Final meeting with Fanny: Conversation Partner Part 6

Today was the final meeting with Fanny. It was surprisingly a lot more difficult to say goodbye to her than I had imagined. She has really grown into a friend of mine and I trust her, which is hard for me to say with just anyone. 

Today we talked a lot about affirmative action. It was randomly brought up. When I arrived to our meeting wearing navy blue scrubs, she immediately asked why I was "in uniform." I explained that I was going with a friend (Ashlyn) to the Harris Emergency room later this evening to do an observation for a few hours. I then explained why I had to do this kind of thing. The average person accepted into medical school has ~50 hours of observation, and it is ideal to get much more than that to ensure you are considered above average on hours of observation. Then we discussed how incredibly ridiculous and difficult it is to get into medical school. I explained the various aspects of doing well and preparing for medical school: good MCAT score, good grades, observation hours, community service hours, and extra-curricular hours. Not to mention that all of these generally require a good deal of money to be spent and many sleepless nights. 

We talked about acceptance rates and how ethically affirmative action plays into the decisions for acceptances and denials. I explained to her that though race is not supposed to play a role in acceptances, it often has an influencing factor in the admissions committee, because often they receive pressure from alternative sources. I have done about 4 presentations in my life regarding affirmative action, so I understand the process fairly well. She told me that she views affirmative action as an "unfair process." She said it's annoying to her also because since she is a Colombian citizen with a green card to the United States, she is considered an international person here in America. She hopes to attend TCU's MBA Master's program and get a Master's degree, but it is a rather rigorous program and she worries her English is not where it should be to get in. A friend of hers deals with admissions and told her that as an "international student," she will have it more difficult to find opportunities and get in places because she is competing with ALL the other international students. Her friend also shared that if she were to get her American citizenship, she would be viewed as a Latina-American, and her opportunities would skyrocket. She shared with me that she didn't think this was fair, and she wants to keep her Colombian citizenship, but worries that if she does not complete her American citizenship, she will never get into a MBA Master's program. 

It was an interesting topic and she brought her daughter into it. Katie's birth was planned to be in America, but since she was premature, she was born in Bolivia. When the doctor asked what her last name was, she defaulted to saying two last names (one from her mother and one from her father), as is the culture in Latin America and many parts of South America. Her husband said Katie having 2 last names wouldn't sit well in America, and they needed to do one name for her. Fanny's friend in admissions told her it's way more preferable for Katie to have 2 last names, because opportunities will be opened up to her since she will be viewed as an American citizen, but with Latin decent. She was very pleased she decided to keep both last names for her girl. 

Our conversation came to a close and she said she had been very lucky to meet with me and know me and she was glad we had become so close. She again stated that if I am ever traveling, she wants me to stay with her, and even said if tomorrow, I get a flat tire in Arlington, to call her and she will come to help. I am amazed at her kindness and warm heart and I truly trust her and appreciate how open she has been with me. We hugged at the end and I got very sad, hoping it was not the last time we would meet. When we parted, I realized how very lucky I was to get to meet with her, learn about her culture, family, and past, and make a very strong new friendship.