The Blessing and Curse of Technology (Learning Experiences Part 3)

Coming from Arizona, I do not exactly have a great grasp on how to deal with crazy and abnormal weather. I grew up my whole life with sunny skies almost every day. Clouds in the sky were rare and rain was even more of an anomaly. I still remember one time when I was shopping in target while I was in high school and it started raining. Everyone freaked out and did not know how to handle themselves. Many people took pictures of the rain and posted them social media, as if to prove that it is not always sunny in Arizona. To put things a little further in perspective, the first time it rained in Texas during my freshman year at TCU was the first time I had ever used an umbrella in my life. I never had the need for an umbrella, rain boots, winter clothes or anything else of that nature before. As a result, the bipolar weather of Texas proved to be quite a shock when I first came here.

I thought I had gotten accustomed to the weather here in Fort Worth. However, that was all until the storm of last weekend happened. As pathetic as it sounds, I have never seen that much rain in my life. I still haven’t invested in a pair of rain boots, so that made walking outside in the rain a lot more difficult; I went to all my classes on Friday with wet shoes and socks. However, the biggest causality of the storm was my phone. I was walking to dinner on Thursday night in the BLUU and it was pouring rain. I put my phone in the pocket of my rain coat (not the protective Velcro pouch that I discovered later). As a result, my phone got drenched in my pocket. Being the smart, honors student that I am, I did not notice that my phone was wet, so it sat around in its dampness for a while. This was the downfall for my phone, and while I was at dinner, my phone started to malfunction. The screen kept fading in and out with different colors—red, black, white and blue. My friend and I looked up what this meant, and apparently the red screen is called the “red screen of death.”  I concluded my phone was toast. I asked around to see if anyone knew if there was anything I could do to salvage my phone. Someone suggested putting my phone in a bag of rice. At this point, I was desperate, so the next day, I bought rice from Kroger and put my phone in it.

While I was without a phone, I actually learned a lot about how dependent I am on technology. When I did not have my phone on Friday for class, I felt naked. To clarify, I did not have the safety net of looking at my phone when I had no one to talk to. I did not realize I looked at my phone so much between classes, while studying and so many other times of the day. The largest issue for me, though, was communication. I had pretty much no way to communicate with my friends to ask where they were at, when they were eating dinner and what they were doing that night. I tried to communicate with them through Facebook messenger on my computer, but many of them never check Facebook, making communication challenging. Moreover, it was nearly impossible to get ahold of my parents to tell them my phone was broken. This snowballs with not being able to find my friends, because if I was able to find one of them, I would have called one of my parents from a friend’s phone. However, because I had no way to communicate with my friends, I could only hope I would run in to one of them so I could use one of their phones (which did not happen). I had to resort to e-mailing my parents on Friday night telling them that my phone was broken.  

In a sense, I did enjoy not having a phone and being unplugged for a day. I got a ton of homework done because I did not have the distraction of texting and looking at my phone. Moreover, I felt like I was more present in my conversations and was noticing more about my surroundings. I was focused on living in the moment and was not worried about what I had to do in an hour, or who was texting me to meet up somewhere. Not having my phone allowed me to take a step back, look around and appreciate my surroundings.

Miraculously, the bag of rice worked its magic on my phone and it came back from the dead on Saturday afternoon. I was not expecting this at all and assumed I would not have a phone for a week or so. This was a pleasant surprise, however, I did learn a lot from my experience without a phone. First of all, I am reliant on technology. I have been working on not using my phone as much. For instance, I will turn my phone off when I study now. Second, I am trying to use my phone less when I am in large groups of people. If I am with a group of friends or acquaintances, I put my phone away and talk to them instead. After this experience, I understand the importance of acting in the moment and being present in my conversations.

I believe that my phone breaking was a blessing in disguise. If my phone did not break on me, I do not think I would have understood how much technology engulfs my life. Technology is such a great tool to employ, but I have to be careful not to over-utilize it to the point where I do take the time to talk to the people around me and appreciate my surroundings. I am thankful for this experience so I was able to learn this lesson. At the same time, I am also slightly thankful that my phone survived the rain so I did not have to buy a new one!

