After high school she sought to run her own cafe because of insecurities. She wasn't smart enough to go to a real university like 

Jeannie Hammond

. And out of all the jobs she could think of, running a 

cafe

seemed the most respectful.

That was a naive belief constructed by too many movies featuring 

Zooey Deschanel

-esque characters in the films she watched during high school. By the time she figured this out, it was a bit too late. She couldn't just get out. She did however sign up for classes at community college.

Westcity

Community College was actually a really good junior college. It was better than some state universities, though it didn't have that kind of reputation. It was just a no frills, sanely operated institution focused on affordable education. Nothing more, nothing less. No promises of connecting you with interesting, elite people. No blockbuster budget football teams. Just a small campus, teachers, students, and a decent cafeteria that served surprisingly good 

vegan

 

chili

.

Imogen Howe

went to WCC not for such reasons. She wasn't even aware that it was good compared to other community colleges. For her, WCC symbolized something. A door... a trapdoor... but in this case she was already in the trap. She saw the trapdoor as her way out. Even though WCC was 25 minutes further than the nearest community college to her town, she took that extra drive to go to school, because to her Westcity was more than just school. It was her only shot at a life she didn't absolutely feel ashamed of.