After supper, Sarah was out for a walk with her mother. Her father and brother were washing the dishes — it was about time her brother had to do his share. Sarah was uneasy. Her mother usually wanted to talk to her about something when she suggested a walk. She knew it was going to be about Stan. Why did Stan always bring up politics when he was talking to her parents?
"Sarah, I've done all this work and now I'm just discouraged."
"Mother, I can explain about Stan —"
"Stan! I'm not talking about Stan. I've done all this work, learning about derivatives and exponential functions. But I still haven't seen how this can apply to population growth. I don't want to give up, but it seems I am spending all my time just getting ready. Like preparing for a trip — packing suitcases, getting someone to pick up the mail, someone to look after the dog — but never going anywhere."
Sarah took a while to respond. She had been deep in her defense of Stan; it took time to switch gears. Finally, she replied: "You should be ready to start now. You have everything you need to look at exponential growth. That should be coming up in the next section."
"Oh, good. I'll keep at it."
They walked on, listening to the traffic noises and children's shouts. Sarah's mother looked deep in thought. "I'm glad you did mention Stan though. I do wish he wouldn't contradict your father on everything."