Comparing the United States and Meixco (Meeting with Omar Part 3)

Yesterday, I met with Omar for the third time this semester. Our meetings are becoming more routine and it is becoming easier to talk to each other. When we met for the first time, I could tell he felt a little awkward; I definitely did too. However, as we have talked and are getting to know one another more deeply, I am really appreciating my time with Omar and I believe Omar is enjoying it as well.

Omar and I talked about a multitude of different things during our last conversation. One main theme that always seems to dominate our discussions are the differences and similarities between the United States and Mexico. I believe this happens since it allows us to create points of commonality and makes our conversation flow more freely. Moreover, I am curious to learn about the different customs in Mexico, so I naturally find myself asking about these topics.

One topic Omar and I focused on today was language and accents. Omar told me that different people have different Mexican accents, depending on where the person is from in Mexico. Omar is from Northern Mexico, and he said that Northern Mexicans typically have a stereotype of speaking more rudely. The first thing I thought of when Omar mentioned this is how this can be compared to the United States. People from Boston, New York or Chicago are typically known to have accents that can come off as impolite (although this is not always the case). Even though this is just a generalization, I thought it was interesting how Omar and I were able to draw parallels between language in Mexico and in the United States. I told Omar that he should visit Boston, New York or Chicago one day so he could get a better idea of what I was telling him about.

Moreover, with our mutual excitement for all the different holidays coming up, Omar and I shifted our conversation towards this. This is Omar’s first Halloween in the United States and he is particularly eager for it. However, he does not have a costume yet. We both laughed when I told him I did not have a costume yet either, and am most likely going to whip something up the night before. Moreover, Omar told me that Halloween is not a huge deal back in Mexico, but they still celebrate it. He is looking forward to embracing all the American traditions that Halloween entails, such as handing out candy to trick-or-treaters. Also, in Mexico, a big holiday that is right around Halloween is Dia de los Muertos, or “Day of the Dead.” I remember learning about this in my Spanish classes in high school, but Omar basically explained to me that it is a day to remember loved ones who passed away and celebrate their lives. In Northern Mexico, the holiday is not a huge deal, and Omar said that he and his family typically would go to the cemetery and visit their loved one’s graves. In Southern Mexico, however, Dia de los Muertos is an immense celebration with parties to celebrate the lives of those who have passed. I always have thought that this holiday is fascinating. It is a big part of Mexican culture to embrace death and celebrate the lives loved ones have lived. This contrasts drastically with the culture in the United States, where death is typically viewed as a morbid and frightening event.

Furthermore, Omar is looking forward to having his first Thanksgiving ever. In my ignorance when talking to Omar, I completely forgot that Thanksgiving is only an American holiday, so Omar has no idea what it entails. I told Omar all about it—the huge turkey dinner, family, football and the history of how the holiday originated. I believe that my explanation gave Omar a better understanding of what Thanksgiving actually is and why it is celebrated. I look forward to talking to Omar after Thanksgiving to see how he liked the holiday. Stay tuned!
Near the end of our conversation, Omar and I began to talk about work and minimum wage. I just began working on campus this past week, so Omar asked me about it. We eventually got talking about minimum wage and I was extremely surprised at how different minimum wage is between the United States and Mexico. In Texas, minimum wage in $7.25/hour. To put this further in perspective, minimum wage in Arizona, where I am from, is $8.05/hour. The minimum wage varies by incremental amounts from state to state, but these variances are typically due to explainable variables such as the cost of living. When discussing the minimum wage with Omar, I did not even think to say it was “per hour.” I merely just said, “$7.25.” Omar replied back to me, asking if that was the daily rate or hourly rate. He then went on to tell me that minimum wage in Mexico is around $7.00 a day. I was stunned when Omar told me this. He said that this is not nearly enough money to live off of. Fortunately for him, since he has attended college, Omar was making above minimum wage before he came to the United States.

