If you've ever been a new student,
you know how it feels when you walk into a class: you look at a sea of
unfamiliar faces and a terror washes over you. Well, imagine feeling that along
with being a different country thousands of miles away. Some foreign exchange
students fit into the school’s culture and go
with the flow, especially if their home country is a language 70% of the
school’s population can already speak.
Well, my story begins with a girl,
a girl from Germany. It was a Tuesday morning and I as sat there, looking at my
government notebook, there's a knock at the door. The teacher's assistant
opened the door, and standing there, in front of a medley of students was this
girl. My teacher greeted the girl with Southern generosity and she sat down in
a desk next to me.
I couldn't help but notice that the
people around me (in this case, four people) all said "hi!" to her
and introduced themselves. I, on the other hand, just sat there, as a shy as a
deer in a forest. I tried to think of a way in which I could introduce myself,
but unfortunately, nothing came to mind. Hours would pass before I saw her
again, and then, voilá, she was then in my anatomy class. I couldn't help but
feel guiltier for not introducing myself, but again... I would hesitate, mainly
because I don't do well with introductions.
Days would pass and I'd see her,
and I'd feel bad. For example, last week, we had a test in government. As I
glanced over to see how she would do on her first exam, she had this look on
her face of confusion, not understanding the content (mainly because she had
only arrived two days prior). I saw the opportunity to help, thinking I would
say, "Do you need help?" but hesitated and I found myself losing,
what I thought, would be the only major chance to say, "Hi, my name is
Eddie."
Again, days passed, and on
Wednesday, while sitting at a lab table in my science class, I told my friend
Stephanie that I felt real bad about not having introduced myself days prior. I
figured that I'd never be able to do it, missing certain chances, but life has
its ways... and this morning, one of them found me.
At 7:29, I walked in class and saw
her sitting there, reading the textbook laid about her desk. We made eye
contact and she flashed me a smile. I smiled back... and the tension was
overwhelming. I began to walk to my desk when I got my cajones and finally said to her: "Do you mind if I tell you
something?"
"Um, yes, go ahead." she replied in an accent.
"Well," I began, "I feel really bad about not
introducing myself when you arrived last week. I feel that I should
"apologize for not doing it sooner, so here it is:
"Hi, my name is Eddie." We shook hands.
She replied with her name in the same style and as I sat
down, I asked her, "So, do you like it here?"
"Um, yes, I do." she replied quietly.
"And what do you like about it best?" I asked.
She took a moment in answering me. "I'm not sure
yet."
I chuckled and then asked her if she was homesick.
"A little" she replied.
"You know, you might miss your home," I said
reassuringly, "but you'll find that life has its own surprises and they
show up when you most likely don't expect it. You 'd be surprised to find that
what you experience may remind you of your own home."
She nodded politely as the bell
rang. And the pressure came off my chest like somehow, someone had come along
and taken the load off. And it would come in hand later on, when she asked what
to do before a pep rally today.
I felt really glad to help her. And
in introducing myself, I think I made her realize that there are people who
will help her when she needs it. And as my government teacher says, "And
that’s the rest of the story.”
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