Or a he…

20-year-old Juan Hernandez felt butterflies in his stomach. He hadn’t seen his girlfriend Sophia Veracruz in person since she went out of state to study 4 years ago.

Juan never understood Sophia’s decision to enroll at Baxter-Wayne-Clarke University. Even 4 years ago, BWC university was nothing but a hotbed of controversy. However, they must have been doing something right, because today there are BWC campuses in 50 of the 51 states of the USA.

Juan’s home state is the only exception. The 51st state, Columbiana, was quite young and remained stubbornly resistant to the influence and culture of the US as a whole. It boasts a demographic make-up of 99.98% people of latin, spanish, and south-american descent.

From inception, Columbiana had been dubbed the economic miracle of the world, thanks to a combination of mineral rich deposits, unique agricultural commodities, technology investments, and prudent financial management by the state government. The state consistently makes upwards of 35% of the national GDP year after year.

Columbiana also has one of the highest population in the United States, only slightly lagging behind California and Texas. Their financial position and sheer number of voters make them a **** to be reckoned with in the political stage and affords the state a large degree of independence from the federal government.

Sophia had always been fiercely smart and intelligent. She finished high school at 16 and was offered a place at several of the best universities in Columbiana that ranked on par with the Ivy Leagues. Yet one lousy brochure was enough to convince her to enroll out of state at a controversial school in the American heartland.

A familiar catchy jingle snuck into Juan’s ears. He lifted his gaze up at the enormous LCD display hanging over the airport’s arrival gate that had been running non stop ads.

“At BWC university, we uphold American values. American pride. American unity. Welcome to BWC University. Come study with us. Become the future of America.” the ad’s voiceover said while flashy graphics and stock images danced across the screen.

Juan frowned. There was something unsettling about the pictures used in the ad. It kept showing pretty, happy, bubbly latina, asian, and black girls, interacting in a campus environment, but they always seem to be surrounded by several white guys whose heads and faces were cropped out of the edges of the pictures.

The arrival gate’s glass doors slid open and newly landed passengers started streaming out into the hall, distracting Juan from the ad.

Juan spotted Sophia even before she came out the arrival gate. He wanted to wave at her but hesitated when he saw she was surrounded by a large group of girls. It would seem that Sophia had been traveling with friends.

The girls looked to be Sophia and Juan’s age. They were mostly latinas, but there were a couple of asians and black girls among them as well. They all wore clothes with the loudly stylized text of BWCU printed on them.

Juan was instantly struck by how good looking the girls at BWCU were. However, none could compare with the one true rose among them. Sophia Veracruz remained the most radiant of them all.