By Bryan Rothamel
Feature Writer
Hugo Hormazabal is originally from Chile, where the official language is Spanish. Chilean grade schools do teach English to children, although it is British English.
Hugo and his family moved to America five years ago to help progress their English knowledge.
Learning the language is important. It is estimated that 480 million people speak English as their native language or secondary language. The Spanish language only has 320 million people speaking it as their native or secondary language.
These staggering figures could be important for the first year High Point University student.
When he came to HPU he could have tried to assimilate with the general student body in order to better learn the American way and language. He chose however to join the International Club.
The club is filled with many students of various competence levels of English. It is estimated only 15 percent are actually from America so a large portion of the club is still learning the language.
“I thought it was my duty to collaborate [with the club],” says Hugo.
Although Hugo originally joined the club because he felt he should, he has learned many things from the club.
He has learned how to listen because of the language difficulties and also about how other cultures operate. He has taught a class on Central America salsa dancing even though he is from South America and never salsa danced before.
He has also learned how the world is more connected than he originally thought. His favorite type of music, reggaeton, is also popular with many other IC members.
Once, late night in the campus student center, Hugo was showing some students how Chileans dance. The students started saying, “Go Hugo! Go Hugo!” The smiles filled the faces all around the small group including the Chilean.
While Hugo could’ve tried to join clubs that stretched his English, he joined a club out of respect and now he is learning more than ever about himself and the world. He can learn about English in class.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Holistic education: Learning about the whole world
by Bryan Rothamel
Feature Writer
Imagine entering a school where over 90 percent of your peers are natural born Americans. They might have traveled as far as Alaska to get here, but they at least know the English language and American culture.
Your family is from Trinidad and Tobago. You came to America to learn English better and now you attend a university in High Point, N.C. You might still have a slight accent but when you look around, 90 percent of your peers look similar to one another and you look and talk different.
Nerve racking?
High Point University is proud of the various backgrounds of the students it attracts. Whether it is a top ranked chess player, a family fighting to send its first child to college or just the “average Joe,” HPU seems to have a mix.
The freshman class of 2008 had students from 11 different countries, which means some students are traveling across oceans to get to HPU. These students fight to assimilate in the American culture.
One campus organization that helps these students is the International Club. Made up of over 40 members, the club hosts various events, including educational documentaries, food festivals, fashion shows and a pageant.
The first few days of the semester, HPU international students may try to addociate with students of similar backgrounds. This may mean Japanese students hang out with only other Japanese students or the Brazilian students stick together. Not only can this cause international students to feel disconnected to the rest of the student body this also hurts diversity efforts.
“[International Club] is a family for whoever doesn’t have a family over here, who came from a different country or different culture,” says Manar Faraj, a Palestinian student and club president. “It is a great means to spread awareness of our cultures. Not just the cultures but issues throughout the world.”
IC is a learning experience for all involved. The students are able to learn how each culture differs and the similarities that exist.
“It helps you learn about other people,” says Ramon Orellana, who is half Mexican and half Salvadorian.
For one day, club members participated in the Muslim holiday of Ramadan.
“We always dress according to the country [we are learning about]. We dressed in the Hijab and fasted that day from sunrise to sunset just to practice and feel what the Muslims feel,” says Faraj. “Then we all broke the fast together,” she finishes with a smile. Ramadan is one of the many events that brings the group closer together.
What makes the club unique are the differences that compose it. Members come from all backgrounds including Palestine, South Korea, Egypt, Japan, Chile, China and many other countries plus the United States. Faraj estimates 15 percent of the members of the group are American.
Outside of the campus’ Starbucks, a few Asian students with a Central American student sit together. Stopping by is a South American student. Earlier, a Middle Eastern student stopped for a few quick words. This isn’t an usual sighting of IC members
The biggest barrier the students have to break is the language difficulties. Many students are still learning English or are at different mastery levels. What a student may think he or she is saying is taken completely different by the receiver.
Faraj says what helps when a communication barrier is the club members are like family. They know each other never means harm by anything so they can work through their communication problems.
The good news, everyone knows what is it like. They know what it is to be misunderstood or find it hard to communicate thoughts. After all, they are going to a college where over 90 percent of their peers are more fluent than them.
“It takes a lot of patience. We have to hear each other well so we practice hearing each other,” says Hugo Hormzabal, originally from Chile.
Communication is deeper than just words too. Actions can easily be misinterpreted.
