Wrapping Up the Semester (Learning Experiences Part 4)

As this semester comes to an end and finals quickly approach, I cannot believe how fast this semester has flown by. It seems like just yesterday I was writing my first blog post for this class, when in fact it was around three months ago. It has been a whirlwind, but this semester has changed me and I have grown tremendously as a person. Even though at times it has been difficult, I would not take any of it back.

Starting with this class, I have enjoyed learning about humor. Humor was never something I thought about in depth before Lit and Civ II. However, it has been interesting learning about everything humor has to offer. By far my favorite part of this class were the “Humor Around the World” presentations. I especially expanding my worldview and learning humor in other countries. Also, it was fun researching about my group’s country, the Czech Republic, because the Czechs have such a dry and sarcastic sense of humor. It was easy finding information for our presentation, and Grace, Hailey, and I were excited to talk to the class about the Czech Republic because the humor there is hilarious.

Another one of my favorite parts of this class has been the opportunity to have a conversation partner.  I always look forward to my talks with Omar. Omar has impacted my life in so many ways and I am truly blessed to have met him this semester. He is a brave, driven, and intelligent individual and he has transformed how I view the world. Before I met Omar, I thought I was open-minded and had a decent grasp on other cultures. However, after my talks with Omar, I now know that I had so much to learn. There were several topics that I had no knowledge about.  Omar helped widen my knowledge, but also made me thirsty for more. He was a large reason why I applied to study abroad this summer. Moreover, ever since meeting Omar, I have admired him for his bravery to leave his whole life in Mexico and start over in the United States. He is unbelievably driven to advance his career, and he knew that learning English would do this. I could not imagine doing the same, but I hope that I will be able to pick up some of Omar’s courage and translate it into my life.

In my other classes this semester, I have learned a lot about time management and study skills. My classes got significantly more difficult, which required me to put in a lot more studying for each class. Compared to last year, I was not accustomed to this. This was an adjustment for me and I had some late nights, but I now understand the amount of work I need to put in for tests and assignments in order to get the most out of it without losing too much sleep. It has been difficult, but the semester has been important in teaching me about how to make the most meaningful use of my time.

Moreover, a large part of my schoolwork semester has been group projects. I have had a lot of group work in Lit and Civ II, as well as one large group project in one of my business classes, Business Information Systems. Before this semester, I had never enjoyed group projects, mostly because the group dynamic was poor and I would get stuck with the brunt of the work. However, this semester has been much different. Every single group I have been in, each person has carried their share of the project and finished it in a timely manner. This was much less stressful than group projects I have had in the past. In my Business Information Systems class, my group worked amazing together. Although it was a journey from beginning to end, we created a solid business report that was turned in the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. Thanks to this project, I learned effective communication skills, the importance of dividing up work, and how to interact with different types of personalities. These are vital lessons that could not have been taught through a lecture or individual assignment, so I am glad that TCU provides these opportunities for academic growth. However, my favorite part of this group project was how the members of my group became my friends through the process. We had group meetings at least twice a week, long group texts, and several late nights together. We bonded through our mutual stress and our drive to get an “A” on the project. Nothing was going to stop us from receiving an amazing grade on that report, and each of us knew that it was going to require constant communication and a lot of work. When we turned that report, it was one of the most rewarding feelings of my life. This semester changed me from being someone who favors individual work to a person who would rather collaborate and work in groups. I truly believe that working in groups provides endless learning opportunities that an individual would never receive on their own.

This semester has been a wild ride from beginning to end, but it has been a great experience with endless learning opportunities. From my time in Lit and Civ II to all my other classes, I have learned a lot about myself and my academics. I have grown and matured as an individual and I am definitely a different person than the woman who walked on campus in August. It is sad to see this semester coming to an end, but I am looking forward to see what 2016 has to offer.

Travel and Life after TCU (Meeting with Omar Part 5)

As the semester draws to an end, so do my meetings with Omar. Yesterday I met with Omar in the TCU Bookstore. Considering Thanksgiving is right around the corner, we immediately began to talk about the holiday and what activities we were planning on doing. We had talked about this briefly last time, and I remembered that Omar was excited about potentially going to Las Vegas for the holiday. He told me yesterday that he thinks he still will be going to Las Vegas. Omar is eager to be able to visit the city for the first time. Omar asked me what my plans are for Thanksgiving and I told him that my family is flying here to Fort Worth this year to celebrate. The main reason is for the Baylor football game on Friday. It will be interesting because we have no real plans for Thanksgiving dinner. This will be a new twist to the traditional Thanksgiving festivities my family normally partakes in, but my family is equally, if not more, excited to switch things up and have Thanksgiving in Texas this year.