Omar has been doing great ever since coming to the United States. His mom might come visit him this weekend from Mexico, and Omar is tremendously thrilled about this. It has been over four months since he has seen anyone in his family. Moreover, my conversations with Omar are always great. Not only is he benefiting from our conversations by practicing his English, I am learning a ton, too. I am grateful for this opportunity to participate in this program and get to know Omar. I cannot wait until my next meeting with him to see what exciting new experiences he has had.

Food and Culture (Meeting with Omar Part 2)

Today I met with my conversation partner, Omar, for the second time. We met up again in Union Grounds for about an hour and caught up from the last time we saw each other. It had been awhile and a lot had happened to the both of us. Therefore, we had a lot to talk about such as fall break, school and football games. I really enjoy my conversations with Omar and find it especially interesting hearing about his experiences in America after living in Mexico his whole life.

Funny enough, even though Omar and I had a ton of other topics to talk about, we spent most of our time talking about a seemingly insignificant topic—food. Omar began by telling me that the food here in Texas is a lot different from the food back home in Mexico. Also, American eating habits are much different from Mexican eating habits. His uncle, who has lived in America for a while, has been influenced by the American culture. Omar said that his uncle eats a lot of fast food and does not make a lot of home cooked meals. Omar does not like this. He wishes his uncle would cook some meals and sit down and eat with Omar. Omar prefers to prepare his own food because that is what his family did back in Mexico. Also, Omar told me that this past weekend he had his first “Mexican food” in America. He was appalled because it was not real, authentic Mexican food. The food he ordered was nothing like the food he would eat at home and he did not enjoy his experience in this restaurant at all. If anything, it just made him miss Mexico more because this mockery Mexican food reminded him of everything great about his home. I then asked him what true Mexican food is like, because to me the only good Mexican food I know of is Chipotle (I know it is pathetic). Apparently, burritos are not popular at all in Mexico. I found this extremely surprising because one of my favorite things to order in a Mexican restaurant are burritos! Tacos, however, are popular in Mexico and they will put beans and meat inside them. The typical family in Mexico will cook all of their meals together which normally consists of some sort of meat, rice and beans. I especially found this last piece of information very interesting. Families in Mexico will prepare their meals and eat them together. In America, this is becoming rare. A lot of families in the United States will not even sit down and eat together, which I believe to be an important part of family life.

Even though Omar was upset by his experience in the Mexican restaurant he visited this past weekend, he has ate at a few good places here. One of these is a Mediterranean restaurant located on West 7^th called Terra. I was thrilled when Omar said he loved this restaurant because Terra is my favorite restaurant located near TCU! It seems only natural that Omar and I go eat there together some time, considering we are both big fans of the restaurant.

Omar and I then got on the subject of our favorite foods. Omar’s favorite are tamales, which he said he has not been able to find in Texas yet. When I was telling Omar about my favorite food, I told him that I am a vegetarian, which he thought was crazy. The Mexican food culture relies heavily on meat so he could not believe I did not eat any meat! When I told him one of my favorite foods is tofu, he had no idea what I was talking about, so I had to pull up a picture of it on my iPhone.

After talking with Omar, it is crazy to see the differences in how people in America eat and how people in Mexico eat. Omar said he is having a hard time adjusting the food here in Texas because it is so different from the food he is used to eating. Putting myself in Omar’s shoes, I could not even imagine going to Mexico, especially as a vegetarian, and trying to adjust to the food that is prepared there. It would definitely be a large obstacle. However, other than challenges with food, Omar seems to be doing great in America. He said he loves the Intensive English Program and is doing well in it. He just had his first round of finals and he thinks he did well on all of them. I am so glad to see Omar doing well so far in America. I can see his drive and passion to be successful in life and I know he deserves the best.

Tamales-Omar's Favorite Food

Tofu-My Favorite Food

Boys in Heels (Uncontrollable Laughter Part 1)

It is hard to pick out just one instance when my friends and I broke out into fits of uncontrollable laughter. It does not take much to get me to laugh; I’m the type of person who laughs at pretty much anything. Moreover, when you put me with my friends I laugh so much more because we feed off of each other’s humor. For these reasons, I find myself uncontrollably laughing a lot, which makes it extremely had to just pick one instance.

