5 Things That Never Happened To Frances Holland
Ganked from z_rayne. I like this meme, other people should do it.
It doesn't happen like this...
Five.
She moves to New York with her mother when she's 17 - her mother has a job there, and the paperwork's finally come through. She graduates high school a year late because of the six month difference between school years in the different countries, but she goes to university and does her degree, struggling all the way with international fees. Eventually she's done though, and she takes a string of jobs that don't quite use her degree, but it's fine and she works hard. She dates a couple of boys off the internet, and eventually applies for citizenship and moves from Long Island closer to the city and settles in there.
Four.
She applies to the NZ Air Force straight out of school - they sold their planes in 2001, but she's willing to settle for helicopters. She trains and doesn't like taking orders and loves flying, but all they do these days are search and rescue and meaningless things, and once she goes on a peacekeeping mission in the Pacific, and she doesn't end up liking it. So she quits, and moves into engineering, but that's falling apart in New Zealand too, so she tries to get work in other countries. She ends up in England, working with planes there, and she stays there and she's happy.
Three.
She does her BSc and moves to the States to do her Masters there. She ends up doing research and development for a company in LA, and commutes two hours in each direction every day. She goes to all the conventions, and spends her life being an utter geek, and it is good.
Two.
She grows up with her father, who dresses her up as a boy because he always wished he had a son. She sees her mother every second weekend, but her father always told her what a lousy mother she had, so it never quite works right. She came home wearing nail polish and a dress once; after that she only saw her mother once a month. She's 18 by the time she discovers fandom. She goes to university and studies computing; she leaves with a huge student loan and struggles to find work with so much job competition. She never leaves New Zealand, it takes her nearly 20 years to pay off her loan, and she struggles all her life to make ends meet.
One.
She goes to a public primary school because her mother can't afford the private one. She doesn't get the support she needs in her schooling, and she never quite manages to be anything other than awkward and dysfunctional. She doesn't have any friends growing up, and she never ventures outside the internet for most of her life. She goes to university, because she should, and she finds a job below her skill level. She never quite makes it to being happy.
It happens like this...
Zero.
She grows up with her mother; her father's an idiot, but she gets over it, and she grows up socially capable and able to deal with life. She gets into fandom at the age of 12, she does well at school, she graduates university. She works for her mother for a couple of years while she decides what she wants to do with her life. She never moves out of New Zealand, but she travels a lot. She has a good life, and she's grateful for it.
It doesn't happen like this...
Five.
She moves to New York with her mother when she's 17 - her mother has a job there, and the paperwork's finally come through. She graduates high school a year late because of the six month difference between school years in the different countries, but she goes to university and does her degree, struggling all the way with international fees. Eventually she's done though, and she takes a string of jobs that don't quite use her degree, but it's fine and she works hard. She dates a couple of boys off the internet, and eventually applies for citizenship and moves from Long Island closer to the city and settles in there.
Four.
She applies to the NZ Air Force straight out of school - they sold their planes in 2001, but she's willing to settle for helicopters. She trains and doesn't like taking orders and loves flying, but all they do these days are search and rescue and meaningless things, and once she goes on a peacekeeping mission in the Pacific, and she doesn't end up liking it. So she quits, and moves into engineering, but that's falling apart in New Zealand too, so she tries to get work in other countries. She ends up in England, working with planes there, and she stays there and she's happy.
Three.
She does her BSc and moves to the States to do her Masters there. She ends up doing research and development for a company in LA, and commutes two hours in each direction every day. She goes to all the conventions, and spends her life being an utter geek, and it is good.
Two.
She grows up with her father, who dresses her up as a boy because he always wished he had a son. She sees her mother every second weekend, but her father always told her what a lousy mother she had, so it never quite works right. She came home wearing nail polish and a dress once; after that she only saw her mother once a month. She's 18 by the time she discovers fandom. She goes to university and studies computing; she leaves with a huge student loan and struggles to find work with so much job competition. She never leaves New Zealand, it takes her nearly 20 years to pay off her loan, and she struggles all her life to make ends meet.
One.
She goes to a public primary school because her mother can't afford the private one. She doesn't get the support she needs in her schooling, and she never quite manages to be anything other than awkward and dysfunctional. She doesn't have any friends growing up, and she never ventures outside the internet for most of her life. She goes to university, because she should, and she finds a job below her skill level. She never quite makes it to being happy.
It happens like this...
Zero.
She grows up with her mother; her father's an idiot, but she gets over it, and she grows up socially capable and able to deal with life. She gets into fandom at the age of 12, she does well at school, she graduates university. She works for her mother for a couple of years while she decides what she wants to do with her life. She never moves out of New Zealand, but she travels a lot. She has a good life, and she's grateful for it.