Last week I met with my conversation partner, Janaina, for coffee at union grounds. I was knee-deep in studying for finals, so it was nice to take a much-needed caffeine break and relax with her. We talked about how our weeks had been, and I found out she was in the middle of her finals. She seemed quite stressed about them, while I was stressed about the anticipation of my finals to come.
During this meeting, Janaina wanted to get to more about me, as usually we are talking about her and her Brazilian culture. We've talked about my home in California but not really about my life here in Texas. I talked about how I'm preparing to start my nursing clinicals next semester, and I explained what exactly that meant. She was just as excited as I was about getting to work in an actual hospital. Janaina remarked that she could tell I would do great just by seeing the happiness in my face when I talk about nursing, something that really warmed my heart to hear.
Janaina is much older than me, almost the same age as my mom, so our experience has been quite different from some of the other conversation partners, but what I have grown to love so much is how encouraging she is to me. She is the one studying an entire new language and culture, but always loves to hear about my own nursing studies and what my classes and labs are like. Her children are so lucky to have such a happy and strong mother.
With all the craziness surrounding football lately, I asked her if she went to any of the games this season. She hadn't, mostly because football is still a foreign idea to her. I explained how electric the stadium gets on game day and how well our football team did this year. TCU sports are so much fun to watch, so I encouraged her to take her kids to a horned frog basketball or baseball game this year. Just remember to wear purple!!
Our relaxed conversation was just the break I needed from all the craziness of preparing for finals, I am so glad I got to share some more time with Janaina (and that it came with more coffee).
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