I text Vanessa Monday morning and asked her if she was available to meet again Wednesday for lunch. She replied that she was and asked where we should go. I suggested the Potbelly on University. To my surprise, Vanessa didn't know what Potbelly was. She had eaten at Dutch's, Pizza Snob, and McAlister's, but never Potbelly. In an odd way, I was a little excited to be able to show a non-native something new in America. At this point, you might be asking yourself, "Potbelly?..." To which I will respond, "Yes, Potbelly... I know it's not the Statue of Liberty. But hey, at least it's something." Alright, back to the story.
We met in front of the library so that we could walk over together. And almost immediately, I was able to pick up on another piece of Haitian culture. We were standing on the sidewalk waiting to cross University, and as soon as the light turned red, I began to walk. I turned around to find that Vanessa hadn't moved. She said that she was waiting for the car to actually stop before crossing. Vanessa explained that unlike in America, drivers in Haiti usually don't stop at red lights unless they see a cop. Dangerous, but you usually get to places quicker. She then informed me that she had never learned to drive. She always has someone else take her where she needs to go. I found this interesting. I could not imagine having to rely on someone else every time I wanted to go somewhere, but maybe it's just another cultural difference between our two countries.
Our lunch began with a little small talk. We talked about how each other's Spring Break went. Vanessa mentioned that she was really enjoying this warm weather, especially compared to the winter mix that had just hit prior to our first meeting. We discussed how she was performing in her studies. The IEP students fit two semesters into our normal one semester, so she had just begun taking a whole set of new courses. She said that she was doing well, even though she hates grammar. Vanessa doesn't like how some English words can sound the same but mean different things. She was also adamant that English had been the most difficult language she had learned thus far. Being a native speaker, I guess I never realized how hard it is to master.
Having just attended the TCU baseball game the night before, I asked Vanessa if she liked baseball. She replied with a firm no, citing that it was slow and boring. Her favorite sport is futbol, or soccer as us Americans are familiar with. The difference between our two nations sparked a conversation about American football. Vanessa said she enjoyed watching how loud the students are at TCU games but doesn't quite understand why we call it football since the players rarely use their feet. A valid point. Haiti: 1. USA: 0. Vanessa also likes volleyball and basketball.
Compared to our first meeting, today was so much more laid back. It was apparent that the newfound familiarity we had with each other really eased the tension. We truly were just talking. Before we departed, Vanessa invited me to take part in the IEP's sand volleyball tournament Friday afternoon, so I look forward to that. I will let you all know how it goes!
Wednesday, March 25, 2015
Conversation Partner - Meeting 1
Community engagement is one of the primary course components of my Literature & Civilizations II class. In order to accomplish this and thus gain significant insight into our local surroundings, we each were paired with an international student studying in TCU's Intensive English Program. They would be our Conversation Partners for the semester.
About a month or so into class, I was informed that my Conversation Partner would be Vanessa Simon. She was a native citizen of Haiti. A couple of weeks before Spring Break, I reached out and contacted Vanessa to set up our first meeting. We ended up meeting that Friday in Rees-Jones Hall. I was pretty nervous before our conversation. It is always a little nerve-racking meeting new people but even more so meeting someone with such a different background than yourself. As our conversation began, I could tell Vanessa was just as, if not more, nervous than I was. I hadn't even thought about how weird this must have been for her. She had all of the same feelings that I did, plus she was in a totally different country! To ease the tension, I cracked a joke about how awkward this was, which resulted in a chuckle from Vanessa. I believe the fact that we were both anxious proved to each of us that we actually weren't that different from each other. This wasn't going to be as bad as we first envisioned, and it turned out to be a great conversation.
Just as anyone else would when meeting new people, we got to know each other. As I already mentioned, Vanessa was born in Haiti. At 27, she is the eldest of three children with a younger brother and sister. It actually turns out that Vanessa's sister was Conversation Partners with one of my good friends last semester. Vanessa's native language is Creole, but she also learned French in high school. She informed me that it was necessary to be able to speak both because they are each an official language of Haiti. Upon graduation from high school, Vanessa decided that she wanted to become a judge. Apparently though, most of the successful judges in Haiti can speak English, so she set out to learn. Because of the lack of quality English-teaching schools in Haiti, Vanessa's parents shipped her off to America.
