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Dear Layne,
I’m afraid that the internship program is not going to be offered this year, either, due to the ever-evolving business needs of the organization. We hope to be able to offer the exclusive program for qualified students like yourself again in the near future, and if we do, your name will be on the top of our list should you still be interested after you complete your MBA. Unfortunately, it is only offered to recent graduates and not currently enrolled students as it is a full-time paid internship that we hope leads to a permanent role with us, so we wouldn’t be able to offer you anything while you’re still attending school, which, I believe, you asked us about before. Again, my apologies. I hope we’re able to return to the program next summer or the one after that.
Layne hadn’t bothered reading the email signature since she knew it was from the director of the internship program that she’d been dealing with throughout this process. She’d wondered briefly if that woman had lost her job since her whole role was made for the program that now no longer existed. She’d also thought about all the other students who had been depending on the program for their post-graduation plans. Then, she’d lain down on her bed and wondered how she’d gotten here.
???
“Coach, can I talk to you?” Layne asked when she saw her coach standing in the corner of the team room.
“Sure. Everything okay?” the woman asked.
“In your office, maybe?”
“We’re about to watch the selection show.”
“I know. It won’t take long, I promise.”
“Okay. Let’s go.”
Layne followed her coach down the hall and into her office. The window was open, so Layne closed the door and made sure her mask was in a good place before she sat down in front of Coach’s desk and waited for her to sit behind it.
“What’s up?”
“I just got some news. Well, I got it yesterday, so I’ve been thinking about what to do, and I needed to ask you something.”
“Okay.”
“I think you maybe helped me get into the business program. I don’t know for sure, but I don’t think they would have made an exception for me. It’s not like I’m the top-ranked football player in the country that makes the university millions. I barely played women’s basketball.”
“Well, I got a call, and I told them that if I had you back this year, we had a much better chance of making it back where we were. You and Shay play really well together. I know you’ve had some setbacks this season, but I saw a lot of the old Layne in that last game. I just told them that they should consider you.”
“Thank you. I was kind of lost there and didn’t know what to do.”
“You don’t have to thank me, Layne.”
“I might. I don’t know if you can do anything else, but I just found out that my internship fell through again. They’re not doing it anymore – or, at least, they’re pausing it for quite some time, probably, because of the pandemic still. And right now, I’m on an athletic scholarship, but I’m out of eligibility, and… Well, I’m in a three-year program, and I’ll only have finished one year.”
“You want to know if I’ll co-sign another year of eligibility for you?”
“Honestly, I don’t know what can be done. I guess that’s why I’m here. I’d need to talk to my advisor, but I thought since I was going to see you tonight, I could check with you first. Even if I could manage another year of eligibility with the NCAA, though, I’d still need a scholarship. And I know you don’t have those just lying around everywhere. You might need one for an incoming player. If I could at least get the next year paid for and obviously still play, I might be able to swing a student loan for the final year of the program.”
“You want to stay at Dunbar?”
Layne shrugged and said, “I’m not the biggest fan of the program so far, but I only have two years left now. I also talked to someone a year ahead of me in the program, and she said the first year sucks, but it gets better. Honestly, I never thought I’d have the opportunity to get a master’s degree. It would help me get further in my career when I finish.”
“I see,” Coach said with a nod. “Okay. Let’s do this. We need to petition the NCAA for another year for you. With how little you played during your freshman year, we might be able to get them to consider that a red-shirt year retroactively. And with COVID, some new things might be possible. It’s a long shot, but we can try. If they do that, you’d have next year officially as a fifth year, which you’d be entitled to because of COVID.”
“We can try that?”
“We can try, yes. But I need a deal from you.”
“Okay.”
“You can’t leave after next year,” Coach told her.
“What do you–”
“You have to stick with the program and earn your MBA. If you need help with financial aid or student loan paperwork, you can work with the counselors we have here on staff, and I can help a little with a work-study program for you.”
