On Friday (9/26/14), I had the first meeting with my conversational partner, Sari. Although it was hard to get in contact with him at first, we finally were able to meet up in the BLUU on campus. I had no idea what to expect on my first meeting, but I was very excited. I had never done anything like this before, so it was going to be a new experience for both of us.
Sari is a middle aged man from Saudi Arabia. He worked as a stock broker in Saudi Arabia for over ten years. He had a single client who provided him with over one billion dollars to invest over time. He received his bachelor degree in Finance in Saudi Arabia, but his college experience was completely different than his experience at TCU.
According to Sari, college was much less professional overseas. The administration was basically inept. They did not provide much guidance for their students. There were no advisors or counselors to assist with class planning. Nobody used the library. Classes were relatively small (40-50 students), but there were around 300,000 students enrolled in the university. Sari's father passed away before he attended college, which really affected his college career. Sari stated that he was never told to study or keep his grades up. He did not know that his GPA would influence his success in finding a job later in life. He wishes he had spent more time studying and doing homework.
Luckily, Sari was able to find the job as a stock broker where he excelled. After speaking with him briefly about trading, it was easy to see how passionate he was about his job. He understood the market and made smart investments. He did not gamble on his client's money and was very successful.
After working for over ten years, Sari wanted to come to TCU and obtain his MBA. This would allow him to eventually earn his CFA. TCU has a highly ranked MBA program, which was very appealing to Sari. He is currently here with his sister, who is working on her CPA. Both of them must pass their English exam before they can obtain their MBA. After that, they will begin to train for their CFA/CPA certifications. With all of his experience and determination, I have no doubt that he will earn his degrees.
After I had asked him all these questions about his past, I asked if Sari had any questions for me. I felt like I had dominated the conversation a bit because of his shyness, but I wanted to make sure that he was able to ask any questions that he had. The conversation had been very lighthearted up to this point, so the question he asked me caught me off guard.
Sari told me that on three separate occasions his sister and him had been walking in public. His sister wore the traditional head piece worn by Saudi women. While walking, people in cars had stopped to yell and jeer at her. They called her all sorts of terrible names. Sari did not retaliate. When the two were safely back at home, his sister completely broke down. Sari had promised that there would be freedom in America. He had promised that they would not be persecuted. He had convinced her to come to America, and now she was suffering just like she had back home. I felt chills as Sari's first question for me was "Why do they do this to us?"
I would be lying if I said I had a good answer ready. I was at a complete loss of words. I felt sadness that his sister had to put up with this, but even more so I felt angry at the people who did this to them. Here are two extremely successful people who have made the huge journey to travel across the world. They did not know what to expect when they got here. They were not completely familiar with the language, customs, and culture of America. They were going to have to give up family and friends to pursue their dreams. Both of them made this move hoping to escape some of the persecution in Saudi Arabia, and instead we continue that here. I was absolutely disgusted. I explained to him that it was just immature guys who thought that this was funny. These guys had probably never been away from their parents until they got to college, and now they felt "free" to do this. They did not know, however, the impact of their comments. Hopefully, these kids grow up and realize the implications of their actions. If they don't, they will be in for a rude awakening when they hit the real world.
I took away more than I could have ever imagined from my first meeting with Sari. We plan on meeting every Friday afternoon to continue these conversations. I can't wait to speak with him again!
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