Maritime Mindset Scandal: Part 3
RADIO SHOW: Jennifer, Michelle. Michelle, Jennifer. How long can her double life last?
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MYSTERIOUS MUSIC STARTS AND SLOWLY FADES AWAY AS NARRATION STARTS.
NARRATION: Ever since Elson’s call in the cafeteria, things had only gotten worse. It was now November of 2014, 5 years since Elson had joined The Maritime Mindset. Her disagreements were now happening almost everyday at bigger stakes. Even worse, Elson figured out that Davis and Miller could have possibly developed a theory about Michelle Elsler and if it was actually true. Davis and Miller have a very serious conversation in the main office. Miller had heard about the call in the cafeteria. He found something suspicious and pretended to leave the room but kept on listening. He tried to keep the secret for so long but finally decided to tell Davis the truth. After all, The Maritime Mindset was so hard working and promising that they deserved to know about this. Especially if it would harm their company. He was ready to confess the long-hidden secret about their newest employee.
DAVIS: Alright well…
MILLER: Yea, I’m…I’m really sorry I didn’t let you know any sooner. It’s just…
DAVIS: N, no. I just really am curious as to why she would ever even think to do that. It just makes all of our jobs way harder than they need to be.
MILLER: I think we could maybe ask Mark for the transcript and all of that. I think the more we have, the faster we can get to the bottom of this.
DAVIS: Yes, we will definitely do that. We have to get this down quickly. There’s only so much time with our new buoy coming out. Can you go talk to him later today?
MILLER: Yea, I can.
DAVIS: Ok, then if we ever do come to figure out that all this is true, then we have to change all of our credits, and I don’t even know if we can even release our buoy.
MILLER: What do you mean?
DAVIS: Well, since we had her involved in one of the main parts of the project, she must have inputted her work and ideas into it. Right?
MILLER: Right.
DAVIS: That means that we can’t release the buoy without having her name on the credits. That could cause another problem too.
MILLER: So not only will this make our jobs harder, but it might even ruin what we have been working on for the past 3 years?
DAVIS: Yea. I am so glad you came to tell me this, John. Appreciate it. We will get to the bottom of this.
NARRATION: A few weeks after the meeting between Davis and Miller ends, they gather all of the false information and documents that were shared during Elson’s interview. The two get super close to their final statement, closely figuring out that there might have never been a Michelle Elsler.
MYSTERIOUS AND EERIE TRANSITION MUSIC ENTERS AND THEN FADES OUT.
NARRATION: Meanwhile, Elson immediately figures out about the credits page. If The Maritime Mindset successfully releases their buoy, then Michelle Elsler will be there instead of Jennifer Elson. If her parents figured out that her name wasn’t on there, they might eventually get to the point where they also find out that Elson had faked her identity. With the strict and quite unforgiving parents that Elson had, she would not let her situation fall apart that obviously. She had worked so hard to achieve this and move up to this point that she would not let anything break down. Although the whole fake identity thing started to feel like it was being noticed, Elson wouldn’t give up just yet. She tried to sneak into Davis’ office after work hours. Davis had just finished the slideshow and was about to send it to the publisher. If she changed it now, there might be a possibility that he might not notice and just submit it without finding out. This was a sketchy move, but Elson went for it. She quietly entered Davis’ room and made the edit in pace with the lighting. She could only hope for the best at this point, while constantly trying to act calm, cool, and collected as Michelle Elsler would. Even in the toughest, and riskiest time. Michelle Elsler would always find a way out of a problem and put herself above the gossip. She would prove everyone wrong. Even in the most unpredictable ways.
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NARRATION: Every day since Elson changed the credits, she was filled with endless guilt and worry. One side of her just wanted to give up. She had tried in numerous ways to keep her secret, but she just couldn’t keep up with Davis and Miller. But she also felt sorry for herself. She also wanted this to work out. She had worked hard for a couple months now and giving up at this point would be a disappointment. Elson walks to her office with black circles under her eyes and heavy shoulders weighing her down. She hasn’t been able to sleep or get through a day without heavy emotions. All the stress, anxiety, and self-doubt wasn’t just affecting herself, but the whole company too. And Elson knew this. Of course she did want the best for herself, but she also knew that her selfish actions were harming others. But once in a while, Elson would remind herself of who she was, Michelle Elsler. She would continue to fight through until the very end.
POWERFUL TRANSITION MUSIC FADES IN AND OUT.
NARRATION: All of a sudden, Davis walks into Elson’s office. He has an exhausted yet serious look on his face. This was a red flag for Elson since Davis usually greets anyone with a friendly smile no matter what. When he was serious, it meant something was in bad condition for The Maritime Mindset.
DAVIS: I need to talk to you. I’ll be at Miller’s office. Please meet me there.
