I saw Bayan again today (Friday). I picked her up from the
BLUU and we headed straight to Sweet Sammies. We chatted in the car about what
we’d both been up to, because we hadn’t met for a couple of weeks. She told me
she hasn’t been doing much of anything. She had hoped to travel over spring
break but doesn’t exactly have the option to do so. I asked her how her
application process to TCU was going, and she told me about a classmate who is
also applying to TCU. The girl told Bayan that attending TCU is really
difficult because you have to be incredibly strong in English, and Bayan
doesn’t believe she is good enough. I keep trying to tell her that her English
is really excellent and she has learned it amazingly fast, but she is still
lacking confidence. However, I can see that she is letting the fear of
rejection prevent her entirely from even taking the steps toward applying. I
hope she will be able to move past that fear and attend TCU for her master’s
degree.
Sweet Sammies was delicious (did I really even need to add
that? I mean duh, am I right?). Bayan said she really enjoyed it and was sweet
enough to pay for me because I drove her there and introduced it to her. She is so thoughtful. Along with our discussion of her applying to graduate school,
she was saying how it’s amazing that so many cities here have multiple
universities. This is not the case in Saudi Arabia. The nearest university to
where she lives is 45 minutes away, and there are really only two in her
region. The closest university to my house in Oklahoma City is about seven
minutes away, and there are at least five others within a 30-minute range. She
told me there are not enough colleges there for all of the students, but the
country greatly encourages education. She said that the country offers people
money to come to school in the United States. These are not just scholarships,
but money to live on as well, even if someone brings their whole family with
them. If the person going to school has kids, Saudi Arabia pays for their kids
to attend school. The money ends once the person graduates, and at that point
the majority of people will return to Saudi Arabia. I find this really
fascinating, because we tend to take college so for granted I think. It’s so
readily available if we have the means to go, but in many other countries, people
have to leave absolutely everything they know in order to continue their
education. I feel like I learn some new information and appreciation every time
I am with Bayan, so I am finding this experience just as valuable as she is.
Allie, I really enjoyed this post, because I can see that you and your conversation partner have a really great relationship going. First of all, Sweet Sammie's was a great idea! I love that you took the time to take her off campus and really invest your time and effort into getting to know her. I also love how genuine you both appear to be in understanding each other and your different cultures. I think you are doing a great job providing guidance to her with her application process. I am sure that means a lot to her!
ReplyDeleteI am fascinated with the information you provided about the schools near her. I did not even think about how many schools are all around us here in the United States. I think we often take for granted the opportunities we have at our fingertips, and I am glad to have read your post to remind me of that! Thank you for the great post, and I hope your relationship continues to grow with your conversation partner.
I really loved reading your blog post, Allie! How fun that you and Bayan were able to go to Sweet Sammies (yum—my favorite)! I think Bayan’s take on the application process to TCU is interesting. I asked my conversation partner about the process, as well. He’s not as far along as your conversation partner, yet, but once he passes the language program, he plans to apply to TCU or another university. I imagine he will have similar apprehensions. That seems like a unifying factor among any college applicant I’ve come across. I know native English-speakers who are nervous about applying to TCU and doubt whether they’re competitive enough to be admitted, let alone applicants who have first languages other than English. Hopefully, she will be able to put those apprehensions aside and move forward in her time at TCU. My conversation partner, Hussain, also doubts his skills in English. Although, like you, I’ve assured him he does well, I think it’s true for most that you’re going to be your toughest critic.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that we often take college for granted—I know I do. Attending college was something I always expected to do; one way or the other, I was going to get there. I don’t think about how for many, it’s not a guarantee and have to work a lot harder to make it happen. My own mom put herself through college (ironically, at the University of Oklahoma, which sounds relatively close to you). Anyway, the fact that international students come to the United States, receive a college education, and return to their home countries shows how much we have to learn from people across the world. Everyone always says how much of a “bubble” TCU can be, and I think it’s true in some ways, like sticking with similar routines, etc. However, I also think it couldn’t be more the opposite in that TCU truly exposes its students to the global community. After all, our Honors English class allows us to interact with students who grew up halfway around the world throughout the semester, a truly invaluable experience. Your post really got me thinking—great job!
Allie, it sounds like you and your conversation partner are getting along quite well! How nice of you to take her to Sweet Sammie's... I'm sure she loved it! Witnessing someone experience their first Sweet Sammie's experience is always fun, too! Hopefully, the time that she spends speaking English with you will help her in the future when she applies to get into the Master's program here at TCU. The part that you mentioned about Bayan being surprised about the number of universities was really interesting to me. Even though my partner, Essa, is from Saudi Arabia as well, I never realized how different the approach and accessibility to different universities is. How interesting is it that they actually give people money (for school and life) to attend a university in the United States. This put things into perspective for me because it shows the high quality of post-secondary education that we have here in the United States. I will be sure to ask Essa, my conversation partner, about this if we get a chance to meet again!
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting and reflecting on the different educational opportunities
ReplyDelete