Potential Classmate

There is no specific classmate that you can or cannot learn from. Every day you learn something new from someone. You could be walking down the street and have a young child stop you and tell you a joke he heard today in his 3rd grade class, or when you say hello to the woman who is behind you in that long line to check out at the local grocery store she will ask you a question that makes you think.

I hope this future friend is absolutely nothing like me. They say opposites attract and I will use that to my full advantage. This friend and I will most likely have different majors like an English major and an Engineering major. From there every family is different. Take religion, the majority religion in the world is Muslim, not Christian. So say this new friend is Muslim. I can learn about not only their religion but their family background, the different foods, the different thoughts due to political differences. Every subject is an opportunity to learn. Or maybe it is not so drastic. Say this friend lived in Minnesota and grew up on a farm and is the first in his family to study at a university. I may not be able to learn about politics or a new religion from him, but I would love to hear what it is like to grow up on a farm. Is it really like the old show Little House on the Prairie? Every possible idea cannot even close to be listed, these are just a few examples.

The biggest thing when you know you will meet someone new is to know how to converse with an open mind. My father once told me to never talk about 2 subjects with friend or foe; politics and religion. But these kinds of discussions inevitably come up through conversation, especially around holidays or election time. One of the biggest things to remember is to be mature enough to "agree to disagree". It is not worth ruining a friendship over points of view. It should be used as an advantage to learn.

I know for a fact I will meet people who I will learn from when I go to college. But I think there is another side to this question. That is, am I a student people will want to meet and learn from? I am currently living in Ludwigslust, Germany on a year long study-abroad program. Every day is a new day and an opportunity to learn. But what is the use of learning with nobody to relay all of this information to? I see myself as open-minded, especially after living in another culture for so long. I grew up with whole family, my parents

...