My Second Meeting with Joe- What is a Sorority?

After breaking the ice during our first meeting, Joe and I found ourselves a week later at Union Grounds having another conversation. It was really nice to talk with Joe again and catch up after the long fall break. Joe and I discussed what each of us did during the break, which created a lot of different conversational tangents. One of the first things we talked about was the weather difference between Texas and Chicago as well as Texas and Japan. I just figured everyone knew it was colder in Chicago but honestly, I understand the confusion. I couldn’t tell you for the life of me what the weather is like in Japan right now so it was very funny for both of us to come to the realization that we both know very little about each others cultures.

            Joe is just becoming immersed in TCU culture so he had a lot of fun experiences to share with me from his fall break. So far he has done a lot of fun and awesome things with the IEP program. Joe pulled out his phone and showed me pictures of inside an elite part of the football stadium where the IEP students got to have lunch and listen to a speaker. How awesome is that?! I will probably never get the chance to go in there unless I decide to donate at LEAST $50,000 a year (shouldn’t my tuition count?!)

            I think perhaps the funniest thing that occurred during our meeting was when Joe asked me to describe what a sorority is. Let me tell you that may seem like an easy answer but its way more complicated than you think. First of all, sororities, fraternities, and similar types of associations are very unique to westernized cultures, especially in the United States. I never really contemplated what it would be like to describe what a sorority actually is. I sat on the couch in Union Grounds watching a million girls wearing rain jackets, hairbands, t-shirts, sweatshirts, jewelry, and whatever else can be decked in letters, pass me by, yet I was still fumbling for words of how to describe what it actually is. Personally I do know what a sorority is and as a current member of one at TCU, I can say I love being associated with one. It is a great way to be involved and make new friends (enough of my preaching). However, regardless of my fondness for sororities I still found myself confused on how to describe it. This became an even more challenging task when Joe told me how he saw a bunch of girls and guys wearing crazy costumes walking in the greek last weekend. I don’t know about you other fellow greekers, but the first thing I say about a sorority is not going to be “Well we have a lot of fun mixers!”  While all those things are good and dandy, it’s really not what being in one of those organizations is truly about. So I bypassed the question and first started explaining the many things that a sorority does. I told him about philanthropies, chapter meetings, even down to how we go through recruitment. Joe was very interested in hearing about all these aspects and he seemed very surprised and amused by some of them. Of course I did get back to him about how fun it is to dress up and go to mixers with all your best friends, but I wanted to make sure I didn’t give a superficial interpretation of what its like to be in a great organization.

            This Second meeting with Joe was a really entertaining experience. It really opened up my eyes to some of the differences between our cultures that I would never even think about contemplating. Besides just being an interesting conversation it proved to be quite humorous for both of us. I am looking forward to my next meeting with Joe. I can’t wait to see what entertaining conversations we have in store!

First Meeting with Yusuke "Joe"

After a lot of confusion and trouble shooting I finally had the opportunity to be assigned a partner for the conversational partner project! My partner’s name is Yusuke but he told me to call him “Joe” for convenience. Joe just arrived in Fort Worth about two weeks ago from Japan and started taking IEP classes at TCU shortly after. I can’t even imagine what it must be like switching gears and coming all the way to Texas! I learned a lot about Joe and his background from our first meeting and I can already tell that this will be an enriching experience.

During our meeting Joe explained to me how beneficial this partnering project is to him in order to help him gain experience talking with a native English speaker. I came into this assignment thinking that I was the only one getting educational benefits from it, but it turns out that this is not the case at all. Joe was enthusiastic and open when he was talking with me and it made our conversations flow easily. I found it funny how little both of us knew about where each is from. I thought I had a better idea about Japan, but I was sadly mistaken. I think the only thing I could relate to was the location of Tokyo and a love of sushi. At the same time though, Joe did not know as much about the United States as I would have thought. In reality it all makes sense but as humans we are very self-driven and it sometimes is a challenge to think about how other people experience life. Joe and I talked for a while on what we find funny. He showed me a few videos from a Japanese television show, which I obviously did not understand in terms of language. I still found some humor in the video because it was apparent through the actions of the different characters. It kind of reminded me of we discussed silent films in class, and how the physical actions of the characters create humor. While I couldn’t understand what was being said, I could pick up on the humor based on what I saw.      

Joe and I talked a lot about classes and school and how different both of our experiences are here at TCU. Even though we share similar surroundings the things we do here at TCU are completely different. There is more structure to the IEP classes and they go from 9- 1pm. I feel like with my classes I’m all over campus at all hours of the day doing so many different things. I can’t imagine how difficult it must be to learn a new language and all of its components while being simultaneously immersed in the culture. Even though its challenging Joe said he really is enjoying himself at TCU so far, I mean who wouldn’t?!

One thing that Joe and I had in common that I found particularly interesting is that we both have the experience of coming to TCU from a place that’s not like Texas at all. I know Chicago doesn’t seem far but it is a completely different world up there than it is down here (at least from my experiences). I can say that I love both Chicago and Fort Worth in their own ways and I’ve been so lucky to have the opportunity to expand my education away from where I grew up. I think that is how Joe feels and I’m sure a lot of the IEP students. It is such a wonderful and enriching opportunity to learn about a new place, and even more so a new language and culture. I am really looking forward to getting to know more about Joe within our next meetings. I can already tell this is going to be a great experience!   

And the Learning Continues..

