[center][h3]Kirsty Ramaswamy[/h3][/center]

The instant Kirsty's eyes blinked open, she could feel their weight. They pulled downward as if strung by sandbags, a powerful argument for her to sink back into her pillow and the soothing world of sleep beneath. This time, however, she couldn't. She could never resist the first time, hence the second alarm ten minutes afterward. The first awakening served only to reel her up from the depths, slack enough to let her comfortably drift back down into the shallow waters of a light sleep. By the time the second alarm hit her, however, she knew it was time to rise, fishlike, from the deep, and face the new day.

She sat up, threw off the covers, kicked her legs out over the side of the bed, and stretched out to her phone to turn off the alarm. By keeping it on her desk a couple feet away, she was forced to pick herself up and reach out to turn it off. More activity meant less chance of more snoozing. At this point Kirsty made use of an efficient system, but many a missed breakfast and rushed shower paved that road. It was time to start her morning routine, but this time, after taking care of the alarm, she sat on the bed staring between her planted feet at the dorm's dark carpet.

Her head swam. It'd been hard waking up lately. It wasn't that Kirsty particularly loved sleeping or anything; she couldn't even remember her dream, if she had one. But nothing made her want to get up. Any hopes of a new beginning with the new semester changed halfway through the first week, when the typical introductory period gave way to business as usual. Already plans had been laid out for a research project that'd be taking place over the course of months, starting with extensive searching and ending with time at a real news outlet. Things would be just the same as before, unless they happened to be harder. Even though things had yet to really start, she already felt tired. Not interested, not driven, not excited...just lost, dazed. Yet she had to do something, so up she came.

After a brief period in the washroom, Kirsty emerged in proper clothes and with her hair tied up. She withdrew some grounds from a plastic bag with a plastic spoon and loaded her little coffee machine, indifferent to the use of last week's water in the tank, left sitting over the weekend. As it got to work she left her room and headed for the kitchen, where her clearly-marked box of cereal and bags of dried fruit waited for her. While she and her friend Annalynn often shared meals in here, the portly brunette did not return to the university the night before like Kirsty did, and there seemed to be no-one else around at the moment. Thus, a glum breakfast ensued in perfect quietude, with Kirsty staring out the window as she munched away. Cold, dreary, and liable to rain later. It would be an inhospitable day. Idly Kirsty wondered what her acquaintances would think if they saw her slumped here, leaning on her elbow over a bowl of soggy multi-grain, her half-closed eyes dull as a stormy sky.

When Kirsty left Student Accommodation a short time later, she bounced along with a sunny expression, treating anyone who looked her way to a smile. Today the 'fresh meat', as put by some, was arriving in bulk. A great many students from all walks of life, all bearing worries about costs, classes, friends, futures, or something, would be making their university debut. Not even all the faculty members who those students were paying would be extending them a warm welcome, so Kirsty made it her mission to try and ease as many minds as possible. Maybe they'd think her weird, but if she made even one heart feel welcome, it would be well worth it. “Heya! Hi! Welcome to Thames Edge!” She greeted them, either individually or in small groups. “Have a great day! Good morning! Enjoy yourself! Have a good one!” A familiar haircut caught her eye, and Kirsty waved. “Hey, Annie!”

Her target looked up, blue eyes scanning the crowd for the familiar voice. “Oh, hi!”

 The girls met briefly, exchanging a hug. Annalynn looked to be in something of a hurry. “Good morning!” Kirsty said. “I'll see you in class, okay? You know where to go?”

Annalynn shook her head. “That's the problem! I lost my schedule, so I was gonna try and connect to the wifi and pull up my student page. Unless you know where to go? Can you tell me?”

“Of course!” Kirsty shared the room number and building name with her friend, and a moment later the two parted ways. Evidently Annalynn needed to do something else in her room, so Kirsty proceeded onward. Before she got another ten feet she got stopped by a pair of nervous-looking freshman who asked her, with almost comical trepidation, for directions. Once Kirsty sorted them out she got underway once more. Before lecture she needed to conduct a little more research, so she made for a common area. For the coming research project she needed to find five articles from different news outlets all covering the same topic, and since Annalynn had a trip over the weekend, Kirsty not only volunteered to help her but to find hers first. Of course, the lists could have no overlap, since that could arouse suspicion. That meant three more solid articles concerning homelessness. It'd been easy to find coverage on Brexit for Annalynn, but this topic was a bit harder and a lot sadder. 

With a sigh Kirsty looked around to find a seat. She passed a guy who waved at her, and she waved back with a smile. He seemed more at home than the freshmen, so she figured he must be a second-year at least. “Hiya!” she said. “Hope you enjoyed your summer. Welcome back!” Then he was gone, headed somewhere else, and Kirsty found a place by the walkway where she could crack open her laptop and get searching.