I'm going to try and update once a week and make the chapters at least 500 words long.
Lynn:
It was never my dream to end up as a glorified maid to hundreds of people. Who dreams of that? What I had wanted since I was a little girl was to be an astronomer. Unfortunately, dreams aren't currency. Mom and Dad couldn't afford to send me to the schools that I would need to go to do anything important. Getting the acceptance letters and knowing that I couldn't afford to go to the schools broke my heart.
Sure, I was awarded scholarships, but none of them were big enough to make a difference. My parents helped all that they could, but it still wasn't enough. I had worked at a local restaurant all four years of high school, and even putting that toward my education there was no way to even pay the first semester's tuition.
As I applied left and right for scholarships and begged for extra hours at work, a letter came in the mail. It was a simple affair and the wording was to the point. "Starfleet will put you among the stars." As I read it, my breath caught. This was an option I had never considered.
I applied for their astronomy program before I even talked to my parents about it. What was the worse that could happen? I had to turn them down? Also, Starfleet was famous for giving out the greatest scholarships to its cadets. Hopefully my high school career would get me where I wanted to be.
My parents were less than impressed at my having applied to Starfleet. Mom was worried that I was going to get myself killed. My little brother was angry that I was going to join Starfleet. He insisted that he had wanted to Starfleet for years now and I was stealing his dream. I stuck my tongue out at him and looked over to Dad. He hadn't said anything so far, which made me nervous. What if he told me this was the stupidest thing that I had ever done?
Dad wasn't mad though. He was actually proud. "Starfleet," He said. "is important." And that ended the conversation. Even though Mom wasn't happy about it, but there wasn't anything more to say.
It was weeks before Starfleet got back to me with my application. My entire family gathered around me as I opened it. We were all nervous that I had not gotten in, or I did get the scholarship that I needed. I clicked the letter open and read the first line.
"Lynnette Tammor, Starfleet Academy writes to inform you that all of the places in our Astronomy program have been filled. You are welcome to apply again next year, as your record shows that you would go far. You are also welcome to apply one of our other programs or submit a general application."
I had to read the letter several times to make sure I truly understood what they were saying. It was a rejection letter. Over the past weeks I had convinced myself that Starfleet was going to take me, and pay for it too. Now I had to decide if I was going to wait a year and apply again, or if I was just going to submit a general application.
A year seemed like a long time to wait to go to school, so I filled out the general application to Starfleet and sent it off. I could always change my focus later on, and maybe one of the Astronomy students would drop out.
This time, it didn't take Starfleet so long to get back to me. The letter came in a few days and I opened it alone. It was an acceptance letter and I responded to it saying that I was going to attend. If I couldn't be an astronomer, at least I could get close to the stars.