Demigod University--The Greek Life

“Have you packed for your orientation yet?”

“Not yet, Ma,” replied Josh.

Options were limited since Josh was in summer school through most of the dates, so he barely managed a slot in July. He was just going through a checklist of things he needed when he remembered Mom’s comment about an emailed job offer. He swung out his laptop, a graduation gift from his grandparents he didn’t know how they afforded, and logged on to his official uga.edu address. Every time he did, he got a tingle of excitement and swell of pride.
He found the email right away. It was the only one not about linens or care packages or move-in tips. It read:

Dear Joshua Carter:
My name is Scott Connelly. I am an ecology professor at the University of Georgia. My department recently received a grant from the state to do research on various common crops. We are quite eager to start our work, however, I am a researcher, not an agriculturist. I asked the agriculture department to loan me an upper classman to run the fields for me but was told they were all busy with their own degrees and unable to commit.
I was then referred to you, Mr. Carter. The application screener for agriculture showed me your references and skill and I must say I am impressed at the green thumb of someone so fresh. If you are interested in the position, please give me an email back as soon as possible. If it is a factor, you will be paid $10 an hour, which I think is reasonable. I hopefully can look forward to working with you.

Sincerely,

Dr. Scott Connelly
Professor of Ecology
Senior Researcher

Josh was dumbfounded. Him? The professor wanted HIM to manage the fields for the department? This was HUGE! And the good doctor might not realize the time it takes to tend to fields. He had a feeling the wages would go down once he realized how many hours Josh was likely to put in. Still, Demeter was right. It was a GREAT opportunity.
“I’ll do you and Dad proud,” he whispered.

ΔΦΔΦ

The reply he sent to Dr. Connelly was answered within the hour. From what Josh heard about college professors, that was rare. He must have a good secretary or something.

Dear Joshua Carter:
I am very excited you chose to accept our offer. Please come to my office at 10 AM July 25th so we can discuss details and see the fields. It may take all day, so be prepared to spend the night in Athens. If you need to I can recommend several good hotels. This is the only day I was able to set aside, so please do not be late. See you then!

Sincerely,

Dr. Scott Connelly
Professor of Ecology
Senior Researcher

Josh’s heart sank. July 25th. His orientation date.

His mind raced for a solution.

“Just call the offices there and ask to reschedule,” said Ma Carter.

“It’s not that simple,” Josh moaned miserably. “There are no more slots left, I already tried emailing.”

“Well it’s a job,” said Pa Carter, “in the field you are going into, pardon the pun.”

It wasn’t pardoned.

“What I’m saying is they can’t deny you that. It’s the whole purpose of the institution to prepare you for your career, educate you on the tools of your trade! This is your trade!”

“Then what would you have me do?” retorted Josh bitterly. Pa Carter merely stood up.

“It’s what I need to do,” he said shrewdly.

Ma Carter and Josh exchanged looks. Experience told them to quickly exit the room and find other tasks that suddenly needed to be completed. Now. Pa Carter went to the old telephone they still had hanging on the wall of the kitchen.

“Yes, this is Jethro Carter. I’d like to speak to the orientation office.”

ΔΦΔΦ

“If you’re going through hell, keep on going don’t look back, if you’re scared don’t show it you might get out before the devil even knows you’re there!”

The song made Josh smile with amusement as his truck tore through the countryside. Cows and horses and fields of grain flew by while Josh had a mental image of a country singer trying to get through Hades without the Lord of the Dead knowing he was there. Based on experiences he’d heard about, it wasn’t exactly easy.

Josh let his free hand dangle out of the open window. The sun was shining and he was on his way to Athens! He gazed at the passing farmland. City folk never realized Athens was all country in every direction once you got out of the town itself. They came to be doctors and lawyers, which were fine professions in themselves, but Josh tingled with anticipation at the thought of running his own farm again.