Later in our conversation, Omar told me that his English exam is on December 12. He has to pass this to be able to apply to graduate schools and attend schools internationally. He is nervous for it and still has a large amount of studying to do, but he hopes he will be able to pass. If he is able to do well on the test, then Omar plans to go back home to Mexico and find a graduate school to attend. As a result, this will be Omar’s first, and last, semester here at TCU.

Omar is extremely curious about the United States and experiencing all it has to offer. Therefore, in our conversation, we chatted about the best cities to visit in the United States. I told him about iconic cities such as New York, Hollywood, and New Orleans. However, Omar was the most interested in my hometown in Arizona. I am from Scottsdale, Arizona, so I told him all about it. It is a great place to visit and it does attract a lot of tourists. Especially during the winter, since Scottsdale has great weather. I told Omar that if he likes to golf, hike, shop, and eat delicious food, then Scottsdale would be a great place for him to visit. By the end of my long speech about Scottsdale, it sounded like I had done my job and convinced Omar to visit the city at some point in his life.

After Omar and I discussed the best cities in the United States, we got talking about the different types of people in each state. I casually brought up in our conversation that each state has a different character. Omar thought this was surprising because he just assumed that all Americans had the same general personality. I went on to explain to him that people from California are much different from people who live in Texas, while those who live in Boston or Chicago are much different from people who live in Texas or California. Basically, each state has its own quirks and tends to cater towards a certain type of person. Omar then told me that this occurs in Mexico, too. He said that people who live in North Mexico are much different from the South Mexicans. There are also smaller differences in personalities among regions. I thought this was interesting how this change in character throughout a country occurs in Mexico as well. I naïvely assumed that all Mexicans had the alike personalities, just as Omar had thought the same of Americans. This widened my perspective of the world, as I’m sure it also did for Omar, and made me realize that other countries are diverse and different, just like the United States.

Getting to know Omar has truly been a humbling experience. Not only has it been amazing getting to know a talented and driven individual, it has been eye-opening learning about other cultures. Before I met Omar, I thought I was an open-minded individual that had a decent grasp on world events and cultures. However, after my conversations with Omar, I know that this is far from true. I have so much to learn about the world and how other cultures work. Thanks to my time with Omar, I want to experience many different cultures during my lifetime.

Talking with Omar (Meeting with Omar Part 4)

Today I met up with Omar for the fourth time. As usual, I had a great time talking to him and am enjoying seeing his year here at TCU unfold. It had been around two weeks since I had last seen Omar, so we had a lot to catch up on. When I first saw Omar, I could immediately tell he was stress-free and relieved. He told me that it was partly because it was a Friday afternoon, but also because he had just made it through a week with a bunch of tests. The tests went well and he is now looking forward to being able to focus on other things. For one, Omar has been searching for graduate schools to apply to once he is done with the Intensive English Program here. He is looking at graduate programs at TCU as well as universities in Liverpool, England, and Edinburgh, Scotland. Omar told me that he would be able to complete his master’s degree for free at TCU through a program that TCU offers. Under this program, Omar just has to work for a professor in the department he would study and his tuition would be paid for. He said that this is especially appealing to him, since the work would be in something of interest to him. However, he is excited about in the universities in Liverpool and Edinburgh. I have a ton of respect for Omar for expanding his horizons literally all over the world. He is not afraid to drop everything about his life and go somewhere completely new. After meeting Omar, this is a characteristic I admire and am hoping to adopt in my life.

Today, Omar and I talked a lot about the people he has met in his Intensive English classes. One of his favorite parts about the program is being able to interact and become friends with people from all over the world. He is learning about all different kinds of cultures. Omar told me about one person in his program who is from Korea. One day in class, they were talking about going to the movie theater. Apparently in Korea, instead of eating popcorn as a tasty movie snack, people in Korea eat fried Octopus. Being a vegetarian, naturally the concept of munching on some fried Octopus while watching a movie grossed me out. However, Omar and I both agreed that it is interesting how the type of food people eat vary drastically from culture to culture. Casually in our conversation today, I mentioned a “grilled cheese sandwich,” assuming that Omar would know what I was talking about. However, as soon as I started talking about it, Omar’s face was puzzled and he had no idea what a grilled cheese was. When I explained it to Omar, he was surprised that people just ate bread and melted cheese. It is fascinating how the type of food people eat varies so much depending on the culture.

