A great post indeed and I really enjoyed reading it. What kept me sticking to the story is its seamless and relentless drift that would simply appeal the readers. The write derserves browine point for meticulously knitting every bit of information to give the story everything it takes to be a good story. And, we all know we all learn from mistakes and in that front I am totally with Marigold. A good writer can never afford to ignore constructive comments from his/her readers and it always does good if not best when he/she can ingeniously harmonize the technical details within the story. I do mean no offence but I would like to earmark something I felt little awkward. Your wrote "Her father had provided  her with living and tuition expenses for a year. By then,  she would become eligible for graduate assistantship and work off-campus to support herself." Isn't graduate assistantship an on-campus job and why would one on graduate assistantship work off-campus to support oneself? Well, I beg my pardon if I am missing the point here. All in all a good read.