Suddenly, the farmland was swallowed up by a thick cover of trees. And just as suddenly, Josh and his pick-up were thrust into the outskirts of Athens. It startled him how quickly the calm countryside turned into city, but he pulled out his phone and read the next set of directions to where he was going. The traffic was all headed towards Brumby Hall, where most orientation students were staying, however Josh had other arrangements.

He parked at the building Google Maps said was his destination and went inside. A lady at the front desk was typing away on an ancient computer and barely glanced up when he approached.

“Name,” she said blandly.

“Joshua Levi Carter.”

The woman looked up abruptly. She peered through thin glasses perched on her nose and said,

“Are you the young man going to see Dr. Connelly? Skipping orientation?”

Josh didn’t like it being said that way but he said yes. The woman settled back in her chair, looked at her computer again and said,

“Picture ID, please.”

He showed her his driver’s license and she handed him an enormous package that supposedly held all he was going to miss at orientation. Before he could leave, the woman said sharply,

"And tell your grandfather he can stop scaring the wits out of our telephone operators."

He awkwardly apologized for Pa Carter's behavior, thanked the woman for the packet and left, heaving the packet on his front seat before driving to the next destination. The big one.

It took him forever just to get through orientation traffic. He silently thanked the gods he didn’t have to squeeze into a parking deck since Dr. Connelly gave him a pass to park behind the ecology building. After about half an hour of dodging traffic and taking side streets, Josh finally arrived at the low-rise brown structure labeled Ecology. The area was shaded by several old trees and had the classic Athens look with street lamps featuring large round bulbs. Looking around as he got out of the car and made sure his shirt was properly tucked, Josh could see Aderhold, which was the education building, the Life Sciences building, and the Warnell School of Forestry.

With a deep breath Josh mounted the steps and went in the clear glass door. The left side was open, as he was instructed it would be. He walked down several halls and took a few turns before arriving at Dr. Connelly’s office without any major mishaps. He knocked firmly, and took a step back. This was it.

ΔΦΔΦ

He looked like a hippie who had gotten a job. In a way, he probably was. Dr. Scott Connelly had long sandy brown hair that went to his shoulders but it was smooth and well combed. Expensive-looking round glasses perched on a long, thin nose, bridging his narrow face. Well-trimmed goatee stubble covered his chin and he wore typical professor attire—a button up shirt, slacks, dress shoes, and a coat that hung over his chair.

“Ah, you must be Joshua Carter! I’m Dr. Connelly, please, come in and sit. We can talk here if you close the door behind you.”

It wasn’t a large office. A bookshelf featuring countless books: encyclopedias on plant life, books about growing techniques, collections of agricultural experiments in the last three decades, and so on. It wasn’t a large bookshelf, though, so a couple of books were hanging on for the sake of their bindings. Everything else was also crammed someplace. Potted plants were crammed in a corner, a desk was crammed with papers, two chairs were crammed in front of the desk with the bookshelf to their back, and a tall lamp was crammed behind the desk. Josh had a seat, amazed at all that managed to exist in this small space.

“I must say I was very impressed by your qualifications, Mr. Carter. Not many students your age have already had so much experience in the field.”

Josh tried to decide if the pun was intentional. Dr. Connelly’s facial expression did not change, so he let it slide.

“Thank you, sir. And you can call me Josh.”

“Well, Josh, you ran your grandparents farm at age fifteen until it was sold off and then worked on three different farms all throughout high school. Each employer of yours I’ve contacted has only spoken the very highest of your abilities, and your principal spoke of your character as well. I suppose there is only one thing left to do now that I’ve made my final decision. Call me old fashioned, but I like to formally seal the deal.”

He stretched his lanky arm across the desk and offered his hand.

“Joshua Carter, do you accept the position?”

“Yes, sir. And I will perform to the best of my abilities.”

The men shook on it. Josh rather liked the fellow, even if his voice was a bit reedy.

