u/Feisty_Currency957

I’m a freshman finishing my first year of college. I originally declared Business Administration, but I want to switch to Mechanical Engineering because I enjoy the technical, hands-on work.

I took precalc and English this semester (Spring 2026). Failed precalc and got a D+ in RHET, so I'm retaking them this summer semester. I was missing a lot of assignments and focusing too much on one class, which was Gen Chem I.

I told my parents, and they got mad at me for ruining their summer vacation, and that if I can't pass basic classes, I shouldn't pursue engineering.

For context, I have been paying for my own education, which is $6K a semester after aid. I have been working two jobs: an on-campus job and a babysitting job. I work around 40-60 hours a week, and I have to remain a full-time student to keep the on-campus job. I have a $3,200 loan at 18% and another $2,500 loan at 24.14% APR on top of the $6K in tuition and supplies.

I can't request for more financial aid because my family's income is too high, and my dad won't give me his Hazelwood Credits. My parents don't want to pay for my college unless I double major in business and computer science or data analytics and my first semester in college I get straight A's. Another thing is they don't want to cosign any loans for me, so that is why I have been getting high APR on my two loans.

Now I’m questioning whether I’m actually cut out for engineering or if I’m just trying to do too much at once. Part of me wants to drop out because I feel like I’m falling behind, no matter how hard I work.

I'm wondering if I should apply for the TEACH grant and teach for 4 years after I graduate to lessen the financial burden and focus more on my academics. Or maybe I should drop out and get an associates at a community college, try joining the ASME MET program, and just e a mechanical engineering technician. Those were a few ideas, but I'm at a loss right now.

Also, my parents are letting me stay with them, but they're asking if I can start paying them for rent and gas. I don't have my own car or insurance (my parents don't want me on their policy because it would increase their premium), so they have to drop me off every morning and pick me up. They're getting tired of me, but I have nowhere else to go from here.

The outage lasted three miserable hours.

Students got trapped in elevators across campus. Entire buildings lost AC while others locked people from the outside without warning. Police cars, fire trucks, and administrators crowded between the sidewalks. 

By the end of it, everyone smelled like sweat and frustration.

Three hours. Canceled Classes. Only for them to resume at noon.

Temoc stared blankly at the email announcement while sitting in the back corner of their chemistry lecture.

Outage Resolved: Power Outage Impacting IT Services. OIT will continue to monitor IT services to ensure ongoing service stability.

That was it. No explanation. Just “it was resolved.”

That was two weeks ago. Now, everything seems back to normal.

The professor continued rambling about hybridization and molecular structures, but Temoc barely listened. Their attention drifted toward the gray clouds outside the lecture hall windows instead. 

When is attendance going to show up already?

Every minute inside the classroom felt unnaturally stretched.

Temoc rested their head against their palm when a sharp wave of nausea twisted through their stomach. 

Again.

Nearly every morning for the past week had started the same way. Appetite disappeared. Stomach turned violently. THen everything eventually passes like nothing happened at all.

A tap came onto the shoulder.

Temoc looked up to find Tobor pulling a chair and taking his laptop out of the bag. “Want… water?” A question mark popped up on the android’s face. With a sigh, Temoc grabbed the water bottle that was being offered and gulped it down.

“You… look… unwell…”

“Yeah, it’s called sitting in chemistry when I could literally be doing anything else,” the comet groaned, dramatically waving their hands.

Tobor didn’t respond.

He simply stared.

Completely motionless.

One minute passed.

Then another. 

The longer Tobor looked at them, the more the silence stopped feeling awkward and started feeling wrong. “Yo, man, are you okay?” Temoc softly questioned.

Nothing. Another two minutes go by. 

Iron gripped Temoc's wrist. 

“The squirrels are watching.”

Tobor’s hand gripped harder and leaned forward.

“The Seed has been planted.”

Temoc’s stomach dropped.

Looking around to see if anyone else was listening to this crazy robot, Temoc threw off Tobor’s hand and began to pack up their things and leave to go home. Class was almost over.

They glanced over at Tobor, but Tobor was slowly putting his stuff away too. As if nothing happened.

What the actual fuck was that?

Tobor’s voice kept replaying in Temoc’s head during the entire walk back to the apartment.

The squirrels are watching.

The Seed has been planted.

They didn’t notice the group of students pointing at the squirrels in the trees. They didn’t notice Enarc following behind them.

One step into the apartment and Temoc noticed something was wrong. They didn’t close the door yet but it closed either way. Enarc pops out in front of them nonchalantly, “You look ugly.”

“You say that every time you see me.”

“Because every time I see you, you look ugly.”

“You know, others have said I looked cute.”

Enarc studied them more carefully this time. “Yeah, the people who think you’re cute are weird,” Enarc went to the kitchen to grab some towels, “anyways, what happened to you?”

Temoc didn’t want to get riled up again remembering so they just said, “Tobor.”

Enarc glanced back, wanting to laugh but covered their mouth.

The great Temoc getting manhandled by Tobor of all people?

Honestly humiliating.

And somehow people still treat Temoc like the center of the universe. 

Plunging into the couch, they opened their bag and pointedly ignored Enarc and their envious stares. They began applying a cream to their sore wrist. It was a terrible day, and Temoc was mad but even more baffled by Tobor.

As Temoc reached to put the cream away, their backpack tipped sideways off the couch.

Something small slid onto the floor.

Enarc bent down first.

