B

Harvest

Tabby walked on her way to school. She felt a sense of anticipation because this year she would be one of the graduates being honored at the town festival.

These days, she was waiting to hear back about an admission application she sent to her top- choice college. It had the program that she was most excited about. Today she stayed late at school to get feedback on another college essay from Ms. Mueller, her high school teacher. Ms. Mueller told Tabby that her essay was very moving and that she knew Tabby would miss her hometown, but her degree would be worth it. Tabby responded gratefully.

On the way home, the sight of the festival decorations made her feel guilty. She knew that most of her classmates could happily enjoy the festival knowing that they would be going on to do exactly what was expected of them-carrying on the town's traditions by staying close to family and farm. Spending many years at a large university in a city somewhere far from home wasn't supposed to be part of their plan.

When Tabby got home, her family was preparing packages with homemade cookies to sell at the festival.

"Let's make an assembly line(流水线), "said Tabby.

"Always trying to improve the process, aren't you?" her brother laughed. Tabby knew what he was referring to. Last summer, Tabby discovered a technique for improving grain storage without costly equipment, which was adopted by local farmers.

After completing packing, Tabby went to her room. On her bed, she saw a large envelope from the college she was waiting to hear from. She had been accepted into the famous college-the one with the world-renowned agricultural science program!

The first person Tabby shared the news with was her grandfather. He gave her a big hug. "I guess my scientist girl still has farming in the blood, " he said. "Yes! And I will come back and do some research right here in a few years, " she said. "Well, this old farm could certainly use some improvements! I'm proud of you, Tabby!" he said.