In which a young medical student at the University of Winnemac wrestles with the tedious earnestness of his anatomy and physiology professors, the boisterous antics and cramped camaraderie of fraternity life, and his own restless yearning for meaningful scientific work and personal connection. His diversions between scholarly doubt, spirited debates, music, and fleeting affection reveal the complexities and contradictions of ambition and belonging in the slow budding of early manhood.