On one occasion for a community fair, the IC welcomed a few Palestinian women. Hormzabal, used to Chiliean culture where touching is not only accepted but expected, was crossing the line of Palestinian culture. Palestinians do not believe in contact between nonrelatives.
He quickly realized the problem and understood why the women were upset.
“It was woah. I was close to getting hit over there,” Hormzabal remembers of the experience.
The learning doesn’t stop for just club members. Every year the organization hosts an international food festival and also an international dessert festival. The events allow individual students to show off their culture’s best foods.
The clubs bolsters many international students but also many American students come to the events and are in leadership roles in the club. The executive council is almost half American.
For the first Miss International competition, hosted by the IC, an American won.
“We didn’t chose Miss International based on beauty or height we chose her on what did she do to make the world a better place or why she considers herself international,” Faraj said.
Out of 30 women, the top three finalists will participate next semester in three various projects the IC will sponsor including a painting and a special venture benefiting African refugees.
Takashi Torigoe, from Japan, says to American students, “Come to see us.” He continues that if you can speak English you can communicate with any of them.
They do have many differences like background, hours to get home, etc. But they are finding a few surprises along the way.
“The most interesting thing by far is how many things in common we have. As far as the sports we appreciate, the music we listen to,” Hormazabal says.
Some professors encourage students to attend events because of university foreign language requirements.
Faraj says French professor Dr. Jean-Francois Llorens encourages students to attend IC meetings.
“You might find a student that speaks French,” Faraj says. That can help French students practice with someone that is fluent.
The International Club has something for all. Maybe you craze some Indian food, the IC had a night for that. Maybe you want to do salsa dancing, the IC had a night for that too. Or maybe you just want to hear about different cultures and global issues, the IC has that as well.
With the International Club students learn 100 percent about one tenth of the student body.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Final week!
Here we go, last week!
You would think, "Last week of classes must be relaxing for a student."
No no no no.
My final project's main source hasn't contacted me back yet. I told her Sunday and would e-mail her to get a time and place. She hasn't respond yet (9:15 pm). I do have a secondary source ready for tomorrow but I need this main one. So what should I do?
I have had one idea. The idea is to use the secondary source as my main feature. He is an international student in international club. I could talk about how he has adapted to HPU with international club etc. Then my sidebar be about intl club and what they do. What do you think?
Last week!
You would think, "Last week of classes must be relaxing for a student."
No no no no.
My final project's main source hasn't contacted me back yet. I told her Sunday and would e-mail her to get a time and place. She hasn't respond yet (9:15 pm). I do have a secondary source ready for tomorrow but I need this main one. So what should I do?
I have had one idea. The idea is to use the secondary source as my main feature. He is an international student in international club. I could talk about how he has adapted to HPU with international club etc. Then my sidebar be about intl club and what they do. What do you think?
Last week!
Monday, December 1, 2008
Ahhhh!
I think my profile piece went well. I had an easy time writing it. It helped that Greg gave a great interview! In my past two interviews for things I have written, they have gone really well. My senior sem piece was just like the profile, easy to write.
I don't know how I cam have a rough draft of the final project by Friday. That gives me only a week to complete it and I don't know how I can do it. How much do we need to have for the rough draft?
Ok, this is short, sorry...but I'm stuck on where to start of the final piece. Once I get a better idea of what you want on Friday I think I will calm down and get a better start!
I don't know how I cam have a rough draft of the final project by Friday. That gives me only a week to complete it and I don't know how I can do it. How much do we need to have for the rough draft?
Ok, this is short, sorry...but I'm stuck on where to start of the final piece. Once I get a better idea of what you want on Friday I think I will calm down and get a better start!
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
The all natural cheese
Behind the bar of the small restaurant talking to customers sits Greg Stevens. Over five days a week and more than eight hours a day you can find the white haired man either making sandwiches, taking orders, shaking hands or kissing babies.
A guy walks in with his girlfriend and quickly Greg moves to greet them. He stretches out his hand and asks the couple how everything is going.
“Haven’t seen you in a while,” Greg says to the happy two. His smile is contagious as it stretches across his face like a little child saying, “cheese” for a birthday picture.
When their order is up, Greg delivers it to the table for them. He does this everyday, every week.
This sounds like a job for a young rascal, looking to make a quick dime. Greg is a “retired” veteran when it comes to restaurants but still shows the vigor of a 20 years-old man.
He has been involved in the occupation for over 30 years. He has done the corporate life of opening, maintaining and growing restaurants. This is the first time he has own one.
Harrison’s is his. This is his retirement, and he enjoys every moment of it.