Her first destination point was Maine. Unfortunately for Vanessa, but fortunate for our newfound friendship, she hated it. She was miserable during her stay because of three reasons. First off, she was extremely homesick. Second, the weather was awful. Haiti is known for being hot all of the time, so a place that was always cold and wet wasn't a good fit. Lastly, English is known as being one of the hardest languages to learn. So if one already doesn't like where they are, struggling in school can't help.
Luckily, Vanessa has an uncle that lives in Fort Worth. He informed her parents of TCU's IEP program and thought that it would be a great fit for her. So after just one year in Maine, she transferred to TCU. An added bonus, both of her siblings came along also. Vanessa seems to be liking it here, and she is on track to graduate this May.
I truly enjoyed getting to know Vanessa. And although we only had enough time to just get acquainted, I look forward to our next meeting when we can discuss other topics.
About a month or so into class, I was informed that my Conversation Partner would be Vanessa Simon. She was a native citizen of Haiti. A couple of weeks before Spring Break, I reached out and contacted Vanessa to set up our first meeting. We ended up meeting that Friday in Rees-Jones Hall. I was pretty nervous before our conversation. It is always a little nerve-racking meeting new people but even more so meeting someone with such a different background than yourself. As our conversation began, I could tell Vanessa was just as, if not more, nervous than I was. I hadn't even thought about how weird this must have been for her. She had all of the same feelings that I did, plus she was in a totally different country! To ease the tension, I cracked a joke about how awkward this was, which resulted in a chuckle from Vanessa. I believe the fact that we were both anxious proved to each of us that we actually weren't that different from each other. This wasn't going to be as bad as we first envisioned, and it turned out to be a great conversation.
Just as anyone else would when meeting new people, we got to know each other. As I already mentioned, Vanessa was born in Haiti. At 27, she is the eldest of three children with a younger brother and sister. It actually turns out that Vanessa's sister was Conversation Partners with one of my good friends last semester. Vanessa's native language is Creole, but she also learned French in high school. She informed me that it was necessary to be able to speak both because they are each an official language of Haiti. Upon graduation from high school, Vanessa decided that she wanted to become a judge. Apparently though, most of the successful judges in Haiti can speak English, so she set out to learn. Because of the lack of quality English-teaching schools in Haiti, Vanessa's parents shipped her off to America.
Her first destination point was Maine. Unfortunately for Vanessa, but fortunate for our newfound friendship, she hated it. She was miserable during her stay because of three reasons. First off, she was extremely homesick. Second, the weather was awful. Haiti is known for being hot all of the time, so a place that was always cold and wet wasn't a good fit. Lastly, English is known as being one of the hardest languages to learn. So if one already doesn't like where they are, struggling in school can't help.
Luckily, Vanessa has an uncle that lives in Fort Worth. He informed her parents of TCU's IEP program and thought that it would be a great fit for her. So after just one year in Maine, she transferred to TCU. An added bonus, both of her siblings came along also. Vanessa seems to be liking it here, and she is on track to graduate this May.
I truly enjoyed getting to know Vanessa. And although we only had enough time to just get acquainted, I look forward to our next meeting when we can discuss other topics.
Learning Experiences - Part 1
The first round of exams has come and gone, and I wanted to take this time to look back and reflect upon my learning experiences in the classroom thus far during this spring semester at TCU. I will divide my reflections by particular course and present them in the order in which I attend each class during the week.
We kicked off the semester in Literature & Civilizations II by trying to figure out just what we should actually be learning in the course. What is literature? What is civilization? The class set out to find answers to these questions by interviewing our peers. We came to the conclusion that these two terms are extremely ambiguous and that their true definitions depend on how each individual person perceives them. The major focus of our class revolves around humor, so our next assignment was to define humor and laughter. We discovered similar results. Both are ambiguous. To help achieve a greater understanding, we read a few chapters from a philosophy of humor entitled Comic Relief. We discussed the three major theories of humor: Superiority, Incongruity, and Relief. We also studied the multiple aspects of humor and laughter, all the while applying what we had learned to the dissection of a number of funny online videos. The knowledge that I have gained through the first third of this course has allowed me to obtain a greater understanding as to what and why different things are humorous.
