The assessment results determine eligibility and the cohort has limited capacity.
But I can tell you that your original record gives you a strong foundation to build from.” He paused.
“What have you been doing for the last six years?”
“Waitressing, mostly.
Some administrative work at a medical billing office for the last two years.”
“Medical billing.” He tilted his head slightly.
“So you kept a foot in the door.”
I hadn’t thought of it that way.
But I supposed that was true.
“I kept reading,” I said.
“Not systematically.
But I never stopped.”
He nodded slowly.
“Eleven weeks is enough time to prepare seriously if you start now.
I can give you the assessment framework and a list of the core areas it covers.” He opened a drawer and pulled out a printed sheet.
“This is what I give to all re-entry candidates.”
I took it.
“Dr.
Okafor,” I said.
“When I left — did you think I’d come back?”
He considered the question.
“I thought you might,” he said.
“Some people leave and the door closes behind them.
You could tell with those ones.
With others—” He paused.
“The door stays open.
They just have to decide to walk back through it.”
I folded the sheet and put it in my bag.
“Thank you,” I said.
“Come back when you have your assessment results,” he said.
“We’ll go from there.”
I walked out of the building into the afternoon.
The campus was full of students moving between classes, backpacks and coffee cups, the ordinary busy noise of a place where people were becoming things.
I stood on the steps for a moment.
My phone buzzed.
A message from Ruth: *Final documents ready for your signature.
Anytime this week.*
I replied: *Tomorrow morning.*
Then I put the phone in my pocket and walked down the steps into the afternoon.
Three years.
Thirty-four either way.
I had wasted enough time standing still.
—
Some debts can never fully be repaid — not the ones measured in money, and not the ones measured in years.
But there are doors that stay open, even after everything, waiting for the person who finally decides they’re ready to walk back through.