Life in restaurants isn’t something that just happened for Greg. He had a little luck, a little chance and a lot of being in the right place at the right time.
He was involved in retail on the east coast of North Carolina. Because the job offered him no greater future he knew it was time to find another occupation.
General Mills restaurant division came calling, literally. A recruiter asked if he would help out running, opening and maintaining restaurants as a general manager.
“The guy told me, ‘We are going to pay you more money and work less hours, ok?’ Well the more money part was true but the less hours was a joke,” Greg says.
With General Mills, Greg says he got a “million dollar education.” He learned everything from the real estate development to how to manage workers. He knew anything there was about restaurants and he was widely successful there.
It came a time when the extra hours and extra pay seemed to be too much. He decided at 50-years-old he needed a change. He took a retirement package from a company he worked at for 10 years. In his 30 years, he opened over 300 restaurants.
That was supposed to be it. The 40 hour plus weeks were over for Greg. He had a problem.
He was such a workaholic before that he wasn’t quite ready to retire.
“Being retired just didn’t really suit me,” Greg remembers.
When you are so successful opening restaurants, people in the business get to know you. Charlie Erwin was someone that wanted Greg and needed him.
“He actually drove out to the east coast and meet with me and asked me to do some consulting for him,” Greg recalls of the move.
Erwin is the CEO of Ham’s Restaurants, a franchise dating back to 1935 in the Piedmont-Triad. Erwin was ready to expand and Greg was the perfect man to help.
Gregs “million dollar” education taught him how to open restaurants, from a piece of dirt to a multi-million dollar restaurant with 400 seats operating with a multi-million dollar budget.
He moved from eastern North Carolina to the Triad to consult for Erwin.
Retired no more.
Greg and Erwin opened restaurants throughout North Carolina, Virginia and Florida. In 18 months they started 18 new restaurants.
Greg did a job well done but it wasn’t the retirement Greg needed, he needed to leave the corporate world.
After his consulting was done with Erwin, Greg looked to buy a restaurant. He bought the building of Diamagin’s Japanese Restaurant. He only wanted to be the landlord for Diamagin’s. If the restaurant ever closed then he would open his own.
28 days after the sushi restaurant closed, Harrison’s opened.
No rush.
Greg has a franchise agreement with the original Harrison’s in Burlington, N.C. He has full right to the name but the High Point restaurant is Greg’s. No more answering to anyone else, this is his money, his time and his place.
“Now I’m working for myself, everything I do solely having an impact on just me,” says Greg.
His wife, Jen, and he spend almost all of their time in the quaint restaurant. Greg wants the customers to know him and for him to know the customers.
“We like to know who you are,” Greg says. “I like to thank people.”
Thank them? Sometimes Greg and Jen give customers free banana pudding for “showing up.”
For leaving? He won’t let them leave without a comment. A hearty goodbye, a question on how the food was but always the thank you with his signature big smile.
The customer service isn’t the only thing Greg does that brings this restaurant to the basic community atmosphere.
He has fundraisers for local community groups. In a few hours, Coy Willard, of the United Way, raised over a thousand dollars. Willard was the celebrity bar tender of the night taking orders and delivering drinks.
“They raised a couple thousands dollars in about three hours for their organization for which they get 100 percent of and we just provided that location for them to do that,” Greg says as if this is a regular occurrence in restaurants. To him this is something that should be basic no unusual.
Greg has hosted Pi Kappa Alpha and Alpha Gamma Delta nights. Students came in, ordered any drink and he gave them a free Harrison’s koozie.
Greg has also launched some music careers. The first year he was open a friend asked if he could perform every Friday night for the summer.
The customers liked it so much Greg added a Saturday night entertainment. Then the customers wanted entertainment from Wednesday night until Sunday. Some weeks, Greg has some form of entertainment every night of the week.
Greg says there are plenty of people out there that say, “The first time I played in High Point for tips was at Harrison’s.” His smile comes through again.
He’s just trying to make a difference in the community
“On my tombstone I want it to say, ‘He made a difference.’” Greg continues, “You come eat at Harrison’s and come meet Greg Stevens, you’ll be a better person for it.”
Not everyone has a community group or music career, but seeing at Harrison’s there is more than just “cheese” on the sandwiches, it is on Greg’s face and his customers’ faces.
A guy walks in with his girlfriend and quickly Greg moves to greet them. He stretches out his hand and asks the couple how everything is going.
“Haven’t seen you in a while,” Greg says to the happy two. His smile is contagious as it stretches across his face like a little child saying, “cheese” for a birthday picture.
