River Reflection 2

            When I take time to stop and really think about water, it never fails that I am perplexed by what makes it so attractive.  Maybe it’s the roaring sounds of a waterfall that seem to drown out the rest of the world, or maybe it’s the stillness of a pool in a secluded place.   Something about water is just fascinating to us as human beings.  I love watching small ripples caused by a fish or a duck swimming, and seeing the way even the slightest breeze can completely change the way the water looks.      I love the way light reflects off of water and makes it sparkle.  Most of all, I just love the water itself.

            There is a reason we are inherently attracted to water.  After all, you are composed of mostly water and would not even survive a week without it.  If for some reason humans were naturally repulsed by water, then the human population would cease to exist.  People over the centuries have moved hundreds of miles to be closer to water, have determined their entire lives around the presence of water, and even make their living based on the amount of water available.  Not enjoying the sights, sounds, and smells of water would make this world an awfully unpleasant place to live. 

            It completely makes sense evolutionarily that we would grow to love everything about water and want to be as close to it as possible, but few people realize this power that water has in our lives.  People get thirsty and pour a glass of water, or get dirty and take a shower, but rarely does anyone stop and think “Hmm I wonder why this is so refreshing and relaxing.”  Our body knows how much we truly need water; so every one of our senses is designed to love everything about it.   We love the sight moving water, the sound of majestic waterfalls, the smell of the ocean, the cool, crisp touch of water on a hot summer day, and the refreshing taste after a long run.  If all of your senses are telling you something is great, it is impossible to not love being around it.  To put it simply, we innately love water because we cannot survive without it.

            I think it is incredibly interesting to think about these kinds of things, especially as I sit next to the river and wind down for the day.  It’s refreshing, it’s comforting, and it actually gives me a different perspective on what’s going on in my life.  People don’t use this wonderful resource we have often enough.  Everyone is driving by after a long day of work, headed home to sit on the couch and watch TV for a couple hours before they go to bed and call it a day, and yet just stopping by for 20 minutes to go on a walk and let your thoughts wander could change your outlook on the entire week.

A “river reflection” assignment has by far been the best assignment I have had for this semester, because without an assignment such as this there is no way I would venture out and spend time just sitting by a river.  If I’m not being productive and actually accomplishing an assignment of some sort I get stressed and can’t enjoy whatever it is I’m trying do.  This has given me a chance to get out of my little bubble at TCU and spend some time in nature to think about things that are more important than an assignment for class or an exam two weeks from now.  Spending time outside is therapeutic for me, and that is extremely helpful in the midst of a stressful semester.

Eid al-Adha

Eid-al-Adha, also referred to as the Feast of Sacrifice if you’re more into English, is an Islamic holiday celebrated every year to commemorate the sacrifice Abraham made when he was asked by Allah to sacrifice his own son. At the last minute Allah stepped in and told him the sacrifice was already done and that there was no need to kill his son, and Abraham had passed the test of obedience. This year I had the opportunity to participate in a small part of the celebration.  My conversation partner, Noor, invited me to an event that explained a little more about this festival and provided food that would typically be served for the occasion.  Eid is a feast celebrated after the Hajj, one of the most important aspects of Islam, a pilgrimage to Mecca. 

The day typically begins with a prayer and continues as any holiday would- great food, family, and friends.  It was really a lot of fun to be a part of a celebration that I was completely unfamiliar with.  I had learned about the basic principles of Islam last year in a religion class, so it was interesting to actually be able to be a part of it rather than just reading about something that seemed to be happening on the other side of the world.  Also, it was something that I enjoyed looking up and reading about after the fact, because the story which they are celebrating is also a Bible story which I have grown up hearing throughout my years in church.  Seeing how similar the two religions are and the values and ethics that each uphold is one way I am able to tear down any sort of prejudice I ever had against the Islamic religion as a whole. I have always enjoyed learning about other religions and what other people celebrated, but never before have I actually gotten to be in the midst of it and be a part of a holiday outside of my own tradition.  Of course this tiny version of a feast and ten minute lesson of the holiday was not even a drop in the bucket compared to how people actually celebrate Eid, but it was at least more than I had been exposed to in the past.

I also had the privilege of meeting Noor’s older brother who is in the Intensive English Program at TCU as well.  She grabbed by arm and dragged me to him with a huge smile on her face and said, “Finally you can meet my brother!!”  I thought it was hilarious that she was so excited about it, but it was also great to see how close she was to her older brother and I was glad that she was so eager to introduce me to him.  Of course he was kind, but I did not talk to him long before she was shoving me towards the table full of food and telling me all the things I absolutely had to try before I could leave.

The rest of the event I stuffed my face with an assortment of foods I had never tried before and honestly do not know the name of now.  I had more than enough Saudi Arabian coffee and dessert, and then went back for a little more.  In the meantime Noor was being a social butterfly, running all over the place talking to everyone there and having a great time.

