People

            This semester I have learned a lot about myself and grown as a person.  Last semester I was worried about being cool and having cool friends, but this semester I focused more on meeting as many new people as I could.  This course helped me in this endeavor as I discussed with twenty strangers every week.  We eventually stopped being strangers and the discussions in class got better and better.  I was also able to meet someone from another nation and get to know her.  Talking to people this semester in class and out has made me realize something great.  The best way to learn is by talking to other people and hearing what they have to say.

            Other people are the best thing any of us could be blessed with.  We are able to have people to comfort us, laugh with us, love us, and help us grow.  Most people do not know the impact they have had on those they meet.  Even a smile can go a long way in affecting somebody.  I have begun to understand just how great a factor other people are in our lives.  We all live a human life, but everybody’s is different.  These differences are beautiful and create a unique person.  Talking and befriending new people opens our eyes to these differences and can teach us more than a text book full of formulas could ever teach us.

            While meeting these people with all these differences I have changed my scope and began to realize my own impact I might have on others.  I can only hope that I have taught something to people whom I have learned from.  I have enjoyed embracing these differences that have helped me learn and change.

            Learning is a part of life and change is inevitable.  All humans are constantly changing at a microscopic level.  Cells are dying and being created every second.  If we change a microscopic level we have to change as a person, too.  I have realized that if I embrace change and growth I can learn as much from others as possible.

Conversation 6

April 25, 2014

When Anastasia and I sat down for the last time she was happy because her transcript from Russia had finally come in.  When she showed it to me I was utterly confused.  I had no idea what anything meant and her explanation did not help me much.  I asked her what she studied in Russia and she said her major was cultural studies, or that was the best way she could translate it.  She wants to continue in some sort of similar major at TCU.  Her hope is that somebody here is able to translate the transcript and she can get credit for a lot of course so she does not have to start all over. 

Anastasia confident with her English now is proud of how far she has come in two years in America.  She had to attend a TCU lecture for class and she was able to understand everything and believes she can start in advanced classes at TCU.  She feels comfortable writing in English after two years of doing it.  Her worry is that even though she knows English now and has put in that work in Russia she will not be able to translate those credits into a major here.   Anastasia remembers what she has learned in Russia and has seen classes in America that teach the same things she learned.  However, she is still scared about having to retake courses, because not many people here can read Russian, and even if they can they may not understand how translate it into American course hours and grades.

Anastasia was full of uncertainty in our last meeting.  She has no idea what she wants to do with her life yet and it scares her because she is already 22.  Her uncertainty and worry saddened me.  I have heard her speak beautiful English and I know she is exceedingly intelligent.  I have hope that everything will work out for her.

             My last meeting with Anastasia was a bittersweet one for me.  I was completing an assignment for class and nearing the completion of a semester of classes.  However, I was also talking to this incredibly sweet girl with a completely different life full of experiences than me for possibly the last time.  I had learned a lot and met a great person whose opinions and words led me to question many things about society that I had never truly thought about before.  I only wish her the best and thank her for talking to me during this semester.

Conversation 5

April 15, 2014            

Anastasia has been having a hard time applying to TCU.  She has never dealt with a college application like the ones in America.  In Russia all she had to do to get into a university was send in her grades from high school.  That was the criteria for getting accepted to schools there.  She did not have to put down involvement, write essays, or any of the horrors that come with applying to college.  It was confusing for her, but not near as confusing as her financial aid application.

            She knows she cannot afford most colleges in the U.S. and had to apply for financial aid.  She did not know what to do or how to do it.  This application is confusing for Americans.  If Americans have a problem with an application based on American money and taxes, Anastasia must have been entirely lost.  She wishes it were as easy to go to school in America, as it was other places.  She has a friend from back home that got into a school in Germany and gets to attend that for free.  Anastasia is jealous of her friend because if she gets into school in America, she will still have to find the money to afford it.

            We discussed free education again.  She was worried that American Universities would not take transfer credit from her Russian university.  If this is the case she would have to go to school for four years here instead of two to complete her undergraduate degree.  This would mean paying for two more years of school.