When their order is up, Greg delivers it to the table for them. He does this everyday, every week.
This sounds like a job for a young rascal, looking to make a quick dime. Greg is a “retired” veteran when it comes to restaurants but still shows the vigor of a 20 years-old man.
He has been involved in the occupation for over 30 years. He has done the corporate life of opening, maintaining and growing restaurants. This is the first time he has own one.
Harrison’s is his. This is his retirement, and he enjoys every moment of it.
Life in restaurants isn’t something that just happened for Greg. He had a little luck, a little chance and a lot of being in the right place at the right time.
He was involved in retail on the east coast of North Carolina. Because the job offered him no greater future he knew it was time to find another occupation.
General Mills restaurant division came calling, literally. A recruiter asked if he would help out running, opening and maintaining restaurants as a general manager.
“The guy told me, ‘We are going to pay you more money and work less hours, ok?’ Well the more money part was true but the less hours was a joke,” Greg says.
With General Mills, Greg says he got a “million dollar education.” He learned everything from the real estate development to how to manage workers. He knew anything there was about restaurants and he was widely successful there.
It came a time when the extra hours and extra pay seemed to be too much. He decided at 50-years-old he needed a change. He took a retirement package from a company he worked at for 10 years. In his 30 years, he opened over 300 restaurants.
That was supposed to be it. The 40 hour plus weeks were over for Greg. He had a problem.
He was such a workaholic before that he wasn’t quite ready to retire.
“Being retired just didn’t really suit me,” Greg remembers.
When you are so successful opening restaurants, people in the business get to know you. Charlie Erwin was someone that wanted Greg and needed him.
“He actually drove out to the east coast and meet with me and asked me to do some consulting for him,” Greg recalls of the move.
Erwin is the CEO of Ham’s Restaurants, a franchise dating back to 1935 in the Piedmont-Triad. Erwin was ready to expand and Greg was the perfect man to help.
Gregs “million dollar” education taught him how to open restaurants, from a piece of dirt to a multi-million dollar restaurant with 400 seats operating with a multi-million dollar budget.
He moved from eastern North Carolina to the Triad to consult for Erwin.
Retired no more.
Greg and Erwin opened restaurants throughout North Carolina, Virginia and Florida. In 18 months they started 18 new restaurants.
Greg did a job well done but it wasn’t the retirement Greg needed, he needed to leave the corporate world.
After his consulting was done with Erwin, Greg looked to buy a restaurant. He bought the building of Diamagin’s Japanese Restaurant. He only wanted to be the landlord for Diamagin’s. If the restaurant ever closed then he would open his own.
28 days after the sushi restaurant closed, Harrison’s opened.
No rush.
Greg has a franchise agreement with the original Harrison’s in Burlington, N.C. He has full right to the name but the High Point restaurant is Greg’s. No more answering to anyone else, this is his money, his time and his place.
“Now I’m working for myself, everything I do solely having an impact on just me,” says Greg.
His wife, Jen, and he spend almost all of their time in the quaint restaurant. Greg wants the customers to know him and for him to know the customers.
“We like to know who you are,” Greg says. “I like to thank people.”
Thank them? Sometimes Greg and Jen give customers free banana pudding for “showing up.”
For leaving? He won’t let them leave without a comment. A hearty goodbye, a question on how the food was but always the thank you with his signature big smile.
The customer service isn’t the only thing Greg does that brings this restaurant to the basic community atmosphere.
He has fundraisers for local community groups. In a few hours, Coy Willard, of the United Way, raised over a thousand dollars. Willard was the celebrity bar tender of the night taking orders and delivering drinks.
“They raised a couple thousands dollars in about three hours for their organization for which they get 100 percent of and we just provided that location for them to do that,” Greg says as if this is a regular occurrence in restaurants. To him this is something that should be basic no unusual.
Greg has hosted Pi Kappa Alpha and Alpha Gamma Delta nights. Students came in, ordered any drink and he gave them a free Harrison’s koozie.
Greg has also launched some music careers. The first year he was open a friend asked if he could perform every Friday night for the summer.
The customers liked it so much Greg added a Saturday night entertainment. Then the customers wanted entertainment from Wednesday night until Sunday. Some weeks, Greg has some form of entertainment every night of the week.
Greg says there are plenty of people out there that say, “The first time I played in High Point for tips was at Harrison’s.” His smile comes through again.