ELSON: Oh, yea. Be there right now.
NARRATION: Elson was frightened by the unusual tone of Davis. Her brain came up with numerous theories of what might happen. Something was wrong. And it was most likely about her. Elson walks into Miller’s office. Both Miller and Davis are sitting on one side of the table staring at their monitors.
ELSON: So… Is something wrong?
DAVIS: Please have a seat.
MILLER: So, you know we figured something.
DAVIS: There comes a point where you just can’t hide things.
NARRATION: Elson’s heart skips a beat as her palm starts to soak with sweat.
ELSON: I… don’t know what you're talking about.
DAVIS: C'mon, I’m seriously not joking here. When you first interviewed for the company, you signed a contract. That contract you signed promised that you will keep all truths forward without twisting them. You promised to be loyal and put your best foot forward for our creations. And if you were to disobey any rules or straightforward regulations, consequences would be in our hands.
ELSON: Yes...I do remember signing that.
MILLER: Elson. You know what you did. We know. I heard your call. Your mother shouting “Jennifer Elson in lights!”. At first I thought she was talking about someone else. Or perhaps I had misheard. But I did hear right.
DAVIS: When I found “Jennifer Elson” in place of your name on the credits page, everything clicked together. All your disagreements tend to match with what we heard before.
ELSON: Wh…What?
DAVIS: We heard about all of your high school “scenes.” Never thought that you’d be here in our offices today.
MILLER: There is no need for more explanation. You know what you did. And yes. We did fall for it during the interview. But we’ve been running this company for almost 15 years now.
NARRATION: Davis pulls out all the paperwork and printed transcript that Elson had given on her interview.
DAVIS: All this? We found the real. And as I reviewed it, it seemed like it was a different transcript, a different family, and most importantly a different identity.
MILLER: Jennifer Elson, I’m afraid your time with us has come to an end. Since the month of October has just started, you will not receive pay for the past 4 days. However, we are willing to give ½ pay for the past month. When we figure out what to do with our buoy, we may need you to pay back some salary but we are not sure yet.
NARRATION: Davis slides a paper with a “fired” stamp across the table to Elson.
ELSON: I’m so sorry. I…didn’t mean to. This company was my dream. I finally achieved it. But everything suddenly turned. I couldn’t sleep for days. My heart was filled with guilt and self-doubt. I knew what I was doing was wrong.
DAVIS: Well, we don’t quite know what will happen after this. Elson, I’m afraid your journey with The Maritime Mindset is over. We commit to respect, honesty, loyalty, hard work, and most importantly, building a community. The whole staff crew agrees that you are not the one we are looking for.
MILLER: There might be a future jury trial for you. You are not to be returned back until future clearance by the government. I know that your Gmail will be full by tomorrow night. Make sure to check up on the information and follow it honestly. Good luck on everything else.
NARRATION: Elson stands up from her chair, and walks away without saying a word. Her dream. Her childhood. Her career. She didn’t know what to do. What to tell her parents. Or what would happen to her. The young girl that innocently dreamed of Harvard, and a career in engineering with the ocean turned to a junior that unreasonably plagiarized. Now, a selfish grown adult. Crushed all of her dreams. Decided to ruin her whole life. Walked into one of the best companies of all time as a big liar, faced days of horror. And eventually, sat in minutes of embarrassment and regret. Elson dropped to her knees in the hallway of The Maritime Mindset headquarters. She would never be a confident, successful woman. She was a huge problem, a failure. That’s all she was. Jennifer Elson had failed.
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NARRATION: So, where is Elson now? How has her future changed ever since her experience with The Maritime Mindset? Going through such a tough childhood, and young adulthood, how has she recovered. Has she recovered?
TRANSITION MUSIC FADES IN AND OUT.
NARRATION: It has been around 5 years since Elson was caught. She was caught in 2015 ending her engineering career with a devastating meeting with her boss and teammate. She recently had a trial and might be sentenced for around 3 and a half years in jail and might even have to pay high fines to The Maritime Mindset. As her court cases drag on, the results, and her fate, are not yet determined. This scenario with Jennifer Elson has spread awareness for more caution within companies when dealing with employees and job interviews. The United States now requires more information: each company has a slightly different process so some are a bit stricter than others. Some companies require multiple interviews for deep inspection, while others have resorted to perfecting AI robots instead of unreliable humans. Jennifer Elson represented uncontrollably powerful confidence and intelligence, but none of that matters if the truth is sacrificed. In an interview with Elson, one of her final statements to the American public was this: “I had to do what was needed. One part of me kept on trying to hold me back, it was reminding me that I was doing the wrong thing. But the other side of me, Michelle Elsler, continued to encourage me to move along with confidence and pride.” Her story changed many rules and regulations within the job industry and raised the significance of honesty and trust.