I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to be paired with a conversation partner, and what I have learned from Noor has gone well above my expectations.  Even simple events that don’t seem like a big deal at the time are something that I later think about and it changes my perspective on the world a little bit.  I honestly think that a pairing with a student from another country should be something that every student here should do at some point.  Sure it may be weird or uncomfortable at first, but it is crazy how much you can learn even through simple conversations, small talk, and invitations to each other’s holidays.

Meeting With Noor: Take Two

Today I got to meet with my conversation partner, Noor, again and it went really well.  We met downtown and enjoyed PF Changs together since we had already established that this was our favorite type of food here.  It was so nice to be able to get to know her a little more and learn more about her life outside of the US.  We pretty much just had a normal conversation, discussing things such as movies and TV series.  She said she enjoys watching American television shows as a way to learn English, which was something I had never thought of before.  She was asking about what series she could watch but since she had already seen Friends and Prison Break I had no advice to give. 

Another interesting conversation that came up was driving.  She is 25 years old and has never driven a car before because it is not custom for women to drive in Saudi Arabia. I didn’t want to ask her directly, but it did make me wonder how many other inequalities there are between men and women in Saudi Arabia and if it ever causes any sort of issues.   I think if it is something you have always grown up knowing, it would be unlikely that it would seem unfair.  Just as young boys typically play with trucks and footballs while young girls prefer dress up and Barbie dolls, maybe it is just a social norm that people don’t think twice about.  What I do know, though, is if you told a typical American woman she couldn’t drive anymore there would be an absolute uproar, yet Noor did not think it was abnormal at all.  She said she will be learning to drive soon, though, and I helped explain some of the differences in the roads here.  For example, she said she was most nervous about not knowing the difference between one and two way streets, and that there were actually barriers up between lanes in Saudi Arabia.  It had never even crossed my mind that something that seems so simple such as driving could actually be a difficult challenge in a foreign country.

Another difference she mentioned about America is the presence of suicide.  She said she was reading the stories that were set out on backpacks in the commons the other day for suicide awareness and was surprised that suicide even seems like an option to anyone because it was unheard of where she was from.  I decided to research the statistics a little bit, and although it is almost half of the rate in the United States, many sources I read also said it was on the rise.  There is a possibility, though, that it is simply not as widely advertised as it is in the United States which would explain why she would not have heard of it happening before.  It is interesting to hear some things such as this from her, because she talked about how much she loved her country and she could not wait to be back home, and yet news articles paint a different picture about women living in Saudi Arabia.  In fact, one of the first websites I clicked on was titled Women Living Under Islamic Laws and the first line read “Segregated from men, banned from driving and facing restrictions on travel, work, and even study, many Saudi women attempt suicide to escape one of the world's strictest societies.”  This ties in with what I was considering before about driving, but I do wonder how much of a topic of discussion it is there.  As I said, Noor thought it was perfectly normal and did not have a single complaint about Saudi Arabia, so it is interesting to get different perspectives.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, I had the chance to explain some of our traditional holidays such as Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.  Of course she had heard of them and knew a little bit, but she has not actually experienced these holidays in the United States.  She said she knew of Halloween from the movies and seemed excited to actually experience it.  I’m hoping she experiences the part where sweet little kids are dressed up as ninja turtles and princesses rather than the slightly less impressive costumes college girls like to flaunt (I know that it scares me).  I explained a little bit about Thanksgiving and she giggled about how many holidays we have here which again was nothing I had thought of before.  After lunch, we walked down to the movie theater and watched Equalizer, an extremely gory thriller.  It was probably more of a man’s movie but of course the movie we wanted to see what sold out so we had to work with what we had and it turned out to be fun. 

Overall it really was a great afternoon and I feel like I have actually made a good friend through this process.  I am hoping that I will be able to find out more about her and her culture without seeming like I am just trying to interview her, but up to this point I am slowly getting the pieces.  In fact, she invited me to go to an event tomorrow that is celebrating a Muslim holiday, so I think that will be a great opportunity about not only the Islamic religion but also the traditions and hopefully a little more insight about the culture she is familiar with.  I will also have the chance to meet her brother who is also in the intensive English program at TCU.  I am so glad that this has all gone so well and I am so excited to learn more from Noor! 

Learning Experience: When O-Chem Teaches Life Lessons

α-Terpinine combined with N-Phenylmaeimide produces a Diels-Alder product that can be isolated through recrystallization.  Okay really though, who cares?  Chemists and chemistry majors, maybe.  Organic chemistry is a class most people dread.  The concepts are difficult and at the same time the amount of materiel to be memorized is obnoxious.  It’s like they are saying “here is way more information than you could ever be capable of learning, now see how much you can do before the next exam compared to everyone else in the class.  Oh and at the same time you are expected to volunteer in the community, spend hours in a hospital setting getting some type of experience, be involved on campus, and have a social life. Don’t forget time to keep yourself healthy by eating, working out, and getting plenty of sleep. Good luck.”