The first couple of weeks in Financial Management was spent overviewing the various duties a financial manager performs as well as a brief review of accounting. A financial manager must have a good understanding of accounting because the job is centered around the language of financial statements. We then learned how to analyze businesses by taking a number of financial accounts and computing ratios. These ratios were then compared to industry averages. Next, we learned how to forecast. If one can predict how many units of inventory will be sold during they year, he then can easily produce a production schedule as well as a pro forma income statement, statement of cash flows, and balance sheet. Finally, we learned how to use leverage. It turns out that the more debt a company uses to acquire its assets, the more profitable it can become. Unfortunately though, a high use of leverage comes with a high level of risk. Since I am a finance major and plan on pursuing a career in finance upon graduation, this information will obviously assist me in my future endeavors.
The main objective of Organizational Management is clearly to help students become better managers. We began the semester by discussing diversity in the workplace. Although it leads to dissatisfied workers, the increase in productivity is amazing. Next, we talked about individual differences and attitudes and how to manage different types of people. Our last topic was motivation. By being able to figure out what our workers want, we can better manage them. The information obtained in this class has allowed me to become a better leader.
Foundations in Business is interesting. The best way I can describe it is to say that it is all of my business classes combined into one. We spent the first two weeks refining our business writing and interviewing skills. The remainder of the class has been centered around our semester-long simulation. We were divided into teams and assigned the job of managing all of the major departments of a sensor manufacturing company for eight years. This class has not only helped me improve upon my collaboration skills but also allowed me to combine the number of talents I have acquired through my studies in Neeley to achieve one common goal, maximizing the value of our company. The understanding of some subjects has allowed me to achieve greater success in others, thus producing synergy.
The first block of Business Law has covered the three different types of law: common, statutory, and administrative. After learning where all the different legal rules come from, we discussed the number of different ways a dispute can be resolved. Next, we were introduced to torts, which are basically just wrongdoings. Finally, our last lecture revolved around the Constitution. This class isn't a pre-law class. It isn't trying to prepare us to become lawyers. Instead, it is centered around the business environment. We are learning how to legally run and defend our future companies.
It turns out that I actually am learning beneficial things here. TCU is really preparing me for life. Seems like that $50K a year tuition will turn out to be worth it.
The first couple of weeks in Financial Management was spent overviewing the various duties a financial manager performs as well as a brief review of accounting. A financial manager must have a good understanding of accounting because the job is centered around the language of financial statements. We then learned how to analyze businesses by taking a number of financial accounts and computing ratios. These ratios were then compared to industry averages. Next, we learned how to forecast. If one can predict how many units of inventory will be sold during they year, he then can easily produce a production schedule as well as a pro forma income statement, statement of cash flows, and balance sheet. Finally, we learned how to use leverage. It turns out that the more debt a company uses to acquire its assets, the more profitable it can become. Unfortunately though, a high use of leverage comes with a high level of risk. Since I am a finance major and plan on pursuing a career in finance upon graduation, this information will obviously assist me in my future endeavors.
The main objective of Organizational Management is clearly to help students become better managers. We began the semester by discussing diversity in the workplace. Although it leads to dissatisfied workers, the increase in productivity is amazing. Next, we talked about individual differences and attitudes and how to manage different types of people. Our last topic was motivation. By being able to figure out what our workers want, we can better manage them. The information obtained in this class has allowed me to become a better leader.
Foundations in Business is interesting. The best way I can describe it is to say that it is all of my business classes combined into one. We spent the first two weeks refining our business writing and interviewing skills. The remainder of the class has been centered around our semester-long simulation. We were divided into teams and assigned the job of managing all of the major departments of a sensor manufacturing company for eight years. This class has not only helped me improve upon my collaboration skills but also allowed me to combine the number of talents I have acquired through my studies in Neeley to achieve one common goal, maximizing the value of our company. The understanding of some subjects has allowed me to achieve greater success in others, thus producing synergy.
The first block of Business Law has covered the three different types of law: common, statutory, and administrative. After learning where all the different legal rules come from, we discussed the number of different ways a dispute can be resolved. Next, we were introduced to torts, which are basically just wrongdoings. Finally, our last lecture revolved around the Constitution. This class isn't a pre-law class. It isn't trying to prepare us to become lawyers. Instead, it is centered around the business environment. We are learning how to legally run and defend our future companies.
It turns out that I actually am learning beneficial things here. TCU is really preparing me for life. Seems like that $50K a year tuition will turn out to be worth it.
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