He’s just trying to make a difference in the community
“On my tombstone I want it to say, ‘He made a difference.’” Greg continues, “You come eat at Harrison’s and come meet Greg Stevens, you’ll be a better person for it.”
Not everyone has a community group or music career, but seeing at Harrison’s there is more than just “cheese” on the sandwiches, it is on Greg’s face and his customers’ faces.
Monday, November 24, 2008
The most important question
I went for my interview for my profile story. Greg Stevens and I chatted for 30 minutes about his life in the restaurant business. Here is a man that spend over 30 years involved in restaurants!
He had stories about opening restaurants, learning how to operate restaurants and owning his own restaurant. I thought I had some good stuff about, well, restaurants.
I don't know if all writers do this, but when I interview someone I write the story in my head. "Oh, ok, this is a good background information." Then the lead will come somewhere during the interview. It really works well for me.
So there I sit in Harrison's, Greg's restaurant, with my recorder on the table and my notebook in my hand. I've taken notes on everything he's said. I've asked what I think are some of the most important questions. I'm done, story complete, time to leave.
I ask that final question, "So, that's all I have. Is there anything you like to add?"
Now remember, in my head I have written this story. I have the lead, middle and kicker done. I just need to put it on the computer. Another hour of work transcribing my story and I'm done.
He says, "Yes actually I do. This is something I have said for over 30 years, Bryan...." He goes on for another five minutes about his life philosophy.
That question of, "anything else to add?" turned out to be my best question of the day. There he gave me the lead, transition pieces, structure, kicker, etc. He gave me my story in five minutes. A story better than the one I had "written" in the previous 30 minutes!
I have come to find that this tends to be true more often than not. In most of my interviews that final question really gives the interviewee a chance to say something they had been thinking but I never asked. It really gives them the interview in a fashion they feel comfortable leaving.
After all, it is the most important question.
He had stories about opening restaurants, learning how to operate restaurants and owning his own restaurant. I thought I had some good stuff about, well, restaurants.
I don't know if all writers do this, but when I interview someone I write the story in my head. "Oh, ok, this is a good background information." Then the lead will come somewhere during the interview. It really works well for me.
So there I sit in Harrison's, Greg's restaurant, with my recorder on the table and my notebook in my hand. I've taken notes on everything he's said. I've asked what I think are some of the most important questions. I'm done, story complete, time to leave.
I ask that final question, "So, that's all I have. Is there anything you like to add?"
Now remember, in my head I have written this story. I have the lead, middle and kicker done. I just need to put it on the computer. Another hour of work transcribing my story and I'm done.
He says, "Yes actually I do. This is something I have said for over 30 years, Bryan...." He goes on for another five minutes about his life philosophy.
That question of, "anything else to add?" turned out to be my best question of the day. There he gave me the lead, transition pieces, structure, kicker, etc. He gave me my story in five minutes. A story better than the one I had "written" in the previous 30 minutes!
I have come to find that this tends to be true more often than not. In most of my interviews that final question really gives the interviewee a chance to say something they had been thinking but I never asked. It really gives them the interview in a fashion they feel comfortable leaving.
After all, it is the most important question.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Where are we going?
Alrighty then!
Sorry whatever movie I stole that from, call it homage.
So I wrote my first person story/feature/essay/writing/words on a page. It was hard because I felt like I could go on forever. The problem with that is I didn't want to dilute the message.
Sure, there was a lot of things to say. I mean, we are talking about three years I have officially known I have depression. I could talk about the times I wanted to jump out of my window on campus. I could've talked about times at work where I planned things out. But that wasn't as gripping as the times I was in my bed for two nights in a row.
The story was depression and how I deal with it. I could go bullet point to bullet point saying what I think and have thought. But that gets redundant. Yeah, I've thought about killing myself multiple times, but one or two of those anecdotes can be more powerful than 10.
I think it went pretty well. It was just hard conveying the message of depression sucks, but it isn't the end of the world. Because the nature of the disease I wanted to show that you are normal even when you are "abnormal." It'll also appear for the Chronicle this Friday I think. I need to consider if I want Mom and Dad reading it. They have never heard those stories.
Now on to the profile. I don't know what I am going to do. I have to write two features this week. Both of them are profiles! One is for senior sem and is supposed to be about a prof. at HPU. The other profile has to be someone off of campus. I'm thinking this store owner of one of our advertisers for the Chronicle.
He is a really interesting guy each time I talk to him. I think he has a story. He started a restaurant and has been in the business for years. I'll have to call him.
Dab-a-dee Dab-a-dee, that's all folks!
Read line two again...
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