Silence.

“... At-Home Pregnancy Test?”

>Hello, I have finished with making the major plot points for the story and written the first chapter. You must be bored after finals, so read this for some humor. To the mods, I think this is related to UTD (?). I mean it's a fan fiction of Temoc so it should be good, right? If not, that's fine. Tell me what you guys think and if any students want to help me write this, PM/DM me. I apparently have nothing else better to do in life.

The music died around three in the morning. Temoc couldn’t remember when everyone left. The last thing they remembered was the exhausted students singing and yelling after they finished midterms, and the smell of Doritos filling the air. Now, there’s only a hum from the refrigerator in the room and cars cruising outside the window.

Their head throbbed.

Temoc groaned and felt around them. Ruffled sheets. An empty Doritos bag is on the floor. Water on the floor. *How does a group of 15 students make this much of a mess of my apartment*, sneered the 6’1” comet. Midterms were always exhausting, but college students are even more exhausting. As they got up from their bed and made their way to the kitchen, a voice rang out, “Wow, you’re actually alive!”

Turning around as fast as a comet did not help the situation. *THUD!* “Pfffttt- you actually fell. Maybe next time don’t drink 6 cups of beer. I can’t help but say… told you so.” Temoc glares from the floor as Enarc continues laughing and shaking their head at the disastrous state Temoc was in. 

“Who invited you to my party?”

Enarc stopped laughing, helped Temoc up with one hand, and smirked, “I invited myself.”

Temoc rolled their eyes. Temoc and Enarc weren’t exactly friends, yet the iron-faced Enarc always finds a way to bother Temoc. The kitchen light flickered.

One.

Two.

And it stabilizes.

Enarc watched the light, “Must be the weather.” Looking back at Temoc, he shoves a glass of water to the hung over comet and yelled back as they were exiting the door, “Just wanted to make sure you’re alive.”

The door closed with a slam. The loud noise didn’t help Temoc's massive headache. Rubbing their temples, they try to see if they can remember anything from last night. Laughter, loud music, friends playing beer pong, Tobor kept staring at a wall, and Daniel… opening their eyes, they look around. Daniel wasn’t there.

The comet couldn’t remember anything, but thinking of Daniel left them with a strange pit in their stomach of embarrassment and unease. *Must be the hangover talking*. As Temoc began cleaning the mess and finding a fresh change of clothes after their previous ones had an unknown substance, a squirrel was watching their movements.

Two beady eyes stare at a student cleaning a mess. Four paws on the balcony railing, seemingly ready to pounce. Temoc noticed the squirrel, blinked, and the next moment it was gone. The apartment was on the third floor, so it was unusual for a squirrel to be on the balcony railing. But with everything still fuzzy in Temoc’s mind, they brush the thought aside. 

Their phone buzzed underneath the pile of ruffled bed sheets. Picking it up, Temoc saw Enarc’s message.

u owe me a meal swipe

Before they could respond, every light in the apartment shut off.

The refrigerator hum died instantly.

The room was clouded in shadows with the only light source being the sun rising.

Dread.

A quietness that felt tense.

In the distance, sirens began to wail.

All the other squirrels sniff me and like me. Nicola went up to me and immediately bit my finger hard… and you know what they say about gingers. Short tempered creatures. I literally was just sitting there… i haven’t learned my lesson after being bit by squirrels for now the fourth time

I love this subreddit. I might not have a very bright social life ahead of me, but it genuinely makes me so happy to be here writing. I write about controversial things like the mascot and stuff, and I got haters out there, but I honestly like having haters too. They at least thought about me. Maybe I'm just being narcissistic.

This was a glorious semester with you guys. I'm not leaving, just wanting to appreciate this subreddit. I love you guys so much! ☺️

At The University of Texas at Dallas, Temoc is known for two things:

1. Being the loud, somewhat creepy, somewhat cute life of the party, and recently
2. Being mysteriously pregnant.

It has been accepted by the rumors and gossip that a person named Daniel was responsible for impregnating Temoc.

Four months in, what starts as an unexpected but otherwise normal campus life begins to feel… off.

"The squirrels are watching". This mysterious quote began circulating around campus, and students have begun to notice these strange occurrences. Then come the incidents of unexplained and sudden power outages, gas leaks that appear and disappear overnight, and black mold creeping through parts of the library. Even the weather seems to have taken a weird personality, almost like Texas is becoming more and more bipolar.

Temoc brushes it off at first as they deal with their campus life and a complicated personal situation, especially with Daniel. But then Tobor, who is usually slow and confused, starts saying strange, cryptic messages, and Enarc begins making suspicious movements with their propaganda and cult-like activities more than usual.

What starts off as a humorous, slice-of-life student drama becomes increasingly like a mystery and horror film.

And then there’s the ultrasound.

It doesn’t look human or like a Comet.

As Temoc, Enarc, and Tobor dig deeper, they uncover something buried beneath the university’s surface that is tied to research, control, and observation. The squirrels may not just be animals. The campus may not just be a campus.

And whatever is growing inside Temoc… might be connected to all of it.

With time running out, the question isn’t just what’s happening to UTD but whether they can uncover the truth before it’s born.

After seeing someone posting a whole ass story with narration, i was thinking if we should make a Wattpad story. We could have characters like Temoc, ENARC, Tobor, and other stuff. Who wants in?

Like I just kept seeing cops and ambulances near the Classroom buildings and stuff