"We're going to wind up overqualified for this course," Bella predicts. "Aren't the tests mostly multiple-choice because there's a hundred of us and the professor doesn't want to read our handwriting?"

"Are you not having fun? Because I'm having fun," says Bridget.

"I'm having fun, I'm just kind of wondering why you aren't in a 300-level specialized class. I mean, I wondered that before, but I wonder it again."

"Because I like to be thorough," she says.

"It's a peculiar notion of thoroughness that puts a physics Ph.D. with half a degree in medicine, in Bio 101 because she may want to finish being a medical doctor," says Bella.

"I'd rather go through it all from the beginning and risk boredom than pick up where I left off and risk missing something. And, conveniently, I'm not bored."

Bella pauses for a moment, then shrugs and returns to their original topic. It is admittedly not boring.

A few minutes later, during a lull in the scientific speculation, Bridget asks, "What has you so curious about my unusual educational preferences, anyway?"

"They're different from mine. I left high school early; I tested into an advanced programming course; I'm just about the right qualification level for this one but it's moving a little slowly and I'd be terribly frustrated with it if I didn't have other classes and stuff to keep me busy. I'm impatient. I can learn fast, so why shouldn't I?"

"Good question," says Bridget. "Sadly, not one I can answer."

"And you're obviously brilliant, if I were you I'd just have applied directly back to medical school, and if I ran into any gaps I'd find a book about it and fill it in that way."

"Ah, and there we have it. The main value of institutional education is in teaching you things you didn't know you needed to know," says Bridget.

Bella shrugs. "You could still get that more efficiently by swiping a copy of the syllabus. Did you learn anything from the lab the other day, the tedious one with the dialysis membranes? It took an hour and a half of your life."

"I'm having a little trouble with your definition of efficient. Maybe I just value my effort more than my time. If someone else has gone to all the trouble of streamlining the process of learning for me and packaging it for sale, why should I interfere?"

"Do you eat a lot of prepackaged food even when you have access to a kitchen and go on guided tours when you travel, too?" Bella asks, wrinkling her nose.

"I'll admit to the first one, but I don't actually travel that much."

"Huh. I guess I'll chalk it up to personality differences," shrugs Bella. "One-size-fits-all doesn't reliably fit me. I can often get more of what I want by finding it myself."

"In that case, why are you here?"

"Unreliably, not never - and as I get further along, I'll be able to take more highly specialized classes and mix those up according to how I like. I just have to slog through some introductory prerequisites."

"Well, that's fair," says Bridget.

"I'd hope so," laughs Bella.

Bridget giggles.

Studying-slash-discourse-on-vaguely-biology-related-subjects ensues. "I have about a half an hour left before I need to go to my sectional," Bella says after a few more minutes. "Anything you wanted to be sure to get in?"

"No, I think we've covered it," says Bridget. "Should I clear out?"

Bella shrugs. "Up to you. I blocked out the entire period before the sectional."