It was a little after three when our last class ended, and the hallway was noisy with the usual post-lecture chao, students filing out, conversations about assignments, club meetings. I walked out with Bianca and four other girls from our batch, half-listening as they chatted about a group project, my mind already on the tutoring session ahead.

The sun was warm today for September, glaring a little too brightly above the campus gates. But the real spotlight was somewhere else entirely.