So it’s October 14^th and we are almost if not already at that halfway point of the semester. I think I have gotten a lot better at managing my time since I last blogged. It is so hard to stay on top of everything I have to do because not every class and activity goes together. I feel like my life is a constant balancing act and sometimes I really getting thrown off. When I was in high school I never really appreciated how nice it was that teachers planned tests and assignments together that way students wouldn’t get overloaded with work. Ha, only if college were the same way. Sometimes I look at my schedule for the week and think to myself, not one professor has mercy on me. After pointing the finger and blaming others for my stressful week ahead of me, I suck it up and start preparing for the 5 million tests and assignments I have due. I wish I could say that this only happens during midterms and finals but that would be a huge lie. Every week that passes by I am bombarded with assignments and tests. It NEVER ends. This semester in particular I feel like the wheels keep turning and I’m running to catch up.

I guess this feeling is quite normal for college students. Staying organized and planning ahead is essential for success. I cannot imagine where my grades would be if I treated everything like I did when I was in high school. This semester in particular I am in 18 hours and boy do I feel the burden of those hours. I’ve come to realize its not the actual time spent in class that causes me to be stressed, it’s that everything piles up outside of class and there is no such thing as sacrificing one priority for the other. I know a lot of people would tend to disagree with me on that statement but I have definitely tried to skim through some things and dedicate a lot to others, and that adds to the imbalance and in the long run causes bigger problems. This semester I have been focusing on how to keep balanced amongst my world of chaos.

The first thing I have learned is to separate everything into categories. Major, minor, core classes etc.   I focus on what is important about each of the classes that fall under those categories and the tackle the work from there. As a Speech Pathology major I spend a lot of time at the Speech and Hearing Clinic and that is the time and place where I get all of my work for my major done. I prep and make decisions about what I am going to do in my therapy sessions at the clinic, I take most if not all of my speech path classes in the clinic, and I turn all my reports and lesson plans to the clinic. I really have learned that the clinic is my friend and I need to know everything about it in order to stay successful within the major. As far as my psychology minor goes, I am in two psych classes this semester, which are actually going very well for me. I find both of the classes extremely interesting. Thankfully my Case Studies in Child Development class is one night a week, so I get that night to fully focus on that class and am actually learning a lot from it. My other class is Personality of Psychology, which is also a course that I really enjoy. I find myself constantly analyzing my own personality now and the personalities of others and a lot of traits and quirks about people make a lot more sense.  For my core class I am in Biology, and let me take a second to thank my high school self for taking AP Biology. I honestly believe my success in that class can be attributed to my past knowledge on the subject.

Overall one of the biggest things I have learned from this semester throughout all my classes is to be observant of what I learn and apply it to my everyday life. For example, this class has made me look at humor more than I ever had before. When I hear or watch something funny I stop and think why it is funny. Am I laughing because I am experiencing a cognitive shift? Is the humor self-deprecating? Terms and concepts I never thought of before now come full force during humorous experiences. In my speech path classes I am constantly taking what I am learning and applying it my therapy sessions and my professional writing documents. As far as biology is concerned, I guess that’s just the facts of life and I use the knowledge from that class unconsciously everyday, every hour, every second. I look forward to what’s in store in terms of learning experiences the rest of this semester.

A Fit of Uncontrollable Laughter, and Pizza

I guess there is no way to start this off without sounding embarrassing, but one of my favorite things in this whole wide world is pizza. Thankfully one of my best friends and roommates enjoys the cheesy carb-loaded delight just as much as I do. We sort of have this tradition that no matter when or how, at the end of a night going out, we end up back at our apartment with a box of joy. 

This habit has been a long time in the making. I really don't know any college student who doesn't enjoy eating late with friends. It is one of the most common bonding activities people can do (in my opinion.) My friend and I have our usual place that we go to off of Berry Street. It is actually getting quite entertaining every time we call to order because they know exactly who it is calling and exactly what we want. "One medium cheese pizza with two sides of garlic sauce" 

The laughter we share during these experiences is too much to even document. However, this past weekend after the football game my friend and I had a pizza experience that can be topped by no other, which caused us to laugh uncontrollably. It will go down as one of the funniest and weirdest things we have ever done. 

It was getting to be a very wet game for the frogs, and my friend and I were starting to become extremely hungry. We decided it was time for us to leave and do what we do bet. As we left the stadium I called up the number, which I dial so frequently to place our order. It must have been an off day because they asked who was calling and did not know any information regarding our traditional order. Nevertheless, I carried along giving the person all the needed information. After he hung up my friend and I continued to walk up Stadium drive in pursuit to the pizza. As we were crossing the street, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the pizza delivery car. I locked eyes with my friend, and we ran towards the car. My friend (braver than myself) knocked on the window, and the driver rolled it down and asked what we wanted. She briefly explained how we just ordered a pizza and asked for a ride. I was shocked and cracking up at the same time. I can't believe we flagged down a pizza deliveryman and asked him for a ride back to the restaurant so we didn't have to walk. Thankfully the man was in good spirits and let us in the car. 

My friend and I could barely get a word in without cracking up. The delivery guy was enjoying our fit of laughter and questioned how much we loved pizza. Once we got to the pizza place we thanked our driver and went on our way. After paying for our pizza my friend and I were at it again, and found a TCU shuttle to take us back to our apartment (which I might add was not apart of the route) We were so grateful for the two free rides we got, and couldn't stop laughing about what had happened for the rest of the afternoon. I guess the conclusion we came to after what had happened is that there really isn't anything we wouldn't do for a pizza.