The two participants of the dialogue are two roommates named Kate and Amy.

While Kate lives a more stable and carefree lifestyle, at the present moment she has no person or issue to be concerned over. Meanwhile, Amy has recently hit a financial strain due to her family and soon this spirals into a bigger problem in which she has no more money to pay off her financial aid and decides to drop out of college for good.

Kate is characterized to be a very relaxed and happy person yet she is quick self absorbed.
In contrast to Kate, Amy has very challenging personality traits. Amy gets easily discouraged, is not very motivated, and carries very cynical views. She doubts herself frequently and she seemed to be stressed more this week compared to others. To add to this, Amy has been undergoing a large amount of pressure from her guardians to receive her degree in a consecutive four years of college. At this point, Amy believes her smartest decision is to drop out of college and pursue a dream she has always wanted to. Ultimately, Kate is trying to convince Amy to stay in school and earn her degree.

In the dialogue, Kate has just walked into their room to witness Amy crying at her desk. On her bed, Amy has a suitcase and her closet is half empty. Her posters, have disappeared off the wall. Kate feels extremely uncomfortable by this considering she has never seen Amy so upset.

K: Amy? What’s going on? Are you leaving?
A: I don’t know. Maybe.
K: You’ve been crying, what happened?
A: Nothing
K: So you’re currently crying for nothing?
A: I’ve got a lot on my mind.
K: It would help if you talked about it. Sometimes we need to get things off our chest.
A: I’d rather not and I would appreciate if you respect my space.
K: Okay, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be so pushy, you’re my roommate after all and I really do respect you. Would you like me to leave the room for some privacy?
A: No. It’s alright. I just need to think. I think I might be leaving tomorrow, by the way.
K: Do you miss home?
A: No. Not at all. I just received a text from my mother telling me that my father quit his job.
K: For what reason would he do such a thing.
A: I don’t know.
K: Have you asked?
A: My mother said she can’t afford the rest of the term. Nothing further.
K: That’s terrible…what are you going to do?
A: I don’t know, I might go home tomorrow.
K: You’re just leaving, like that? Will you come back to finish next year?
A: I don’t know.
K: Why is it that every answer you give me is “I don’t know”? You should stop being mopey and do something about your situation.
A: Tell me, how It is that I’m being “mopey”. Do you have any real insight into what I am going through, Kate? As for my uncertain responses, the future is usually unclear but at this point I have no idea where I’m heading.
K: You do. You had a plan. You want to get a degree in education so you could teach special ed students. You said you were going to try you’re best and put your all into schooling.
A: My tuition must be paid in full by next week. Plans are never set in stone, just look at where I am now.
K: You can receive more loans.
A: So they can just pile up just so I won’t be able to pay them in the later?
K: You could try to appeal, or fill out scholarships that could cover the balance.
A: I already tried.
K: You should try harder. You never really try hard enough, you have nothing to lose yet you’re so stubborn! That’s why everything is going wrong, because you are stubborn and don’t try! It’s what you want and if you want something you should try harder. If you don’t try every option out to your best ability then you won’t get to where you want to be. Your parents remind you of that every day. Like they said, you either drown or swim.
A: I refuse to blame myself. I’ve done what I could. It’s my parents, they don’t care. It’s ironic how people can remind you to do better than the next day but would rather not provide help when it comes to actually reaching your goals. The only reason I’m leaving is because of the burden my father has given us. They want me to graduate so bad but then this happens, he decides to leave me with one less opportunity and all mom has to say is “sorry”

