My New Friend, Julia

I had some difficulty meeting with my original IEP partner. So after some discussion back and forth with Dr. Gayle, I finally was able to contact another IEP student about becoming her conversation partner. Her name is Julia, and she excitingly emailed me back and was eager to begin right away. So we set a date and time to meet up for lunch at Market Square in the Bluu.

           

             I met Julia at the front of Market Square on a Monday afternoon. Communication on the phone is difficult for her, but we eventually were able to find each other. She had never been to Market Square, so I began by showing her each food station and explaining to her what each one had to offer. We both settled for pasta and salad, and then we found a comfortable place to sit on the outside patio where we could enjoy the beautiful weather.

           

             Conversation was slow to begin. Her English is very broken and sometimes difficult to understand. I began with the simple questions—where are you from? How old are you? What brought you to America? Her answers were astonishing. She is from South Korea, and although she did not tell me her age, she did tell me that her and her husband have two children—a 10 year old daughter and a 20 year old son. Her husband is still at home in Korea working as a Christian pastor in order to support them all. She has come to America with her two children to learn English so that they can travel around the world and do Christian missionary work. English is the most commonly used language throughout the world, so they have determined that by learning English, it will be easier to communicate with people all over the world about God and His love for us all. I was immediately taken aback. Not only are most young Americans not willing to give up their dreams for a career to share God’s word with people overseas, but first having to learn a different language in order to do so would be considered an overwhelming and impossible amount of work. But Julia spoke of her and her family’s goal proudly, and she even became emotional when she explained to me the lack of such passion from others living in South Korea. Although the purpose of our meeting is to help her practice her English, I quickly detected that my time spent with Julia could be an incredible learning experience regarding how I can develop a drive like hers to share God’s word with others, regardless of the seemingly overwhelming obstacles that may cause this pursuit to be somewhat of a challenge.

Aside from this realization, the passion that Julia had for learning English and her desire to use my own knowledge as a valuable resource was made very clear on our first meeting. The amount of effort she put into clearly enunciating her words and choosing the correct words to express her thoughts was extremely humbling. She paid close attention to the way I pronounced words, and if I used a word she did know or had not heard of before, she wasn’t shy to ask me what it meant. Her determination is encouraging to me. Julia is a grown woman with a family of her own, and she has not let their location, finances, or anything else come between them and their drive to accomplish this dream. Since our first meeting, I have prayed that her own determination and willpower can serve as a source of encouragement and motivation for me to seek out opportunities to make a positive impact on this world once I graduate from TCU. The business and corporate world will always be available. What may not always be available is time, which is a precious and valuable resource that I will gain upon graduation. Julia has already begun to teach me the importance of having passion, chasing your dreams, and following your heart. I am excited to spend more time with her this semester and to continue to learn from her while she learns from me. 

Araby vs. Today

             James Joyce’s Araby was an unexpectedly interesting and attention-grabbing short story. To my surprise, I actually enjoyed reading the passage. My first experience when reading the short story was, admittedly, utter disappointment upon learning of the passage’s length. After overcoming this disappointment, my mind explored some interesting reactions and thoughts directly related to the reading. Although the thoughts provoked from reading the story may seem somewhat elementary, I believe that they speak on behalf of the time period in which the passage was written and identify interesting differences between Joyce’s time period and today’s society.

             At the beginning of the story, Joyce expands on the life of the unknown narrator, who seems to be a young boy who lives in an old home within a friendly neighborhood. I was immediately flooded with childhood memories, such as playing hopscotch and kickball with the neighborhood kids and eating popsicles on a hot summer’s day. The children’s attempt to avoid confrontation with the boy’s uncle reminded me of the scary old woman who used to live next door to us when we were growing up. She would come outside and yell at us children when our noise level would exceed her level of tolerance, and so we would all try to hide behind the bushes before she had a chance to determine exactly whose voice was bothering her this time. After reliving some of these memories, my thoughts quickly shifted to the disappointing reality of a changed world. I currently live in an old home on Wabash Avenue, a little less than two blocks away from campus. I am certain that there are families and children that live on our street (I have seen them before); yet the most common sound I hear when I sit on our front porch and enjoy the nice weather or work on my homework near a window is silence. Today’s generation of children enjoy new forms of entertainment, including videogames, television shows, and other technologically advanced activities. It seems as though my generation—young adults between the ages of 16 and 24—was the last generation of children to enjoy the old fashioned method of entertainment.

          

             This technological advancement has gone down in history as a major occurrence of the early twenty-first century. Just as the 1950’s are known for poodle skirts and diners, and the 1970’s are known for disco balls and drugs, the 2000’s will probably be identified with the iPad, 3D television sets, video-chatting, and several other technological devices that were nowhere near existence just a couple of decades ago. Although all of these hi-tech discoveries are fascinating and have created numerous opportunities for society, it is also sad to me to see how much society depends on these devices. Young adults are having a difficult time developing good communication skills because devices and programs such as text messaging, emailing, and instant messaging have replaced the need to have a face-to-face conversation. My own grandmother has lost interest in getting ready for the day and running errands because she can simply do all of her shopping online and have it delivered to her, all while watching her favorite television program. Sadly, research has indicated that children have already begun to be affected by these newly developed habits of today’s society. The percentage of obese children has drastically increased since the introduction of videogames. Young students are discouraged from reading books assigned to them in class due to the convenience of online services such as Spark Notes and Cliffs Notes. For these reasons and many others, it is important to me that my children experience the childhood that I had. I want my children to ride their bikes outside, play hopscotch and kickball, and eat popsicles on a hot summer’s day. I hope that there is a scary old woman next door who scares them into keeping their voices at an acceptable noise level. I will gladly and excitedly introduce them to whatever new technologies may exist during their own childhood. However, I will adamantly help them to understand the importance of developing strong communication skills, as well as the importance of enjoying each and every day. The essence of time is a blessing from God. It is an opportunity to learn something new, make a new friend, and enjoy life. I sincerely hope that my children will share a similar point of view that I have about the essence of time and society’s dependence on technology once they are old enough to understand the underlying issues. While videogames and other technologies are very entertaining, I hope that they will grow to appreciate the old fashioned method of growing up, and I hope that they will value the benefits that will result from it throughout their lives.