Letter to the Interviewee

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Tutor:

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Date:

Letter to the Interviewee

Dear Rashed,

Hope that you are well since the last time we talked. I must say that I had a wonderful time talking to you. It feels good to have a friend around especially when the rest of your family is so far away. I must say that I deeply appreciated the time you took to give me an interview. I believe that it was time well spent and I hope that we can get other chances in the future. Our conversation was quite enlightening. It made me realize that people face many challenges in life but there is always a way to overcome them. Since that time, I have thought about the problems you had when you first came to the country, and I must say that I admire your courage immensely. Taking the step to study in a foreign country where you do not have your parents, siblings, or friends around is a tough decision for anyone. It becomes hard when the new country has different cultural values and practices that one is not used to seeing.

I was thinking about how you managed to settle down in Boston. You found a way of enrolling in school without any problems and got a car and an apartment. You must have felt lonely and lost in the new world. This reminds me of the story I read recently about Keller. She was a blind, mute, and deaf woman who felt lost in her world before she met Sullivan, who became her teacher. Keller knew that she was different because she sensed her mother reacted differently towards her. However, when her teacher arrived and she began learning how to communicate, she began feeling complete again and found the motivation to live. Her story gave me the ideas I needed for the essay. As I think about it now, I realize that there is a connection between the conversations we had during the interview and Keller’s story.

Being different can make a person lonely especially if other people do not understand you. It can lead to a situation where a person might become depressed and give up on life. I remember you telling me how lonely you felt because you did not have someone to talk and interact with during your first days in the school. However, you were bold enough and took the courage to socialize with others. You told me how much being at Bentley changed and gave you a sense of hope. Right now, I think that I can relate to the feeling you had when you realized that you are where you are supposed to be in life. The realization that Bentley is the right university instilled a passion within you. You now feel like you have a family because you have managed to find people who care about you.

I was thinking about the challenges you went through and how you handled them and I remember a story I once heard a long time ago of how people handle problems in the face of adversity. According to the story, there are three kinds of people: carrots, eggs, and coffee beans. When the three ingredients are put in boiling water, they have different results. Carrots turn from being sweet and hard when they are raw, and they become soft when cooked. The egg retains the shell but the inside becomes a hard solid when it is boiled. The coffee beans dissolve and they change the water and make it have flavor. In this story, the three ingredients faced the same adversity, which was boiling water. In the same case, people react differently when they face adversity in their life. Some of them give up and they let the problems overcome them. They become soft and they are not able to deal with the challenges. Others let the adversity change them on the inside. Like the egg, they become stiff and hardened. For some other people, they choose to change their situations for the better. They resemble the coffee beans, which changed the color of the water.

When I heard this story, it changed the perspectives I had towards life. It made me realize that although people do face challenges, they do not have to become overwhelmed by their situation. In some cases, people opt to change the situation to suit their needs. Although you faced many problems when you came, you did not allow them to change you. You did not dwell on your thoughts of loneliness and homesickness for a long time. Moreover, you did not become hardened by your situation. Instead, you have taken a different direction. You have found a way to add flavor to your situation and this is depicted by your ability to join clubs that will enable you to make positive contributions in your institution. I hope that you will remember this story as you face the rest of your life in school. I will also look for ways to change the situation I am in for the better. This will be beneficial to me because I will gain peace of mind. Thank you once again for the time you took to talk to me. I hope that time grants us the opportunity to have such meaningful conversations

Your dear friend,

AlMazrouei