K: Well, all I could recommend is to come back next year or the year after. Save up money. Plan a budget and hopeful it will all work out.
A: Maybe.
K: It will.
A: That’s the only problem. I’ve been thinking ever since I got here. Maybe it would be a better choice if I decided not to come back to school. I could find a part time, maybe two?
K: That’s a horrible idea.
A: How so?
K: for one, it’s embarrassing. Living out your days flipping burgers and McDonalds is purely pathetic, everyone know that. You’ll start out earning some money, enough for a crappy apartment. Then, You’ll be in your forties, still flipping those patties. Then, you’ll get promoted to manager position but miss out from having husband, because men aren’t attracted to people working 9 to 5 at a fast food joint. Then, you’ll get laid off eventually because you’ll be getting too old and slow. At that point, you’ll never have any other credentials and you’ll been stuck staying in your roach infested apartment, receiving unemployment checks. That’s not fulfilling to anyone.
A: It’s only embrassing to you and others because you’re afraid to take risks. Who knows if I’m even cut out for teaching kids? Who know’s if I’ll even get the career I want? Who knows if anyone will? Besides, I’ve been thinking about if being a teacher to others will really make me happy. I was never really the type that wanted to be in college and teaching is something I’d love to do but I don’t consider it a dream. I only came here because it’s what others do, what my parents want, but do I really what to be here?
K: Amy, in this day and age, you know you can’t get anywhere without a degree. It’s like a golden pass into the real world. Proof is what defines you.
A: Let me ask you this, Kate. Would I need proof to show my kindness to others, or my cleverness, or my ability to dedicate myself to whatever I put my mind to? Or could I just use those skills through out my life without needing a special pass to prove how authentic I am as a person. Could the proof just be who I am?
K: I guess..
A: Remember when we first moved in? You know, back to when we tiptoed around each other and it was kinda awkward.
K: We didn’t know how to talk to each other. Even when we first met, we both knew we were so different from one another.
A: But then we had that one conversation that night. The one with my friend, you remember her, Maya?
K: Yeah, I remember. We sat in this room and stayed up until 2 In the morning, smoking.
A: I talked about my other dream. Not the one about teaching the autistic children but the one about art.
K: You wanted to move to LA to become an artist.
A: After I explained that part, Maya took another hit and said it was ridiculous and that I’d never get far with the way everything is.
K: Well…
A: But you defended me
K: I only said that it wasn’t that ridiculous.
A: But you didn’t say that you didn’t believe in me.
K: That’s only because she tried to crush your dreams! She asked you question after question. How you would get there, Where you were going to stay, How you would support yourself, what your parents would say about the bold move. At the time…I don’t know, I didn’t think it was impossible.
A: Do you still think it Is not impossible?
K: Nothing has made me think otherwise. I still have doubts though.
A: I could earn the money living part time.
K: Do you know how long that will take you?
A: I’ll work night and day.
K: You’ll be exhausted
A: When you want something you should try harder. Right?
K: I guess..
A: As soon as I have the money, I’ll buy a ticket and rent a place.
K: Amy, you’re forgetting something.
A: what would that be?
K: Your parents want you to graduate and find a career that can really provide for you. Have you even consider what they’d think? If their only daughter packed her bags and followed this wild dream? Don’t you find that selfish?
A: If it’s my life, isn’t it what I want that matters and not my parents? Is it my parent’s happiness that would be lost?
K: It would be, if they saw you fail.
A: That’s why I plan on not failing
K: Just because you plan on it, doesn’t mean it’s not going to happen. Plans aren’t set in stone, remember?

….

A: Kate?
K: Yes.
A: what do you think… success is?
K: Well..It’s a good life.
A: Living well, right?
K: Yes
A: And what’s you’re idea of a good life?
K: A husband or wife, children, a big house, and lots of money?
A: So, in other words, these are things that make you happy?
K: I believe they would.
A: So a good life means happiness.
K: We could say that.
A: So what if only art makes me happy?
K: But you’re missing other factors, things that will keep you stable like finances and a home.
A: But stability leads to one’s happiness, right?
K: Yes, precisely.
A: So how long will that stability last?
K: I don’t know but it will last if you’re successful enough.
A: But how can you pin happiness to a thing or person. Something that can vanish or leave so easily.
K: Like I said if you’re successful enough, those things won’t leave so easily.
A: Do you know that for sure.
K: Not really, but I’m sure of it.
A: You know what I think, Kate? Success is commitment and happiness, two concepts that go hand and hand. I also think that you cannot find these two things in mere material objects, but, it’s more something internal. It’s first created by a dream that fuels one’s commitment to something and whatever that dream is, it’s something that is extremely important to one’s success. It’s their happiness. That’s what I think success is, a person’s dedication to their happiness.
K: I guess…
A: It seems we have two different ideas of what happiness really is.
K: it seems we do.

K: I’d be sad if you left.
A: Why.
K: I’ve just never had a friend like you and I feel like we’ve created a bond that could really last.
A: Even if I left, we could still be friends.
K: It won’t be the same though. Soon, we’ll drift apart and forget about each other.
A: If we really wanted to make it work, we would. We could call and text each other every day. I’ll even send you letter for something a little more sentimental. You like letters, right?
K: Amy?
A: Yes?
K: You I don’t want you to go but, if you really do, I’ll support whatever decision you decide to make.
A: One more thing, Kate?
K: Yes, Amy
A: Remember when you said I have nothing to lose
K: I do.
A: Thanks, Katy. I think I’ve made up my mind though. I’ll be calling my mother to pick me up tomorrow.
K: Okay…
A: Good luck with everything, I hope you achieve success with everything that you want.