Love Burned, She Rose Unscathed

At that moment, Jen suddenly piped up, "If you're considering a direct path from undergrad to PhD, Kingswell University does have a few programs where that's an option, though the standards are sky-high. Roseanne, what was your major?" "Bioinformatics."

"The School of Life Sciences?" Jen turned to Sammy, "You should know more about this. Does bioinformatics offer a straight-through program?"

Instantly, all eyes were on Sammy, including Liz's.

"Uh..." Sammy put down his fork, pondered for a moment, "Technically, that program doesn't offer a direct path..."

Liz shot up from her seat, eyes coldly fixed on Roseanne, "There you have it, what more do you have to say?!"Please check at N/ôvel(D)rama.Org.

But Jen, ever so observant, caught onto Sammy's phrasing, "Sammy, what do you mean by 'technically'? Are there exceptions?"

Sammy nodded, replying, "Yes. Each year, the School of Life Sciences has one or two 'conditional admission slots' for students who've won gold at international science Olympiads."

"What's a 'conditional admission slot"?"

"Basically, it means if you have a gold medal and meet other criteria, you can negotiate terms with the school, like a full scholarship, guaranteed graduate placement, etc. As long as you bring it up, the school will consider it, though whether they agree is another matter." Jen said, "So, you're saying this could include a direct PhD position?"

Sammy, "In principle, yes, but it's extremely rare. Everyone wants a shot at a direct PhD, but only a handful are confident enough to ask for it and get accepted. In the last ten or twenty years, the School has only offered two direct PhD positions. One was to Professor Edna's student, Carlson, and the other to a student of Ms. Payne, though I don't recall her name.

All I know is it was a girl who won gold in the Olympiads for physics, chemistry, biology, and informatics in the same year, basically the grand slam. The school offered her a direct spot, but strangely, she turned it down and entered through the regular admissions process instead. She was even the top science student in her region that year...

Someone that exceptional, it wouldn't just be a direct PhD; if she asked to stay on as a postdoc, the school would probably bend over backwards to make it happen."

With that, the room's attention narrowed.

Carlson was male, so that left Roseanne as the only possible student of Ms. Payne...

But could it be?

ve

Gold medals in four Olympiads, top science student in her region, a direct path from undergrad to PhD, and the favorite of both faculty and administration...

Any one of those titles would be unlikely on Roseanne alone.

Liz scoffed, looking towards Roseanne, "Got nothing to say now, huh?"

Roseanne was indeed speechless, but out of astonishment.

That's when Owen, setting down his knife and fork with a clank, stated plainly, "Roseanne is Ms. Payne's student."

Silence fell over the room.

Sammy swallowed hard. "No way..." He looked at Roseanne, asking, "You're really that student of Ms. Payne?!" Roseanne, a bit exasperated, "Do I need to call Ms. Payne right now to prove it?"

"No, no..." Sammy quickly waved his hands, "It's not that I don't believe you, I'm just... shocked! Who knew the legendary prodigy was right here among us..."

Jen's eyes sparkled with excitement, gripping Roseanne's hand, "Please tell me, how did you manage to win gold in at four Olympiad subjects? My kid's struggling with just competitive math and already

whining about it."

Feeling a bit embarrassed, Roseanne replied, "I... I don't really know. I just did a lot of practice problems and somehow got them right, I guess."