Before going to AIMS, I was already picturing how I thought this mentee program would go. I figured that it would be a struggle to find interesting things to talk about, because, lets face it, how could I relate to someone from a completely different culture. But after only a few minutes I found out my initial thoughts were completely wrong.
I grew up in suburban Cincinnati where there really isn't a whole lot of diversity. Furthermore, I went to private Catholic school where everyone, for the most part, comes from the same type of backgrounds. Coming to UC has been the most exposure to diversity that I have ever gotten. With all that being said, I wasn't really sure how this program would go.
But then I met my mentee Adama (or Mohammad, which is what he told me I could call him.). When I first began to talk to Adama I quickly realized that he was like any other 4th grade boy. The conversation was a little shaky at first. I could tell he was a little nervous, and I could also tell that he wished he was with a boy mentor. However, as I continued to ask him more and more questions about what he likes to do, and some of his favorite things, I could tell he became more comfortable. It was still a little awkward, and I began to run out of questions to keep the conversation going, so I decided to bring out some paper so we could play some games. First we played hangman, and the first word he chose for me to guess was my name. I thought this was great because 1.) i was glad he remembered my name, and 2.) it showed me he was really comfortable talking to me. As we continued our game i learned a lot about Adama's personality. He loves Harry Potter, Ice Cream, X-Box, and dinosaurs, the same things as any other kids his age. By the end of the session, I had completely forgotten that Adama has grown up in a completely different culture from a lot of kids his age. We had a lot more in common than i thought we would. This made me realize that no matter where we are raised, we can still find common ground with many other people, and we may have a lot more in common with people we feel are different than us than we think.
I grew up in suburban Cincinnati where there really isn't a whole lot of diversity. Furthermore, I went to private Catholic school where everyone, for the most part, comes from the same type of backgrounds. Coming to UC has been the most exposure to diversity that I have ever gotten. With all that being said, I wasn't really sure how this program would go. 
But then I met my mentee Adama (or Mohammad, which is what he told me I could call him.). When I first began to talk to Adama I quickly realized that he was like any other 4th grade boy. The conversation was a little shaky at first. I could tell he was a little nervous, and I could also tell that he wished he was with a boy mentor. However, as I continued to ask him more and more questions about what he likes to do, and some of his favorite things, I could tell he became more comfortable. It was still a little awkward, and I began to run out of questions to keep the conversation going, so I decided to bring out some paper so we could play some games. First we played hangman, and the first word he chose for me to guess was my name. I thought this was great because 1.) i was glad he remembered my name, and 2.) it showed me he was really comfortable talking to me. As we continued our game i learned a lot about Adama's personality. He loves Harry Potter, Ice Cream, X-Box, and dinosaurs, the same things as any other kids his age. By the end of the session, I had completely forgotten that Adama has grown up in a completely different culture from a lot of kids his age. We had a lot more in common than i thought we would. This made me realize that no matter where we are raised, we can still find common ground with many other people, and we may have a lot more in common with people we feel are different than us than we think.
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