School is a rough time for pretty much anyone, but I have grown to appreciate the pre-med track due to the fact that it has taught me much more than biology and chemistry.  It has taught me that I have to prioritize what is important and really think about what I love to do and what I can say no to doing.  Yes, it can be overwhelming, but one day when I have a family and I am also a doctor I have a feeling times will be a little overwhelming.  If it weren’t for my education here, I would not be prepared to deal with that in the future and I would be under great amounts of stress.  What I just wish other people would realize it that there really is more to school than school.  In other words, there are more important things you are learning than what your professors have you memorize of a powerpoint slide for an exam.  Sure those things are important, or at least they will be important to somebody’s life from the class in the future, but there is no way you will remember all of that information in 5, 10, or 20 years.  It is a foundation to build on so that you can find what you love and run with it. Not every person can love every class, but there may be one person in organic chemistry who just gets it and goes out to create a life-saving drug, and for that reason it is worth it to continue to teach it year after year.

Realizing why you’re here takes lot more than just waking up one morning and saying hey it’s okay I’ll just be happy today and not worry so much about making A’s in my classes.  No, you still need to worry about it.  Grades are important, and classes are the main reason you are here.  However, what you learn from those classes is what is important.  I don’t want to look back in ten years and say “well…I don’t really remember my classes but I do remember being miserable sitting in a study room every single weekend”.  Maybe there really is more to life than making a 100 on an organic chemistry exam.  What’s the point in getting into medical school if you are going to be absolutely miserable throughout the entire process? Chances are if you don’t learn how to put a little balance in your life now, you won’t be able to as an adult working a high stress full-time job with a family. 

I don’t want to be that doctor who is exhausted and miserable because I’ve beat myself up over the years trying to get one step higher than everyone else to get into that one medical school or that high ranking residency program.  For some reason I have just realized this recently, but I want to do this because I enjoy it.  I want to go to medical school because I love learning how to help people, not because it’s something I must achieve in order to feel successful.  I want to make long-lasting friends, spend time with my family, and be involved with things I love-not with things I feel obligated to do.  I am incredibly thankful for my education at TCU, and I want to make the most of it.

River Reflection

         Ain't nobody got time for that. When I first considered what I would do as a "river reflection" this is exactly what went through my head.  I felt like I didn't have time to go sit by a river and think about life. I have things to do. I have papers to write, chemistry to study and Lord knows I have quite a few hours of sleep to catch up on. However, when the temperature dropped a little I decided maybe it would be worth while actually taking a break.  Nice weather and running water really are the perfect combination. Throw in a bag of sunchips and a blanket on the grass and there really isn't anywhere I would rather be.  It turns out that was exactly the breath of fresh air that I've been needing. I had not even realized that I really haven't stopped to spend time outside since I've moved back to school in August.  Something about sitting next to a body of water is peaceful.  It is beautiful, fascinating, and calming.  For some reason, it is even thought provoking.

 As I sat by the river, I started thinking about all the people around. Some are doing exactly what I would love to do everyday-riding bikes, going on walks, fishing, or playing basketball. Still others are hurrying through their everyday lives, not stopping for a single second to appreciate the beauty around us. I look across at all the buildings and I think of all the people in suits, spending their life if an office cubicle, working on a computer screen all day everyday.  Sure some people are cut out for that lifestyle, and thank God for them, but I sure wouldn’t make it long. I hear the cars from every direction, rushing to wherever they may be headed.  Horns, sirens, screeching tires.  I wonder if they ever considered slowing down a bit. Airplanes fly across the sky every few minutes; where are they going? Are they happy to be leaving? What kinds of things are going through all these people's minds? All of these things are simply a part of our lives now, but it really makes me sad to realize that the world is in such a hurry. There's always somewhere else to go and something else that needs to be done, and people don't take the opportunity to sit quietly outside and just think. We wonder why depression rates are so high, but it makes sense when you realize the amount of time people cut out for peaceful rest is negligible compared to the big test in school or that project at work.

I'm not saying success isn't important. Of course it is. Not many people aspire to be that person who lives by the river and reflects on nature and doesn't know where their next meal will be. I WOULD love to be the kid across the river who caught a huge fish while I was there.  I would love to be the young woman coming for a nice long walk with her puppy.  I would love to take advantage of the beautiful resource we have five minutes from where I live. What I'm saying is that maybe personal time to stop and breathe is more important than the never-ending to do list sitting on my desk.  Will I have time to sit for an hour and a half and relax every single day?  I wish, but absolutely not.  That is not the point.  The point is realizing what is important and what isn’t and seeing that maybe there isn’t as much as a rush to get things done as we think.  

                                                                                 This picture from the top of a tree.  I take great risks for the sake of this blog.