The men then talked for two hours or so on techniques they would use, the plowing methods, the fertilizers, the purpose of the experimental pesticides, some time was spent on food science, and a number of other very boring and very intricate subjects surrounding farming that will not be transcribed here for the sake of the reader. It would go over anyone’s head.
After a quick sandwich in the break room, the two headed out to Josh’s truck to visit the fields he would be tending. Josh struggled to keep his mounting excitement from showing in his face and making him appear unprofessional. It was difficult, never before had he found someone to discuss the academic side of farming with! His grandfather knew quite a bit, but he had never gone to college. In his office, Josh had discovered Dr. Connelly had read several of the same books and kept up with many of the same magazines. And now he was going to get to see his place of work!

“You drive,” Connelly was saying, “And I will direct you so you have a feel for how to get there next time.”

Josh had to quickly move his packet to the glove compartment and when he turned on the car, country music blared out of the speakers. It made Dr. Connelly jump, and Josh turned it down thoroughly embarrassed. He felt more at ease when Dr. Connelly only nodded and said,

“That’s a good song.”

For the duration of the short trip, in between directions, Connelly told him about the help Josh would receive.

“Anytime you have a job that takes more than just you, I know you have classes and are busy as well, just call up Michael and Aaron. They’re juniors at Clarke Central High School and will do whatever you tell them to, as long as you sign off on their FFA hours. Not expert help, but they promised to work hard; I asked them to meet us today at the farm. Woah, here it is, turn left.”

Josh turned the truck onto a dirt rode and bumped his way along to a large, flat white building with aluminum awnings over various piles of agricultural equipment. He stepped out of the truck, made sure the doors were locked, and gave a low whistle. Before him stretched acres and acres of fields all waiting for his guiding hand. He looked at Dr. Connelly, who smiled and nodded. They made their way to the first field of corn where two high school boys were sitting on old tractor tires. As Josh and Dr. Connelly approached, the boys leaped down.

“This is Aaron Dowling.”

The first one was just like many other guys Josh had known in FFA. Everything about him was thick, from his bushy brown hair under a baseball cap to his large, square nose, to his broad shoulders and beefy hands. His brown eyes were dull and his jaw had a hard set to it. His shirt featured the rebel flag and a jacked up truck but the sleeves were ripped off like his ripped up jeans. Josh smelled the familiar smell of old beer lingering on his clothes and had no doubt this kid was the kind of redneck that made good ole country boys look dumb. He made a mental note not to trust anything too important with him.

The second kid was different. He had blonde hair, neatly trimmed, fair skin and a dusting of freckles. His FFA shirt was tucked into a clean pair of jeans and he was incredibly tall, at least 6’5’’.

“And this is Michael Atkinson.”

When Josh shook his hand he was rather startled. Bright blue eyes behind silver glasses scrutinized him with an intelligent gaze. Josh felt like he was shaking hands with a younger version of his grandfather, which was totally weird. The moment passed and everyone was all smiles again, but Josh would remember behind that quiet, mild manner the blonde kid had a sharp eye.

Together the four toured the farm. Dr. Connelly pointed out each field and what experiments were to be conducted there, from environmentally safe pesticides to scientifically enhanced wheat. Josh felt excitement bubble inside him again at the prospects that lay before him. He would make Demeter proud.

By the time Josh and Dr. Connelly said goodbye to the boys, drove back to the Ecology building, and signed the last of the paperwork, the sun was setting.

“Are you staying in town somewhere?” asked Dr. Connelly.

“No, I’d rather just drive home,” Josh replied, “I have no problem driving at night, and honestly sir I’m too excited to sleep for a while anyway.”

Dr. Connelly smiled.

“That’s good to hear. Have a safe trip, son!”

ΔΦΔΦ

It was pretty late when Josh pulled in the long gravel driveway at home. Before he went to sleep, he pulled out all of his orientation materials and signed up for classes online. What luck! All of the classes he needed to take still had space in them. Overall the day had been amazing. Josh yawned. It was definitely time for bed now.

He was sure he didn’t miss anything too important at orientation.

Notes

Sorry it took so long! My internet was out and the cable company was ridiculous about fixing it, but the next chapter is my favorite and it should be up a lot sooner than this one was!!!