Chapter 60

I had worked out that changing my major was not going to happen. I wasn't going to be able to take enough credits in one semester to graduate in anything but my original major. That didn't stop me from taking anything I wanted.

I had a good idea what I wanted to do. I didn't know if there was such a profession nor how to pursue it whether there was or not. I recognized I had developed a lot of skills in persuading people. For most of my life it seemed to come naturally.

I picked out courses that included psychology to figure out why people do things, sociology to figure out how they could be motivated to do things in groups they might well not do on their own, and advertising to learn more about motivation and spin, thought that was a skill at which I was quite adept.

No course could cover the material I wanted to know, so I took a key lesson from Jeff: I went to the library to fill in whatever I thought I needed. I read a few books on persuasion. I read enough to understand that people responded to motivation much better than they did to persuasion, even if it was the exact same thing.

This semester was as different as it was possible to be from my entire school career. I had heard about this kind of thing, but I didn't think anybody did it except Jeff. I took those courses and read those books because I wanted to learn. I really didn't much care how I did as long as I learned. I reveled in learning. Me; Ashley. Go figure.

"That was so nice of them," said Jeff when Malcolm and Dr. Lloyd left. "I can't believe the time and effort they've put in for my benefit. I'm overwhelmed that they would put themselves out for me this way."

"I don't think you were listening," I said.

"What are you talking about?"

"Let me see if I can paraphrase it in a way you can understand, and I don't mean to demean your intelligence in any way when I say that. Only a complete moron would make any effort to do that. But, Mr. Bill, there are some things you don't understand.

"A mind like yours comes along only once in ... I don't even know how long. It's rare enough that they don't expect to ever see one again.

"I know they made accommodations for you from setting up your scholarship to arranging for this academic year. And now they're offering something very attractive. They may very well be nice, caring people. That's not why they're doing it.

"You're not a hot commodity; there is only one of your ilk. You are a unique asset to a university. Imagine a university that could say, 'We've got Isaac Newton on our staff.' It would attract the top students; give them unmatched prestige."

"I'm not exactly Isaac Newton."

"No, you're not. He had peers doing the same kinds of work. Who else is doing what you do? Who else has even thought of it? How many people could even understand it, let alone come up with the concept and build it?"

The poor guy was way beyond blushing. If I could have read his mind I would have heard something like it's no big deal; it's just what I do.