Reflecting on the River

This class has provided me with opportunities to do things I would not have done on my own, including visiting the Trinity on my own free time. Before taking this course, I had only been to the Trinity once before and it actually held a bad memory for me as I associated it with a past relationship I am no longer in. I was a little skeptical of returning to the river but with my best friend accompanying me for the first trip, I kept an open mind.

The weather was perfect for our outing to the river; a bright blue sky, sunny with some light, wispy clouds in the sky and a cool breeze. We parked by a trail down to the water because I wanted to experience the river from the water, not from a bench on the hill above the river bank. The trail led straight to the river and we walked across the water on an island of rocks to find the perfect spot to sit and reflect upon. We sat a few rocks apart from each other to allow us the space to individually reflect before we regrouped and talked about how we were each experiencing the river. 

Although I hadn't brought my camera to the river, I was in awe of its beauty on this sunny day so I improvised and captured it on my iPhone camera. For the first few minutes I was on my rock, I was seeing the river through a photographer's perspective; which angle would capture the water running through the rocks the best, how close to the surface of the water could I place my phone to capture the reflections of the water. I love the way my mind works when I am trying to capture a moment on camera because I see things differently and often notice things I normally wouldn't. While looking at the river through my camera lens (aka my iPhone 5 screen), I noticed how the green hue of the river wasn't as unattractive as I originally thought, it actually contrasted well with the bright green grass on the river banks. As it flowed over the rocks and cascaded down them, the water was crystal clear and mimicked the sound of rain or a small waterfall. Looking at the water through my camera gave me the opportunity to appreciate the Trinity's natural beauty, something I don't usually take the time to do.

Sitting on the Trinity was such a peaceful and serene experience and I was surprised with how much I enjoyed it. I am not one to sit with my thoughts and reflect but I found myself doing exactly that on the river. I was thinking back to our reading in The Big Thirst and realizing how lucky we are to live so close to water. I can't even begin to imagine how my life would be affected if my access to water was suddenly cut off. If we no longer had a dependable water supply or easy access to a body of water, our lives would immediately be centered around what we would have to do to get water. It would drastically change the way we live and our priorities in life. Becoming aware of this made me appreciate our river, a body of water that we disregard and degrade so often, so much more. 

Conversation Partner: Coffee with Rebecca

As we approach Thanksgiving break, I wanted to ensure that I meet with Rebecca I left Fort Worth for a few days at home filled with food, family, and friends. As I looked at my schedule for the next week and a half leading up to break and the week after returning to campus, I realized that today would be the last possible day to meet with her until after break. The next three weeks for me are going to be absolute hell as I two semester-long projects come to a conclusion and two other projects begin. At Union Grounds, I explained my busy schedule to Rebecca and she looked at me in awe. I told her that the next couple of weeks was my chance to show off the hard work I had been putting into these two projects all semester and while I was terrified of the amount of time that was about to be spent in the library and study rooms in Reese-Jones Hall, I was also ecstatic for the projects to be so close to completion. She told me that she was excited for me and was sure that I would do well on both projects. These words of encouragement meant a lot to me coming from Rebecca, as she has heard about my struggles with these projects for the past couple of weeks and knows the amount of work I have put into them.

To show how thankful I was to Rebecca and her friendship over the past month, I bought her coffee today at Union Grounds. It was a small gesture but the smile on Rebecca's face showed me that it meant a lot to her and I was happy to show her my thanks. Today's conversation was very casual, talking about our plans for the break and our amazement that the semester was almost over. While language was still an obstacle in our conversations, we have spent enough time with each other that we have become much more familiar with each other's speaking. She is so patient with me, especially when I try to explain concepts that are unfamiliar to her and I could appreciate her patience more. Today I was telling her about my job as a TCU Athletics Ambassador and how I work with football recruiting. This was a difficult concept to explain to her because she is still trying to understand the sport of football so the process of recruitment was a completely new idea to her. She was very patient and understanding as I did my best to convey the whole process in the simplest way possible. Rebecca's eagerness to learn and her steady patience with me never ceases to amaze me and it makes talking to her so easy and so enjoyable. I hope to have time within the next couple of weeks before finals to meet with her again and hear how her Thanksgiving break went.

Conversation Partner: Hometown and Family

Yesterday was my third meeting with Rebecca and we met again at Union Grounds, a convenient and friendly atmosphere offering both coffee and sweet treats to share our time over. Rebecca and I both have very busy schedules so our get-togethers have been sporadic and irregular. Since our last meeting, I had gone back to my home state, California, for the weekend to visit family and attend my cousin's baptism and Rebecca had taken a test that would determine if she would be able to transfer to another school in the spring.

This meeting was unfortunately short but in the short time we spent together we were able to learn a lot about each other. During our first meeting, Rebecca shared with me her family and her hometown and yesterday I shared my family and hometown with her. I told her about my trip back to California, about surprising my brother and sister at our best friends' home, about visiting my friends, and about seeing my family in San Francisco for my cousin's baptism. Rebecca loved hearing about the ocean and the beaches that I lived close to, as she has never been to the beach before but hopes to go one day. I showed her pictures of my favorite beach and told her stories of me and my friends spending summer days in the ocean in and downtown Laguna Beach. Since my weekend at home was dedicated to family, I told her about my parents and what they do for a living and about my little brother and sister and how they are my best friends. She enjoyed hearing how I kept it a secret from them that I was coming back to California for the weekend so when I showed up at our friends' house they were so surprised.

Rebecca was really interested in hearing about the baptism process and I did my best to explain it but this proved difficult for me to do. I realized I have never had to explain what a baptism is or what it means to be baptized, much less to someone from a different country and culture, so I wasn't really sure how to express it in an easy way for her to understand. I think I was finally able to get the idea across, at least Rebecca reassured me that she understood, but it was a stumbling block that encouraged me to later go home and research the most straight-forward and easy way to explain a baptism.

Before we departed, Rebecca told me that she had received the results of her test from the weekend before and she had unfortunately not passed. She was not discouraged though and she already had another test scheduled for the next weekend. Her positivity was inspiring and I am confident that her determination and hard work will result in a passing grade the next time she takes the test.