I
met last week with my learning partner, Winslen, at the Barnes and Noble here
on campus. He came to America from Colombia with his wife in hopes of a better
future for him and his family. He explained to me how health and medical
benefits as well as the standard of living here is much better than back in
Columbia. He also explained that he is attending TCU to learn English fluently
for his career as an industrial engineer. We talked about the different
economies around Latin America and which ones are growing faster and reasons
why. We also discussed the differences in climate between Texas and Colombia
and how the climate back in Colombia is the same all year round. I understand
now why it was so hard at first for us to meet because Winslen is not a regular
student; he lives with his wife around Arlington and relies on her for
transportation to and from school. She works nearby as a linguistic coach for
children. It really surprised me to hear that Winslen did not have a car. I
previously had expected my learning partner to be a student here living on
on-campus housing, so the fact that he was neither changed my views quite a
bit. I now understood fully why it was so hard for us to find a time to meet
previously. While I was frustrated earlier with our lack of common time to
meet, I now feel a little embarrassed for my frustration now realizing that his
schedule makes it much more difficult for him to meet than my own. In this
first meeting, we were both a bit reserved — talking about our general backgrounds
and not going into much deep conversation. This however is a necessary step in
meeting and getting to know anyone however. As I discussed before, previously I
had no idea about Winslen and it led me to be frustrated by our lack of common
ground in our schedules. Now that I’ve met him and spoken with him I feel like
we both understand each other much better.
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