you clearly with her forest-green eyes.

"So you must love astronomy too, huh?" The girl takes a seat next to you in the front of the room and holds her hand out in greeting. "I'm Mandy."

Suddenly, Professor Shin dims the lights and puts the projector on. An image of the night sky dressed with hundreds of stars leaps onto the projector panel. The shining dots slowly and deliberately migrate from their places, converging to form a dozen differently shaped congregations of stars. Their combined brilliance reads: "Astronomy 100."

You meet with Mandy after the lecture is over. She cannot contain her excitement about college and her plans of study. "I know it's crazy and really far away, but...well..." she looks away, as if embarassed. You prod her some, turning on the charm as best you can. Finally she relents. "I want to go into space," she confesses, her eyes practically sparkling under the afternoon sun. "At least find a job with NASA," she adds. It's hard to believe that anyone this passionate could fail. She has an air of command and destiny not found in your average blonde bombshell. You smile at her and wink playfully, but she laughs cautiously. "Wow, thanks...I guess." And then she returns the gesture.

"Hey." Mandy perks up-- as if she wasn't already perky-- the gleam of a good idea in her pretty eyes. "Are you interested in research? I was thinking of doing a student research project under Dr Shin. Maybe you'd...