On Diversity & Adversity

In my history class I sit between two men; one is Asian (I believe he said Korean, but I am not sure) and the other is Middle Eastern - born in Afghanistan and raised in Russia before coming to the US as a teenager. Neither one of them speak English as a first language. We were blessed with an unusually long break tonight when my professor left the room for 20 minutes instead of 10, and the three of us got into a rather interesting discussion.

Basically they were explaining to me what it is like to be in college in America but to not speak English well. Both of them, I believe, would be considered fluent in English - but they both have thick accents, and trouble with grammar, they said. In order to get their associates degree they have to take English classes, and while some of their teachers have been forgiving with their papers, etc, apparently not everyone has been. Every assignment for them involves translating their thoughts into English at least partially, because they said that they don't think in English.

I can't imagine how hard that must be. Some people can pick up languages easily, but I am not one of them. I "get" Latin, but I struggled for years with Spanish in high school and middle school. Admittedly I was not very dedicated to the subject. But to live in a country, and go to school in a country where hardly anyone knows your language - that has to be incredibly difficult. I don't think I could do it, and I consider myself a very intelligent and hard-working person.

I won't mention names as I do not know these people well, but they were both incredibly friendly and I really admire their dedication to education. They both stated how difficult they found writing essays & papers, and one spoke of his intention to go to medical school at VCU. I am not sure I have ever been as dedicated to anything as they are to their educations; and they don't take any of it for granted. Their attitudes about life are very admirable, and it is something I think a lot of people would do well to notice.

It is in the face of adversity is where people show their truth, who they really are. The best of us will use a challenge as a reason to push ourselves harder and succeed; the worst of us will simply stop trying. Most of us are guilty of both. I think that people who try to make the best out of any situation are the inspirational ones, who make you a better person just by being a part of your life.

You learn something from everyone you let in, and you are teaching them, too. One of the reasons that I am so attached to David is that every day he makes me want to be a better person, because he is so kind. Or my grandmother, who lost both a husband and a daughter too soon, and yet is full of more love than most people I know. Let every experience you have and every person you love enrich your life, learn all you can from them, and realize that you never stop being a student - you never stop growing as a person.