As the Semester Comes to a Close: Seventh Meeting

           Instead of meeting at Barnes and Noble this week, Ibrahim and I decided to meet at Einstein’s to change things up a bit. Both of us were excited to have a break from school and relax with our friends and families. Ibrahim told me about his Thanksgiving dinner with the American family that he and his classmates had visited. They had their Thanksgiving dinner a little early, on Monday, so that they wouldn’t impose on the family for the actual holiday. Ibrahim told me that he enjoyed the dinner a lot and that the food was good. He said he had a good time visiting with his teacher and classmates as well as with the family. He was able to talk to one of the daughters in the family who was a student at TCU so he made friends quickly. I thought it was great that Ibrahim’s teacher set the dinner up for the students because it seemed like Ibrahim had truly enjoyed his experience.

            As Ibrahim and I talked about the things we had done during the weekend, the conversation turned to movies. Ibrahim told me that he had gone to the movie theater several times during the last week to see movies like Jack and Jill and Harold and Kumar. I noticed during our meetings that he went to the movies often and he always seemed amazed when I hadn’t been to see the newest movies that were out. We talked about some popular movies for a while and he explained to me that although some of his friends raved about Inception, he didn’t really understand the whole concept. I told him that it was hard to understand under any context let alone under the grasps of a second language. He told me that his favorite movie was 21 because he liked the logic behind the counting cards and he told me that I definitely needed to watch the movie since I hadn’t before.

Ibrahim and I then discussed his plans for next semester since this semester is quickly drawing to a close. I asked him how his application process was going with the different schools and he told me about his recent talks with UTA. He had called the admissions office at UTA during the previous week and they seemed impressed with the scores on his tests. The admissions lady told him that he would almost certainly be accepted and that they would contact him soon. Ibrahim also expressed his nervousness about picking a career track to me. Although he has not quite figured out what he would like to study for sure, he has to pick something in order to keep his scholarship. He was also surprised by his father’s recent comments about his going to college next semester. He told me that his father told him that it might be a good idea to put it off another semester and take some more classes in English. Ibrahim told me that he did not think that he wanted to put off his college classes much longer and I personally don’t think that he really needs to with the way his English has improved. With all the achievements he has gotten lately, I am excited to see things are going well for him and I am glad I get to help him improve his English along the way.