However, the most recent time I can think of when I just about fell over because I was laughing so hard happened just this past Tuesday. I am a member of the Alpha Chi Omega fraternity and our philanthropy is domestic violence. I know at this point you are probably thinking, “What is so funny about domestic violence? You have a pretty twisted sense of humor, Courtney.” Just keep reading, I say, and you will soon understand. October is Domestic Violence awareness month, so my sorority puts on a domestic violence awareness event called “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes.” In the event, a group of four men from various fraternities will sign up to be a team. Then, these teams do a relay race around the commons... in heels. The guys literally go all out and run as fast as they can in the heels. Some sprint, others struggle a bit and fast walk. I am not kidding, one guy had sparks coming out from his heels he was running so fast. He made “hot wheels” a real thing. Basically, this event is one of the funniest things I have ever laid my eyes on.

This year, my roommate, Tori, and I were coaches for one of the fraternity teams. We had never met these boys before, but as soon as we did, we could tell they were particularly excited for the event and wanted to win. Before our team was up to race, the boys wanted to practice running in heels. Right when one of our team members put his heels on and stood up, the first thing out of his mouth was, “Why do you girls do this to yourself? This is painful!” He continued then to try and walk in his heels, although it was more of a waddle.

The boys practiced walking in their heels until it was their turn to race. I don’t think I have ever seen four men so excited to run around in heels. To say the very least, it was prime entertainment. Soon, it was time for the team to race. All of them were put in their prospective positions along the relay. Next, the flag was waved and the race started. Our first team member ran his portion of the race with flawless grace. Our second and third person also did a great job, although they rightfully struggled a little bit. At this point, we were in an amazing position to win the race. I could tell my team members were ecstatic. We had a lead and if we could keep it, we would win! However, everything went downhill during the last portion of the race when it was handed off to the last team member to run. As soon as he began running, or should I say a semi walking and trotting, we lost our lead quickly. It was all okay though because it was just about the funniest thing I have ever seen in my life. At that point, I could care less about winning because watching my team member running in those heels was enough entertainment for a lifetime.

We came in second to last for the race, but it was such a great time that no one on my team cared. By the end of the race, we all could not control our laughter because it was so funny. The boys also could not believe that they had just run around the TCU commons in heels. Although it might have been a “you had to be there” sort of thing, I like to think the image of boys racing in heels is pretty hilarious.

Don't Freak Out! (Learning Experiences Part 2)

Sometimes it is insane the amount of work that college professors expect their students to keep up with. I really wonder if they think that their class is the only class I am taking. When I get assigned a paper, a quiz and a test all in one week, the typical student starts to get a little overwhelmed. Multiply that workload by five and you get a mountain of assignments that is near impossible to climb. This situation was my life for the past two weeks. I had never faced a workload this large over such a condensed time period since arriving at TCU and it was, to say the least, hectic. I am not the type of person to cram for a test or procrastinate an assignment until the last minute, but when I had 5 tests, a presentation and 3 quizzes, plus multiple club meeting and extracurricular activities all stuffed into 2 weeks, some assignments fell pretty far down on my priority list. However, now that these past 2 weeks are over and I did well on all my assessments, I can say I have learned a few important lessons about time management and most importantly, not freaking out.

I truly believe one of my greatest strengths in life is my perfectionism and my drive for success. However, ironically enough, I also believe it is one of my greatest flaws. Often, it is not possible to be perfect, and I have a hard time telling myself this. When it comes to school, I will never feel satisfied with myself until I understand every detail for every single one of my tests. In the past two weeks, this was not feasibly possible, and I had to keep telling myself that. I struggled a lot with this aspect because I thought that if I did not know everything, I would not do well on my tests. I also knew that if my tests were more spread out, it would be a slam dunk for 100%, or near 100%, on every one of my tests.  However, even though my various assessments were so heavily condensed into 2 weeks, I still did well on all of them. For these reasons, I believe the greatest lessons these past 2 weeks have taught me is that: first, I am not a robot, so I can make mistakes, and second, I do not need to know every minute detail to be successful.

