Conversation Partners #3

     After a long break from meeting with Deo due to spring break and busy test schedules, we were finally able to meet this past week. The meeting started out with a few laughs because Deo asked me to take a look at his phone to see if I could figure out what was wrong with it. Upon being handed the phone, I realized that he still had the original plastic wrap on the screen with the company name on it. He told me that he thought that he wasn't able to remove it and was very glad that he could now see his full screen.
     We then began to talk about doing FASFA for the upcoming school year. Deo really began to open up for the first time when I asked him if they have something similar in Rwanda. He told me that they didn't, but he also told me that paying for school is done much differently. He explained that if a family feels that their child is smart, they gather the entire extended family and tell them that they are sending their child to school. The extended family then takes the all of the expenses, including supplies, food, uniforms, and tutors, and splits it up among the different families. In return for the help, the family does the same for any of their relatives that want to go to school. Deo told me that he currently sends about $200 a month to Africa for cousins, nieces, and nephews. It was cool to learn just how family oriented their culture is. I am willing to bet that 75% of my extended family doesn't even know what year of college I am in. We kept talking about this and I told him about graduation presents (which is the only thing remotely similar in America to what he was telling me). He thought that this was weird and wasteful and the money should be given at the beginning of college to help pay for the actual schooling instead of having fun.
     As we were walking out of the IEP building, Deo got a call from a friend who is also from Rwanda that goes to TCU. As soon as he answered the phone, he switched from having a conversation in English with me to having a conversation in Swahili with her. I found this remarkable, and it didn't stop here. He finished the conversation with her and then ran into someone he knew and began to have a conversation with her in French. I was in awe. He was able to switch between 3 languages flawlessly. The lady whom he was talking to in French apparently asked me something and Deo had to tell her that I only speak English. I was just so impressed because Deo only had told me that he spoke French. I look forward to seeing what other talents Deo has been hiding from me the next time we meet.

Learning Experience #1

     I have put off doing one of these for a long time because I always feel like I am not learning anything relevant to write about. Yes, I can write about how I have learned about cellular transport or memorized a chemical reaction named after some French guy, but I feel like that stuff doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things. One thing that I have learned recently (or rather finally realized) is just how lucky I am to have amazing professors in my major classes. I realized this when my friend Brad showed me some of his material for his MCAT prep course. I was skimming through when I realized that thanks to the dedication and hard work of my professors, I knew almost every topic- and well. This would not be possible if I had unmotivated professors like some of my friends that go to different universities. I feel so lucky to have this to my advantage.
     A more lighthearted topic that I recently learned about in my behavioral research class is just how much companies manipulate statistics and studies to lie to customers. I've always noticed that every toothpaste brand is recommended by 9 out of 10 dentists, but I never really thought about this. The companies that we trust to provide us with quality products are just overpaying some statistician to manipulate studies and bend the results to make their product seem better than it is. If you ever get a free moment, I recommend reading How to Lie With Statistics. It is a quick read (about 100 pages with pictures) and you can download the pdf for free here https://archive.org/details/HowToLieWithStatistics.
     Now that I realized how much relevant information I actually learn on a regular basis, I look forward to writing my next learning experience post.

Converastion Partner #2

     As promised in our last encounter, I brought one of my Frisbees for Deo to see. I thought that he would recognize that he actually knew what a Frisbee was but he just did not know the name for it, but he actually had never seen one before.  I handed it over for him to inspect and he immediately figured out how it was used.  This impressed me because when I am handed a foreign object, I often do not automatically know what to do with it.  We threw the Frisbee for several minutes and he began to ask what games you can play with a Frisbee.  I explained the basic rules of Frisbee golf and ultimate Frisbee, but he did not seem to understand.  Afterwards, we walked to Union Grounds to get something to drink.
     On the way to Union Grounds, Deo asked more about the buildings of TCU and how each department is divided into its respective buildings.  He was especially interested in the business school since that is what he plans to do after IEP.  This brought me back to thinking of how determined and focused Deo is on reaching his goals (this meeting, he told me that one of these goals is to own a Range Rover because he is "tired of driving his taxi car around").  In a stroke of luck, as we made it to the commons, some members of the TCU's Ultimate Frisbee team were playing a pick-up game and Deo and I watched for a while.  He jokingly told me that it was just a ripoff of soccer and we had a good laugh.
     When we got to Union Grounds, I bought Deo's drink due to my abundance of campus cash.  I haven't seen anyone so appreciative in a very long time.  It's funny to think that TCU gives up this campus cash (I mean... we pay for it in our meal plans...) and we take it for granted and think of it as fake money to buy whatever we want.  It meant nothing to me to swipe my I.D. for a Sprite, but Deo appreciated that Sprite as if it were the last one on Earth.  I hope this moment sticks with me forever and I never forget how lucky I am.