I was a little worried Hashim
wouldn’t remember that we agreed to meet today. For the first meetings, we met
on Fridays at 2 but I asked him to meet me today at 2. Well, consider him
thrown off. I texted him a little after two letting him know where I was
sitting and I called my sister while I waited. Ten minutes later, Hashim runs
up, keys in hand. Apparently he felt he forgot something but couldn’t remember
what until he received my text. I’ve definitely had those days so I hold
nothing against him.
I remembered from last time that
Hashim was supposed to get his test results in today (for graduating the IEP
program). When I asked him, he laughed and told me that he skipped school today
and was enjoying a relaxing day. I guess his group of friends just bought a new
video game this weekend and stayed up until 3 last night playing. These boys
are quickly becoming typical college students. Either way, Hashim is fairly confident
that he passed the program. If so, he’ll be a student at TCU next semester! I’m
jealous that IEP doesn’t have to take finals. Instead, Hashim asked about the
finals I will be taking. He was also curious how I prepare for finals. I told
him about dead days and my schedule for finals. He then shared that when he was
younger his mom made him study two weeks
in advance for finals! I understand preparation but that sounded like overkill
for a middle school student. Apparently in high school, his dad told his mom
that Hashim needed to learn responsibility on his own. So it came down to
Hashim preparing for finals four days in advance. Apparently this was a close
call for Hashim – he said his grades started to slip in high school. Well, that
is until his father gave him a talk about studying. Things have obviously
turned around because Hashim was able to come to America to study.
Speaking of studying abroad, his
sister is going to the English program at the University of Texas. Hashim’s
grandparents are coming down with his sister and will be staying with her.
Hashim is rather thankful that his grandparents will be visiting for a few days
then going to Austin. While he loves his family and sister, his grandparents
would check on him too much. He also is glad they will be there to support his
sister. The culture in America is extremely different than in Saudi Arabia. In
Saudi Arabia, women cannot drive and never just go talk to men. Hashim
understands his sister has a lot to get used to and hopes she will adapt
quickly. We talked about these cultural differences and how Hashim adapted. It
seems like the change was relatively easy for him. He says his sister is smart
enough and she will adjust. I think she will be able to find plenty of people,
especially at a large school like UT.
Hashim and I talked about a few
other things. It is amazing to see where we came from and how we have moved
forward as friends. We are able to laugh together and share stories of our
different experiences. I’m glad I was able to have this experience and I hope
Hashim got something out of it too.
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