Mid-November
The email arrived at 11 PM on a Tuesday, and I watched Kai's face go from curious to shocked to something I couldn't quite read.
"What is it?" I asked, looking up from my Biochemistry notes.
He didn't answer immediately, just stared at his laptop screen like it might disappear if he blinked.
"Kai?"
"MIT," he said finally, voice strange. "They want me for their graduate program. Full ride. Stipend. Research position with one of the top neural engineering labs in the country."
My stomach dropped. "That's… that's amazing."
"They don't usually recruit undergrads this early. Most people apply in the spring." He was still staring at the screen. "But my supervisor at the internship he has connections. He nominated me. They want me to interview in December, with potential admission for next fall."
"Kai, that's incredible. That's" I couldn't finish the sentence. MIT. Boston. Three thousand miles away.
"Yeah." He closed the laptop suddenly. "It is."
