School Gatherings
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Tuesday Talks
- Tim Annick '12
- Vanessa Lizarraga '12 & Nader Batal '12
- Cody Hamilton '12
- Jose Esqueda '12
- Lela Puckett '12
- Kel Mitchel '12
- Avery Schwartz '12
- Taylor Chatman '12
- Greg Cusack '12 & Austin Lokre '12
- Sarah Cohen '12 & Emma Birrell '12
- Lisa Huang '12 & Megan Cunnane
- Miles Barney '12
- Daniel Mock '12
- Alissa Jared '12
- Adam Werksman '12
- Catherine Thornber '12
- Sierra Trees '12 & Emily Nguyen '12
- Ian Keneally '12
- Annie Weis '12 & Erin Griffin '12
- Charlotte Bowles '12
- Scott Sinclair '12
- Faith Donaldson '12 & Sarah Griffin '12
- Jacob Winnikoff '12
- Michael Warren '12
- Fernando Hurtado '12
- Stephanie Flores '12 & Stephanie Duong '12
- Pom Bunsermvicha '12
- Taylor Erling '12
- Assembly
- Convocations
Tuesday Talk
September 20, 2011
Vanessa Lizarraga '12 & Nader Batal '12
To listen to Vanessa and Nader's Tuesday Talk - click the play button...
Nader is always late, without fail. For starters, he was an hour late to only our second day on kitchen crew. And, don’t even get me started on how unorganized he is. I mean it wouldn’t hurt for him to write things down more often. Yeah, well, Vanessa structures and plans everything; I mean everything. She planned our entire Tuesday Talk step-by-step, minute-by-minute, before we actually met to talk about it. Not to mention, she is always ten minutes early to everything. I’m never late; she’s just always early. And, it wouldn’t hurt her to smile more often; Swain knows what I’m talking about. Despite our apparent differences, we have come together to work with and learn from each other. And, so far, we’ve learned that underneath our apparent personas we are a lot alike.
My parents grew up in Beirut, Lebanon. They met at the American University of Beirut, where they both studied. After they were married, the Lebanese Civil War forced them out of their home to Saudi Arabia, where they still live today. I was born and raised in Saudi, with four brothers, in a camp surrounded with barbed wire fences and security gates. I proceeded through school, caring little about my education and future. In 8th grade, however, I realized how hard my parents worked to give their five sons the chance to succeed in life. They worked themselves to the bone to give us the opportunity to thrive in the future. I suddenly felt a weight on my shoulders. I wanted to make them proud; and, more importantly, I wanted to give them a good life. I worked tirelessly for the rest of my time in Saudi, applied to Cate, and got in. At Cate, I had a purpose. I was here to learn. I was here to grow. I was here to succeed. It was my sense of purpose that got me through the tough years at Cate, 8,000 miles away from home; it was my drive to succeed and give back that still propels me through College Apps and AP classes. Here, in the peaceful County of Santa Barbara, I've had a chance to succeed that no one in my family has ever had.
My parents came to this country more than thirty years ago, one with a college degree and the other with barely a grade school education. My mother was the only one out of eight brothers and sisters who wanted an education and my father had no choice but to drop out of school and work to help support his nine brothers and sisters. Love brought them together, but so did their hopes for a better life for themselves and their children. Now, fast-forward thirty-two years, the immigrant couple lives in South Central and works six days a week and 14 hour shifts daily to support their family. My entire life I’ve seen my parents work day in and day out to give my brother and me what they never had. My brother didn’t do things quite as my parents had planned. He made the wrong choices and is dealing with consequences now, like struggling to support a family of five. Growing up I saw how my brother’s choices affected my mom and dad. I was only five, but I remember seeing my mother cry at night in the darkest corner of the basement we lived in because my brother didn’t come home that night. I remember going up to her and telling her that I would be the best daughter in the world just to see the tears disappear from her face. And, I remember seeing her eyes meet mine, we didn’t talk we simply looked at each other. She wiped the tears away and hugged me tight as if she would never let me go. And, in some way, I promised that I would never put my mother through anything like that again. That memory is a constant reminder of why I have to continue to work hard. I want more for my parents; I want tranquility and security. And, I want more for myself.
Two seemingly different people came together by chance to discover that, in fact, they are not too different from each other. Purpose is something both of us have come to value. It’s important to have a sense of direction in life, a purpose as to why you are doing the things you are doing. That’s not to say we automatically know what our purpose is. Knowing takes time and growth. We all have a reason for being at Cate. While our purposes may vary from person to person, we are here to grow. We are here to live and learn with one another. You are here to find that purpose, and if you already have, pursue it tirelessly. Thank you and enjoy the cookies.