Thank goodness Hayley had been spared from anything that traumatic. Linda was so proud of her. She'd won a scholarship for her first year by submitting a plan for a new kind of video game called "Sand Castle City." Since Linda did not play video games herself, she was a little hazy on the details of it, but Hayley explained that the players would start by building a virtual sand castle on the computer screen, along the sand at a virtual beach. As the building of the sand castle proceeded, tiny little creatures would move into it, setting up societies and covens on the inside.
Linda's mother suddenly rose to her feet, pointing at the field. "Hey, there she is!" she said, excitedly, bouncing up and down on the bleacher. She's almost in the exact center. Just look for her long, blond hair. You can't miss her!" Linda rose up, also, and searched the sea of late-adolescent faces for her daughter. She found her near the center, just as her mother said, standing in a circle with her friends. They focused on themselves rather than the bleachers.
The podium and stage for the ceremony had been erected where the end zone for the football field had been, and they'd taken down the fork-shaped goal post. Beyond there, a band.
They'd erected a set of risers for all the woodwind, brass, and percussion players, but Linda also saw some string instruments and a stand up bass player.
The band started to play a pomp and circumstance style melody that Linda did not recognize. All of the college students in the center of the field took it as their cue to scramble into their chairs and sit back while the ceremony started. Linda knew that various college officials would get up and make one long officious speech after another, so her mind wandered elsewhere.
She thought about the long journey in helping Hayley get her education. During the summer between her junior and senior years Hayley had found a job at a video game store in a power center near the mall. Through talking with the manager there along with the customers who came into the store, she found out about college programs in video game design. One thing led to another, and she discovered Illinois Polytechnic University, located a mere twenty miles from where her grandparents and aunts and uncles lived.
During her senior year, Hayley found out about the scholarship competition. Not only did she continue to work at the video store all through her senior year, but she also babysat for a regular clientele of four different families. She was never the greatest student in the world, receiving mostly C's and B's, but her imagination and passion for video game art brought her the scholarship and put her in good stead for admittance to such a competitive college.