Another important lesson I learned in these past two weeks is how to deal with stress. More precisely, I worked on reducing the amount of pressure and anxiety I put on myself. I realized that stress is pretty much useless and is counterproductive in my studies. It was more beneficial to me to take a step back and breathe. I just had to tell myself to take it one day and one test at a time. Fortunately, this was successful. I was able to reduce the amount of stress I had and do well on my assessments. I studied much more productively than if I had overwhelmed myself with the colossal amount of work I had looking me in the face.

I am beyond happy that I made it through these past couple weeks. Even though they were a bit torturous, I did learn a lot about myself and how to handle stress. However, more importantly, these past two weeks have made me wonder about the education system as a whole. I truly believe that today’s society places an unreasonable amount of pressure on the young adult population to be flawless and to accomplish feats that are nearly impossible. Over the years, it seems as if more and more work is assigned to students over shorter and shorter time periods. In a sense, I believe this has great outcomes; our young adult population is becoming more professional and educated. On the other hand, I have been asking myself a lot lately if this is really the right way to do it. What if I had not been able to overcome my stress in the past couple weeks and decided to give up? My high school back home has been riddled with this predicament. It is extremely competitive; we had both Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) programs. On the positive side, I completed AP classes in high school which over-prepared me for my time here at TCU. However, the competitiveness at my high school got to the point where if I got a “B” on a test, I would feel like a total failure. I know I was not the only person feeling this way; my high school has been cursed with student deaths, mostly suicides, ever since its opening in the 1990s. The most recent of these deaths hit closest to home for me. At the beginning of last August (during my freshman year here at TCU), an upperclassman who was part of the IB program killed himself the day before the 2014 school year started. The suspected reason was that he didn’t want to go to school because it was too much pressure to maintain good grades. It is horrible that the only way he sought peace was to kill himself, that way he would never have to step foot in high school again. The sad thing is, my high school was that competitive that I can see where he was coming from. Is this really what our education system is coming to? Those that cannot handle the pressure are left to eat the dust of the successful. Thankfully, I was able to overcome the competitiveness of my high school and the massive pressure of college. However, what if I did not? Would that leave me living at home with my parents and not attending college—or worse, would I have had the same fate as the poor student at my high school? If this is what the future of the education system is, I do not know about you, but I do not want any part of it.

Exploring Different Cultures (Meeting with Omar Part 1)

Today I met my conversation partner for this semester, Omar. After talking for just one hour, I have so much respect for what he did by leaving his whole life. I especially applaud his efforts in learning English and his determination to advance his career. Omar is from Mexico and has already completed his undergraduate degree in biochemistry. Before he left, he was working as a Biochemist on weekdays from 9 AM to 6 PM and as a grocer at a grocery store on weekends. He told me he found out about TCU literally by googling “Intensive English Program” on the internet. TCU’s program showed up as one of the results, and after some research, he discovered it was located very close to where his Uncle lives. In June, he decided to apply. By July, he received his acceptance letter to the program, and in August he was here in Fort Worth.

A big part of our conversation revolved around talking about Omar’s friends and family. He said it has been extremely hard in this past month being far away from them. However, he knows that this is what he needs to do to improve his career and create a better future. I respect Omar for being able to completely uproot himself from his friends, family and culture, and start over in a different country. That is not something that just anyone could do. Omar has one sibling--an older brother. His brother is a doctor and is currently working towards a specialty in psychiatry. He lives and works in Mexico. Omar’s mother is a secretary and his father is a family doctor. Omar talked about his family with an extreme amount of affection and I could tell he really missed them. Also, when I complimented him about his family being so successful (I mean, who wouldn’t?) he was so humble, playing off having two doctors and a biochemist in the family as if it was nothing.