Omar and I also talked about sororities and fraternities today. Not having any type of Greek life in Mexico, Omar is curious about the whole Greek system. I tried my best to explain to him sorority recruitment, “bigs” and “littles,” and basically how a sorority works. Omar said that nothing like this exists in Mexico, so all he had to rely on about sororities were how they were portrayed in movies. I told him that sororities, at least at TCU, are nothing like how they are in movies. He seemed to understand a little better about Greek life once we finished talking about it, although we both decided the whole concept of it is kind of strange.
 
Omar has become a great friend to me during this semester and I have loved getting to know him. It is great seeing him become accustomed to TCU and the American culture. I admire Omar for his drive and passion in his career, and his un-faltering bravery to follow his dreams. He has inspired me to grow as a person and expand my horizons. I am looking forward to my next meeting with Omar to see how else he has succeeded in his journey in America.

Harold (Uncontrollable Laughter Part 2)

It is always refreshing whenever I visit my home in Arizona, simply for the reason that I get to see my cat, Harold. I believe that all college students can agree that the number one “person” that is missed when they leave for college are pets. I was no different. During my freshman year, I constantly told my parents that I never really missed them (sorry Mom and Dad) and I just wanted to see Harold. Being a sophomore now, I thought I would grow out of it; however, it is no different. I still wish I could take Harold with me to Texas, but unfortunately, cats do not travel well.

Harold has provided my family and me with an innumerable amount of occasions of uncontrollable laughter. Most cats are stand-offish and do what they want. However, Harold is just the opposite. He is a quirky cat and thinks he is part dog. He drinks out of the toilet, chases after balls and even chews on dog bones. He will chase me around my house and want to have his belly rubbed. In short, Harold is strange, but he is a great cat.

The funniest example I can think of with Harold is during fall break my freshman year at TCU. I went back home during fall break and since it was around Halloween, my parents thought it would be a great idea to buy Harold one of those pet costumes. My parents went to PetSmart and purchased a bumble-bee costume. At this point, I truly believed my parents had finally lost their marbles. When my parents got home with the costume, they were so excited and were convinced that dressing Harold up was going to go well. My dad ripped open the package and told me to grab Harold. I reluctantly did. Poor Harold at this point had no idea what he was getting himself in to.

My parents dressed Harold up in his costume. Once Harold had his costume on, it was close to one of the funniest things I have ever seen. My dad sat Harold on the ground and he refused to do anything. When I say he did not do anything, I mean literally nothing. As soon as Harold stood on the ground, he plopped over on to his side because he was so mad about the situation. It was as if he was saying, “How dare you make me look like a bumble-bee, I am a cat!” Eventually though, Harold stood up and started walking around. There were antennas on the costume that messed with Harold’s equilibrium. He sulked around the house, trying to bat them off. After walking around for a little while, Harold decided to give up and sit down. At this point, my family and I were dying of laughter. I think he realized he was putting on a show for us, and so if he stopped moving around, he would be taken out of his costume.

My family and I love Harold, so even though watching him prance around as a bumble-bee was close to one of the funniest things we have ever seen, we could tell he was not happy. His face resembled something close to grumpy cat. We decided that it was best to rescue Harold from the costume. I picked him up and took it off. As soon as the bumble-bee costume was off, Harold was back to normal.  

This experience was extremely amusing for my family and me. Since Harold was not having a great time, I could understand how this experience could be taken as being a bit cruel. However, watching him walk around as a bumble-bee was hilarious. We love Harold and he is spoiled rotten, so putting him in a bumble-bee costume for ten minutes was no big deal.

It is interesting, though, that my family and I thought that this situation was funny. After being in Literature and Civilizations 2 this semester, I believe that this instance illustrates the incongruity theory humor. This is because we did not expect Harold to act the way he did when he was dressed up as the bumble-bee. My family and I expected him to act as a normal cat. However, he was upset about the situation and grumbled around about it. This created an incongruity between what was expected and what actually happened, making the situation funny. It is interesting to see the humor theories in action. However, more than that, seeing Harold prance around in a bumble-bee costume was downright hilarious and will always go down as one of my funniest moments.