Iris Smith was trembling to reach her new school. Her hands shivered with fear as her arms held a sparse sheet of paper that only housed two words:
COLLEGE APPLICATION
“It’s due in a year! How would I find meaningful activities until then?” cried Iris. This wasn’t her misfortune. Over the past five years she had slept through every club meeting, barely dragged herself to cricket matches, and contributed only a sentence to her old school’s newspaper.
Maybe this new institution would be better. They call the themselves 'The Delta Institute'.
“Delta is a symbol for change,” thought Iris as she looked at their logo with the familiar triangle that she had seen before in her Math class.
The modern building was adorned with black, purple, and dark blue tiles. Despite its conspicuous height, there was no other opening except for thirteen doors at the bottom level.
“Excuse me,” she asked a girl nearby, “do you know what door I have to go through?”
The girl paused for a mere second, clearly contemplating the advice to give Iris. “You may enter any door of your choice— whatever you are looking for. They open into a room that contains a unique experience pertaining to a certain field of work. Each space is lined with activities in that area of expertise and culminates in a thrilling final pitch. Once you’re done with the room, you may choose to exit or walk through the white door at the end of the hall.”
So, there remained Iris before the first door: Dentons. Slowly, she pressed its golden handle and waited for the path to open before her.
DENTONS
She heard the bang of a wooden gavel against the antiquated table. The benches were lined with aspiring lawyers, holding newly-polished briefcases filled with a plethora of files. She realised that she had acquired one too and her hand was decorated with a stamp highlighting the new case study.
“Let’s make it to the court for her final pitch case!” said the modulator disguised as a judge. Iris, reluctant to engage in legal discussions, dashed for the front door, soon finding herself in another room: Ventures in space tech.
VENTURES IN SPACE TECH
The room filled with exhaust gases as the rocket flew. The stifling warmth, however, didn’t appear to shock anyone as they continued to latch on to their clipboards and draw varied projectile diagrams.
The blackboard before them boasted of the principles of propulsion mechanics. Nearby, a group of students were carefully assembling an electromagnet.
Iris enjoyed watching such meticulous construction, so she watched until the rocket made its debut back on Earth. “Possibly nothing could go faster than a rocket,” she assumed, but she was proven wrong the moment that she texted the next room: Ferrari.
FERRARI
The cars engaged in a deathly fast combat, racing until what appeared to be the end of the room. Beside it, a boy was measuring the greenhouse gas emissions that the car released.
As the cars descended further into the distance, Iris could finally see the white door that she had been told about. It had been there in the other rooms too, decorated with the same luminous glow. Only this time, it had grown stronger. She felt compelled to reach out towards it, but immediately stopped herself. There was still so much to explore.
AWS
A robot greeted her on her way in. “Welcome to AWS, Iris Smith!” it attempted to say in its overtly mechanical voice. She laughed a little before her attention suddenly being drawn to the exponential amount of boxes on the ground.
“Organize them as per this algorithm,” ordered the robot, its screen showcasing a complex array of numerical data. Luckily, she had a newly acquired tool to help her: machine learning. It placed the cartoons on the wall in mere seconds, leaving a smile on Iris’ face. She had handled this chaos, but this wasn’t the right stop yet.
DIGITAL MD
The room was filled with medical vocabulary.
“Pulmonary!” exclaimed one. “Cardiac!” exclaimed another.
Finally she felt the urge to speak. “Oh I know! Let’s make it easier for everyone to understand!”
They all stared at her in shock. “How?” They spoke in unison.
That’s when Iris worked with them to execute her master four-week plan. They launched an Instagram account that provides definitions for basic medical vocabulary. They made a website spreading awareness about common medical diagnosis and their treatment. Lastly, they rejoiced in combining the tech and creative side to put on a performative workshop about the importance of communication in healthcare.
“And the winners of the final pitch night are Iris Smith and her team.”
Iris smiled as she heard of her victory. Now she was ready to open that plague white door.
One. Two. Three…
Soon she was no longer at the Delta Institute, but instead standing at Harvard’s campus. She sported a newly-purchased white coat and had her hair professionally tied back. In one hand, she held her new student ID, but in the other, she held a single sheet of paper—a sheet that now no longer made her tremble. It was her accepted college application.
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This story is written by our amazing Student Ambassador, Akriti Srivastava, Adobe Work Experience Program 2024 alumna.
