Summary

In “The Spring” part “1,” Reece tells the story of his own breakdown. He once had a student he thought was brilliant, only to realize at the end of the class, she had resubmitted all the essays Reece wrote in his own undergrad as her own. He considered her a villain after that. He and his wife argued over finances as his student loans grew, so he asked the Chair at the time to see if there were any tenure track positions. The Chair told him no, but offered to write him a reference letter for other schools. Reece applied to many positions but never heard back, not knowing why. He later read the letter the Chair wrote for him, in which he wrote Reece was too optimistic as he had a student cheating in class...