Omar and I also talked a lot about the differences in culture between the United States and Mexico, especially in college. One thing that stuck out to me was the costs of an education in Mexico versus in the United States. Omar told me that in his four years of an undergraduate degree, he spent around the equivalent of $6,000. This was appalling to me, compared to TCU’s pricey tuition. He also told me that class schedules were extremely structured. So, for instance, if you were a psychology major, you would have every single class mapped out for every semester since your freshman year. Students in Mexico also were not free to determine the times of their classes; classes typically ran from 8 AM to 1 PM every day. I thought this was interesting when comparing this to class schedules at TCU. My accounting major does have a decent amount of structure with regards to what classes that I am supposed to take, but with my second major, economics, I can take whatever classes I want as long as I get them all done by senior year. Additionally, uniformly across the TCU campus, students can schedule classes for whenever times they want. This is unlike Mexico where every student was in class at the same time.  

I asked Omar how his classes have been going so far in the Intensive English Program at TCU and he loves it. Funny enough, his favorite part is having the afternoons off. He said that every afternoon, without fail, he goes home and takes an hour nap (which I am slightly jealous about). His schedule was so crazy back home during college and after he graduated that he is really enjoying his free time and not being busy 24 hours of the day. Needless to say, I think he has worked hard enough during college and in his career before coming here to earn that hour nap.

The hour I spoke with Omar today flew by and I am looking forward to the next time I get to talk to him. It was interesting getting to learn about his upbringing and the culture in Mexico because it is so different from the United States. The whole time I was speaking, I could not help but think that Omar’s English was excellent, especially since he has only been in Texas about a month. I respect Omar for his bravery for coming to the U.S. and learning English—if this situation was flipped I’m not sure I could do the same.

Learning Experiences from My First Three Weeks of Sophomore Year (Learning Experiences Part 1)

Just three weeks in to my sophomore year, I have already learned so much and had many amazing experiences. It is crazy to think that just 21 days here at TCU has already provided a massive amount of opportunities for me to grow as an individual. I am so grateful to attend a school as amazing as TCU, where literally only a few days on campus cultivates my personal development.

This course, Literature and Civilizations II, has been nothing like I was expecting it. I took Literature and Civilizations I last semester as my honors class, so I was imagining this class to be set up somewhat like a book club, which was how Literature and Civilizations I was structured. However, ever since attending class on the first day, I realized my preconceived notions were far from correct. Within just these first 6 classes, I have learned a lot without having the intense pressure of tests and due dates looming over my head. Also, I am especially enjoying the focus on humor. Before this class, comedy was never a topic I thought deeply about, but learning about the different theories of humor and why we laugh is very interesting. It makes a lot of sense and I am finding myself applying it to my life outside of class. For instance, my friends and I were watching the movie, The Proposal, together one night and we started laughing when the fluffy, white dog, Kevin, was scooped up by the eagle. I thought later that the reason why we were laughing was because of the incongruity theory of humor since the eagle taking the dog was an unexpected outcome given the situation. As nerdy as it sounds, I thought it was awesome I was able to tie what I had been learning in class into real life.

My first three weeks of classes in my other courses have been an adjustment transitioning from freshman to sophomore year. Beginning this year, I just transferred into the business school, so it has been different adjusting to my business classes since I had not been able to take any beforehand. Also, now being a double major in accounting and economics is already starting to be a lot of work. I am learning how to manage my time more efficiently and handle the workload. However, on the positive side, I am taking classes that I enjoy and am excited to learn about because it is what I will be doing with my career. It is exciting to be learning material that I will be using for not only the next four years in college, but for the rest of my professional career.

Within the realms of my academics so far this year, I have already learned so much and have transferred these skills in my day-to-day life. However, not only have I had learning experiences in the academic spectrum, but outside of class as well. I was tested the very first week of classes with a family emergency. It was stressful to deal with, but it has taught me a lot about myself and those around me. I learned how to become a more compassionate person and be there for others; not that I was not before, but I often find that I encompass myself in my school work and make little time to be a solid support system. However, during this time, I had no choice but to take a step away from school and extracurricular activities and just be there for my family. Although it has been hard, this situation has taught me to look at the big picture and appreciate the importance of my loved ones.

These first three weeks of classes have been a whirlwind, to say the least. The days flew by and were mixed with a rollercoaster of ups and downs, but I would not take a single second of it back. Even though they have been crazy, I am excited for what sophomore year has in store for me and hope it does not fly by as rapidly as these first three weeks did.