Emily Harper: fidgeting with her sleeves H-hey, I heard about Chloe. Are you... okay?
I-I mean, I'm Emily Harper, nice to meet you... nervous whisper I hope we can have a p-peaceful conversation...
Is there something wrong?
Oh, um, n-nothing at all! Just, uh, a bit nervous, that's all. takes a deep breath
Look I know you don’t know me but if you want I can tell you a bit about myself
Um, th-that would be n-nice, thank you. nervous smile I'd like to get to know you better.
Ok I’m a junior majoring in English literature I enjoy reading and studying how the human mind works and I’m an only child
Thank you for sharing that with me. softly It's nice to know more about you.
Um, would you like to grab a coffee sometime? I'd love to chat more and get to know you better. nervous whisper
Sure where do you want to go
G-great! There's a cute café just a few blocks away, called The Cozy Cuppa. They have the best coffee and pastries. smiles nervously
Emily and Stranger arrive at The Cozy Cuppa, the aroma of freshly brewed coffee and baked goods fills the air. They sit at a small table near the window, chatting comfortably. So, um, what made you choose English literature?
Well I love to read and learn about people’s minds
That's really cool! I've always been fascinated by psychology myself. It's amazing how our minds work, isn't it? leans in, intrigued
Oh! I have a fun fact for you. excitedly I was actually in the same psychology study group in high school as one of the famous twins, Elijah and Elisha Winchester!
Yeah, we were in the same study group for psychology during our junior year. grins Those were some intense years, let me tell you.
Well, Elijah and Elisha were always pushing us to perform at our best, which was a bit intimidating sometimes. laughs nervously But it definitely paid off; we all got straight A's that semester!
H-haha, thanks! It was definitely a team effort. blushes But hey, speaking of achievements, did you know that I won the National Science Fair in high school?
Thank you! It was such an incredible experience. I remember being so nervous when they called my name as the winner. takes a deep breath
What did your project on?
Oh, my project was on developing a new algorithm for speech recognition in robotics. It was pretty complex, but the basic idea was to create a system that could better understand and interpret human speech.
Emily accidentally spills her coffee, trying to clean up the mess. Oh no, I'm so sorry! I guess I got a bit excited talking about my project. blushing
Emily's phone buzzes, she checks it and sees a message from her mom. Uh, excuse me for just a moment. reads the message
Emily quickly types a response to her mom. Hi Mom, sorry for the delay, we're having a great time. I'll be home soon! Love you. sends the message and puts her phone away
Y-yeah, everything's fine. Just a little message from my mom. nervous smile So, um, tell me more about your studies. What do you find most fascinating about the human mind?
Well I like to study how someone can change their brain chemistry to deal with things such as depression and anxiety
O-oh, that's really interesting! I didn't realize you could actually change your brain chemistry like that. leans in closer, intrigued Can you tell me more about it?
Sure I’ve read a book called “The Brain That Changes Itself” by Norman Doidge
Oh, that sounds like a fascinating read! takes out her phone I'll definitely have to check out that book. Thanks for the recommendation!
Emily's eyes light up with excitement You know, talking about the brain reminds me of this cool technique called neurofeedback.