My last meeting with Noor was a
bittersweet one. Sweet because it is the
end of the semester, she successfully completed her English courses last week,
and I am only a few days away from completing my classes as well. Bitter, though, because I am not sure how
much more I will see of her. She will
still be here for a while, but she is not completely sure where life is going
to take her for the next couple of years and she will possibly be moving to
another school before long for her Master’s degree.
The friendship I have had the chance to create with Noor is one which I
will never forget, because it is one completely different than any other
friendship I have in college. There are
people I speak to every single day that have not taught me the same things I
have learned through just six short meetings with Noor. Noor has made me realize that people really
are so much more similar than what we think.
It is easy to classify people into different groups, whether that be
ethnicity, race, religion, or even completely irrational groupings in college
such as “Greek vs. non-Greek” and sub classifications based on major. However, I’ve realized that once you sit down
with someone one on one and truly make an effort to get to know them, it does
not take much time at all for those barriers to come down.
As I’ve said before, I was terrified to meet Noor, but mainly
because I am terrified to meet anyone.
That’s just a part of who I am.
So being forced to partner up with someone was one of the most terrifying
experiences that became one of the most rewarding. Requirements like this should be what getting
an education is really all about. Through Noor and many other people, I have
learned more through my relationships with people while in college than I can
ever learn in a cold lecture hall. I am
incredibly thankful that I chose to take this class and had the chance to
complete assignments that were out of the ordinary rather than memorizing facts
I can regurgitate on an exam.
I
hugged Noor goodbye without even thinking about the fact that I won’t be able
to meet with her next week and catch up on how everything is going, but I do
hope that I am able to keep in touch and remain close friends at least as long
as she is here at TCU. Even as we do
move to different places in life, it is a connection that I am thankful to have
made and I look forward to celebrating her successes with her in the future.
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