The Melting Pot.

            Once again, I have had quite the busy week. So busy, in fact, that I almost forgot about my meeting with my conversation! I was recently selected as a director for academic orientation and we’ve been doing interviews all week long. Luckily, I was able to grab a cup of coffee with Bayan between a couple of my interviews on Friday.

            Though still a little nervous about meeting up with my conversation partner, I was extremely excited to catch up with Bayan and see how her week had been. I sat down at Union Grounds and waited for a while (Bayan was a few minutes late), but as soon as I saw her, both of our faces lit up. We were able to pick up exactly where we left off; our conversation didn’t even skip a beat.

            I could tell Bayan was a little frustrated so I essentially offered to be her sounding board as she voiced things that were upsetting her. Generally a role I reserve only for my best friends, I was honored that Bayan felt that she could talk to me about things that were bothering her. She told me that she was bothered by her lack of desire to continue with the English program. She knows that it will be beneficial in the long run but she simply does not love it right now. She also confided in me that she has several desires that her husband kind of stifles, indicative of the patriarchal culture in Saudi Arabia. She wants to travel and explore the world (Texas, to be specific).

            This led us to discuss how travelling is such a valuable experience. I have such a passion for travelling and exploring the world, so it’s exciting that Bayan and I can bond over this love of the world. You can learn so much for experiencing different parts of the world. By coming into contact with different cultures, you become a much more open-minded person; you begin to understand humanity as a whole and see how these different cultures are essentially cogs in the machine that is Earth.

            This made me think: I guess this is essentially the reason we do this conversation partner experiment. Just by meeting with Bayan once a week, I am opening my mind and beginning to understand a culture that I previously knew nothing about. This understanding of different cultures promotes tolerance and peace, something this world could definitely use a little more of.

            Bayan finished our meeting by saying that she was so glad to be meeting with me because she was genuinely learning so much. I could’ve taken this as a token of self-satisfaction, but it really made me think. She may be learning so much from me, but I am honestly learning so much from her, as well. This experience that I was so nervous about has turned out to be so gratifying and beneficial.

            To finish, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I want to express my gratitude for this experience. Even though this is only my second meeting with Bayan, I can already feel our relationship growing. Bayan wants to go to Arizona after she finishes the English program here and I can easily say that I will be genuinely sad to see her leave. Through this forced interaction, a friendship has blossomed and from this friendship, I am learning so much. I don’t have to leave the country to experience different cultures; TCU is full of people different from me: international students, out-of-state students, students of different faiths. TCU is a melting pot and I can learn from everyone as I have learned from Bayan. I look forward to learning even more from Bayan as we continue to meet.