I wonder if there are cultural
differences in text messages? I had been accrediting Rosa and my slight
disconnect in messaging to be from the nature of English being her second
language. That’s probably the primary cause. Still, I wonder if slightly misused
terms result from her attempting to use American slang in messages just as we
do. I might be overanalyzing the whole instance considering our text
conversation was only a couple of messages long. Still, a part of me wants to
believe there is some kind of messaging culture. For us, we use abbreviations
for common phrases, make faces with punctuation to attempt to display emotion,
and often purposefully misspell words for convenience. Who’s to say this
doesn’t occur in Spanish? They probably even have there own letter combinations
and phrases. I’m sure there is some overlap too. It’d be an interesting idea to
discuss with Rosa. Next time.
Rosa and I met in the first floor of
the BLUU by Union Grounds. She hurriedly threw open the door and sat down next
to me. She seemed a bit stressed. Sure enough, she straightaway asked if I ever
felt like there was simply too much required of you. Of course I have. I’m sure
that a lot of college students feel that way on a daily basis. It so happens
that she had been going through an orientation process for international
students. TCU went ahead and explained all the different requirements and types
of classes the students would have to do during their entire college career.
Rosa made it appear as if TCU inundated her with information. When she finished
speaking, I simply laughed. I told her that’s exactly how I felt during
orientation. Not only did I not know anyone at my orientation, I felt
relatively helpless with all the information. When someone tells you about all
120 plus hours you have to take, it’s easy to slip into thinking you need to
complete this seemingly impossible amount of work now. By the end of the
process I was more frazzled than confident in my future.
My orientation process was a bit
unique. It wasn’t so much the amount of information that scared me, but the
feeling none of the information was pertinent to me. I came to TCU with 47
hours of credit completed from AP coursework. Needless to say, I am ahead of
most incoming freshman. As the day progressed, I was continually told about all
the core credit courses I needed to take, but I knew that wasn’t the case for
me. I had virtually completed core with my hours. I nervously asked student
helper after student helper if they could guide me in what courses I needed to
enroll in. Each time the student was unsure of what to do because they don’t
usually deal with students with so many hours. I ended the day in the honors
college office where I was able to receive some personal help and eventually
get a schedule. The more Rosa talked about her experience, the more it seemed
to resemble mine.
Our conversation seemed to smoothly
transition into a discussion of sports. As it seems the case with nearly every
international student I’ve met, Rosa’s favorite sport is (yes you’ve guessed
it), soccer. I understand that soccer is indeed the world’s sport so to speak,
but it sure isn’t placed on a pedestal in America. While I don’t watch a lot of
soccer, I luckily have an appreciation for it. Many of my closest friends grew
up playing club soccer and played on our high school team. Turns out Rosa and I
share an interest with the Los Angeles Galaxy simply because of David Beckham.
I knew Beckham was quite the celebrity, but not the extent that he was a
household name on an international scale. That’s pretty incredible to think
about. Even though his golden years have gone, people around the world still
not only remember him, but follow him in our unloved MLS league. Outside of the
Galaxy, Rosa told me that some of Honduras’s best players actually play in the
MLS too. How cool? American soccer is getting better all the time. Maybe I’ll
have reason to follow it more closely in the future.
Our conversation came to a close
with a thank you. Rosa told me that she really appreciates me meeting with her.
It gives her a great way to continue to practice and learn English. I honestly
felt a little humbled. I was worried I wasn’t helping at all. It’s amazing how
easy it is to serve others. Until this class, I would have never thought simply
talking with an ESL student would make a difference in their journey to learn
English. I’ m so glad my contribution is beneficial for her.
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