            After our conversation, I began to think of how flawed the American university system is.  Society tells us that a college education is the way to become a successful, intelligent person.  Universities make themselves difficult to get into and then expect students who have done the work and put forth the effort to get into the school to pay their large tuition and housing fees.  Many students have to take out loans, because they cannot afford the high costs college and do not receive enough aid to pay for it.  These loans trap students and many people are left with this debt for decades after they graduate college.  If America does want to educate our best and brightest, it should not be so difficult for students to get the education they deserve. 

Science

            Cat’s Cradle was my favorite book we read this semester.  The satire Vonnegut uses is funny while it invokes many questions about humanity.  His satire of science is interesting as it deals with atomic bomb.  We had a long a discussion about science and whether or not it was good or bad.  Scientists have strived to learn more and create better technology to further societal development.

            Since the first humans were on Earth, mankind has always strived to learn more and create better inventions.  War has been one thing that humans have always tried to be better in.  Humans continued to develop weapons that were more lethal and caused more destruction.  The American government pushed for the best weapons available.  Eventually the Atomic Bomb was created and one was able to wipe out an entire city.  Humans reached a new level of destruction.

            I do not think science is inherently good or bad, but it is what you use science to learn and create.  Mankind has a desire that cannot be stopped.  Bigger and better things are always being looked for.  It only makes sense that people were able to create a weapon that has the potential to destroy the world after better weapons were being developed all the time.  This is a bad part of science.  Knowledge and development were used and are still used to create better ways of killing people.  The United States continues to spend an incredibly large amount on defense.  This has created better weapons and robots, namely drones, that can kill for humans.  Imagine if all this money and effort were used to create good things for the world.

            If humans can create things to destroy the world, why can we not develop things to save the world?  We have a thirst for knowledge and innovation.  If humans have a goal, we will eventually achieve it.  The goal can be achieved faster the more effort and money goes into achieving the goal.  Science has been used for many years to kill people and create luxuries that the developed world gets to see.  If we used science only to benefit the world, solve environmental issues, solve actual problems like starvation and disease, and anything that might hinder human life we could start a new world where everyone worked together to save the world rather than work independently to destroy it.

Conversation 4

March 25, 2014           

The first words that came from Anastasia’s mouth the fourth time we met were “Did you hear about the Volcano?”  Apparently, Putin had send out a warning on the news about a super Volcano that was about to erupt in Yellowstone National Park.  Anastasia’s friend told her this and said that every Russian in America was encouraged to leave to avoid the eruption.  I had seen a post from on facebook about the possibility of a super volcanic eruption in the U.S. the day before.  I knew it was only a theory and was not back up by much scientific evidence.  I thought it was funny how Putin had used his power to try and get Russians out the U.S.  Anastasia recognized this, too, and we only had more reason to believe those in power and those with money can control the media with much ease and it can cause a public opinion to from based on lies and manipulated truths.

            We moved on from this Putin conversation to one about a debate she had just come from.  It was all about gay rights and gay marriage.  Anastasia asked my opinion on this and we talked about how we both think homosexuals should be able to get married, but she added that most of her class did not.  She says a lot of her classmates are from Arabic nations, with the majority of them coming from Saudi Arabia.  Their religious beliefs forced them to believe gay marriage is wrong and should not be allowed.  Many Americans are against gay marriage for the same reason.  Anastasia and I both think gay marriage should be allowed because homosexuals should have equal rights in society, but others from completely different parts of the world do not think this way because of religion.  Two people from completely different cultures can think the same way about issues, while people from different parts of the world, who think of each other as enemies most of the time, can think the same thing based on two different religions.  I thought this was cool that people from all different parts of the world can have similar beliefs.  Many people do not realize that they share many of the same beliefs with people that they label as the enemy.

            After this we began discussing Anastasia’s debate on Obamacare.  She had not given it yet and was finding the subject confusing.  Most of her confusion came from health insurance.  She had never had to deal with health insurance before she came to the U.S.  TCU’s health insurance was the one Anastasia had and she said it did not give her much coverage.  She had no dental insurance or anything like that and many other people in her class who came from wealthy families were able to afford a large healthcare plan.  Her experience with healthcare had been always been socialized healthcare, and I understood her struggle to understand a foreign concept.  She had heard many different opinions about it, and by the way she talked I knew she liked socialized medicine better because it was easier to deal with than the confusing health insurance we have in America, and everyone gets the same treatment regardless of how much money they can and how much insurance they can afford.