"I'm Wide Awake"

I found an interesting article on EW.com today - Modern Family co-creator/executive producer Christopher Lloyd dished out some tidbits about what will happen during season 8, including a couple involving Alex (one we know about, the other...):

Alex is down for some coffee talk.
Not only does the smart Dunphy child (Ariel Winter) try to beat the case of mono so she can return to Cal Tech, she is inspired to take a job as a barista. “She feels like she’s worked so assiduously on working her brain that she doesn’t really feel like she’s got the common touch,” offers Lloyd. “She finds herself becoming a little bit of a sidewalk psychiatrist to a bunch of customers who come through there. But she’s almost becoming a little bit more Haley in that sense of working at this coffee shop and really learning about people. It’s a little bit of an adventure for her… Working at this coffee shop, she finds herself a little bit questioning her whole path in life.”

Obviously we've known about the mononucleosis story for a few weeks, but this new barista job is an intriguing new development.  I guess this is what was meant earlier when it was mentioned that Alex was going to try to have more balance in her life.  I'm curious to see how much of a game changer this job turns out to be.
 
The other big potential takeaway from this is that maybe, just maybe, they're going to let Alex have a meaningful story away from her family, at least for one episode (maybe more).  Remember one of my big wishes for this season was for Alex to have a school story with minimal family involvement - this might not involve school but it would be pretty much what I wanted if it pans out.

But one thing troubles me - is she taking a job because of trouble at school (e.g. does the first sentence suggest she won't be returning to CalTech because of her illness)?

I guess we'll have part of that answer next week.