Going to our meeting today, I did not expect what we were going to talk about. I came in completely not knowing what I would ask Maram about today and I was nervous about it. Through our first three meetings, I learned so much about her that I did not know what else to ask. However, Maram seemed to have something in mind that she already wanted to talk about with me.
As soon as we got to Chick-fil-a, it seemed as though something was wrong with Maram. She did not seem as cheery as she always does. She greeted me with a forced smile and I knew that something was not okay. We ordered our food and I had waited to ask her what was wrong. I did not want to alarm her if nothing was actually wrong that day and she just had a moment. When we got our food and sat down, Maram immediately told me what was on her mind.
She had expressed to me that she was feeling down that her classes were so stressful. It seemed like it had been a hard week for her. She then apologized for not being the cheery person she has always been. I completely understood as when I’m really stressed out I’m definitely not the smiling person I usually am. I asked her what she had due this week and she proceeded to list all the projects, presentations, and tests she had that week. It worried me to see Maram so frustrated with school and I wanted to do what I could to make it better. I proceeded to ask her more about her schoolwork and asked if I could help in anyway. She was quick to reply with a thank you.
In order to distract her from school, I proceeded to ask her more about her family and ask if she had any plans for when she goes home in December. She replied that she did not have any specific plans, but that she was still excited to go home. I asked her what was the thing she misses the most about home and she immediately said “food”. I could completely agree as food was something that I missed constantly about being home as well. I told her about San Antonio and all the amazing dishes we have. Being a part of a huge Mexican community comes with its benefits as I am constantly surrounded by authentic traditional Mexican food. While I can’t always go to Mexico for the real thing, I really appreciate being able to have a little taste of it in San Antonio. She then proceeded to tell me that she really wants to visit my town. She said that her brother has always talked about it and how much he loves the riverwalk. I was quick to respond that she definitely needed to visit and that I would surely take her on a tour of my favorite places.
Although Maram seemed to have been having a bad day, I sincerely hoped that our meeting brightened it a little bit. I tried my best to remind her of the amazing time she will have in the future once she gets done with all of her studies here. When we left, she said she was a little happier and a bit more excited for the upcoming weeks, no matter how difficult.
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