On November 22nd, Paula
and I met for the last time. I was glad we were able to finish all six of our
meetings within the semester given other students struggled to do so because of
their partners. It was not always easy for us to schedule times, but we somehow
made it work. At the beginning of the semester, I was skeptical of how the
program would work. How could I form a personal relationship with and older,
married woman who did not speak good English? I was just having a hard time
picturing it. As our meetings progressed, any doubts I had were put to rest.
Paula and I developed a relationship that I did not think was possible. We had
more in common than I could have ever imagined, and I learned quite a bit about
Paula in the time we spent together.
In
our final meeting, Paula and I talked a lot about our plans for the future. She
is currently finished with the Intensive English Program and does not plan on
returning next semester. Paula’s husband, who is a dentist, is opening his own practice
in a few months and she is undergoing training to become one of his assistants.
To do so, she has to pass a rigorous, standardized exam. Although she still has
a couple of months to study, Paula was still nervous that she would have
trouble passing the test. One of her major concerns was the fact that her
English could be better. I reassured her that she would be fine if she put in
the time and effort. She thanked me and proceeded to tell me how I had helped
her better hone her English speaking skills over the course of the semester. I
told her I had not done much but she insisted that our meetings and my
corrections to her speaking had helped her our more than she ever could have
expected. It was nice to see that Paula was getting something useful out of our
meetings.
As
our conversation continued, Paula told me that her husband and her were
extremely close to selling their house. Although it had only been on the market
for a few months, they already had multiple offers. Paula seemed excited that
they were close to a deal. After it sells, Paula and her husband will be moving
to a new house that they are currently renovating. Paula told me all of the
little things she had picked out for the new place with great excitement. I was
glad to see her so happy about her future. Her new job and house will surely
become a reality sooner than later.
Personally,
I got a lot more out of my meetings with Paula than I thought I ever would. She
helped me brush up on my Spanish, gave me advice when it came to school, and
shared a lot of stories and information about Columbia that I never would have
known about before. I hope that she
truly got as much as I did out of our meetings. It will definitely be different
not meeting with her every week or every other week next semester. Overall, I
have to say I enjoyed the assignment of having a conversation partner
throughout the semester.
Nick,
ReplyDeleteI’m glad that you, like me, had a successful conversation partner experience. I think it’s really cool that your partner already lived in America and was simply in the program to learn English as a personal asset to help her get a job. I feel like many of the IEP students are foreign students who are just now coming to the U.S. to learn English and take other classes, so it’s good to know the program serves people already in the U.S. as well. Also, being able to see into an older person’s life, seeing her figuring out everything from selling her house to getting a job as a dental assistant must be pretty meaningful, especially when you consider that you had a role in everything. Thanks for sharing your thoughts; they helped me reflect on my own experiences with my partner, Sinan.