Photo by Kelcey Shotit on Pexels.com Cultural Adaption Aaron only had a few days remaining for his holiday at home before flying back to Boston and he took over the responsibility of orienting Durene to her new life for the next few years of her…
Aaron only had a few days remaining for his holiday at home before flying back to Boston and he took over the responsibility of orienting Durene to her new life for the next few years of her bachelor's studies. He introduced her to the transportation system of St Louis and the shopping centers she may possibly need to be familiar with for purchase of personal items needed. In addition to paying her tuition and board her father planned through his relative Professor Brown to open a bank account for Durene into which he transferred her allowance money from time to time to care for her personal needs.
Durene was taken under the wing of Professor Brown's wife who was Mexican American. Camila Brown also taught at the University but found time to shower love on her family and included Durene in that love. While Durene missed home terribly with all the extended family gatherings and Jamaican cultural events the whole community joined in and initially could be found sobbing silently in her room. Camila seemed to sense that and would silently enter the room and just hold the girl until she relaxed, and the sobbing subsided. Durene slowly grew to love this woman passionately because of her kindness and eventually settled in and began to enjoy the new cultural experience immensely. She got on well with her distant cousins and they helped a lot with her cultural adaptation. Uncle Professor Brown was more withdrawn but attentive to Durene's needs, but she never felt as close to him as she did to her adopted new mother Camila and her cousins.
The university experience was very different to what Durene had experienced in her school years in Jamaica. There was much more freedom granted students and she initially missed strict discipline at school and daily reporting of the day's activities at school each evening to her parents. She had to learn self-discipline now but soon blossomed under this new system of education and after initial poor grades as she learned this self-discipline her grades improved and after the first year, she was one of the top-grade students in the university. Her love of learning was fed, and she began to think beyond bachelor's studies and dare to dream of much higher achievements in education. She knew that after her graduation she'd be expected to return home and join one of the facets of her father's extensive business interests. But her eyes had been opened to other possibilities here.
Back in Kingston her father received regular reports of Durene's progress at the university and his chest swelled with pride as he shared these reports with the extended family. She'd make a big contribution to his extended interests and would have the academic record to impress the rich and politically connected citizens of the country looking for a suitable bride for their sons. Badrick would make sure that such a marriage would be beneficial to the Brown clan. A marriage there can bring mutual financial benefits between families and was to be considered strategically.
As Durene developed further toward womanhood her beauty began to be noticed by those pursuing their bachelor's degree looking for someone to share their life with. It was quite common in America for young people to begin searching for that special person in High School but as they progressed in age through their academic journey this became a more serious pursuit as most of them would be leaving school to take a job after college and start thinking of someone to share life with. Only a few would progress further into higher studies and even fewer make it through to PhD level. The cost of higher education was such that there would be substantial loan debt to pay off out of their salaries in jobs gained after bachelor's level and this could take years causing one to think seriously about moving higher up the educational ladder. As Durene's fees and board were being paid for, she didn't have that pressure and didn't comprehend why so many dropped out of school.
She was nonplussed when young adults began asking her out on dates. She just wanted to be friends with her classmates and study. She had no desire for a special person in her life yet and was content with the relationship she'd developed with the adopted family she lived with. If she was interested in going out it would be with a family member. But most of the time she was buried in her books and researching on the internet to expand her mind further.
Even her distant uncle the Professor was impressed with his ward's academic achievements and suggested to Badrick his daughter had the capacity to go to the highest levels of education if he had the financial capacity to finance that. He even offered to finance it himself should his relative be unable to raise the funds. Final tests had been administered and Durene cleared for graduation after completing her bachelor requirements with honors, so it was imperative it be settled whether Durene returned to Jamaica as the original plan had been or whether she'd be given the opportunity to move to the next level of education before her long-term future was decided.
Badrick was highly insulted by this perceived slight to his capacity to manage his children's education and future. But as the professor was doing him a favor housing his daughter during bachelor's studies, he held his peace and wrote politely that he had no need of help and had planned his daughter's future already.
The professor sensed his relative's discomfort with his offer and casually shared this information with his wife Camila. Camila remembered the fight with her family to pursue her own educational advancement and it was only after she met the professor and developed a relationship with him over time that he helped her achieve her own ambition after they were married. She strongly opposed limiting this young woman Durene in her ambition and fully supported her husband's suggestion they could make the sacrifice and help Durene if she wanted to pursue a master's degree. Of course, this university did not provide for this further educational degree and their children had been sent away to study at master's level if they chose to do that rather than go into the business world after getting their degree at Harris-Stowe University.
Camila continued to urge Durene to follow her ambition for higher education and the young woman continued to excel in grades as she saw the opportunity to go higher. As she neared the end of her four year's she began searching for scholarships at universities offering courses in careers she had an interest in. She had a particular flair for software development and noted there were industries that took exceptional students and paid for their education. She had the feeling her father would cut her off from financial help if she pursued that course of action and that would have been a deep emotional blow to her to be cut off from her family in Jamaica who she dearly loved and the island culture she loved as well. Besides that, her visa situation would need to be cared for as her education now was based on the promise she'd return to Jamaica on completion of her bachelor's study. She shared her concerns with Camila who in turn shared them with her husband, the professor.
The Professor had over the years kept in contact with his former students and began to make inquiries of his own, seeing his ward's interest in moving to a higher level of education. Perhaps she'd be of use in the future at the university he worked for should they think of offering courses at the master's level. Many of his former students now occupying top positions in industry scattered throughout America and abroad were contacted privately with Durene's exceptional grades and aptitude for computing along with the professor's personal recommendation and an inquiry as to whether their companies' offered scholarships for gifted students. There were a couple of tentative responses from Silicon Valley California and one from Houston, Texas saying they were prepared to interview and test to see if the one recommended would fit their needs before they finally commit. Of course, there was the visa question to be settled to.
Professor Gilbert Brown had a reason to visit the University of Houston Downtown and planned for his former student there to arrange a company interview with Durene putting her through usual tests to see if she was eligible for an internship and support toward further studies in computing. That would be an ideal situation as University of Houston had good computing opportunities if Durene was successful. She'd be up against some formidable competition, but he had confidence in her ability to impress. The sticking point apart from them passing her as a potential intern would be whether a visa could be arranged for her to work in America as she was on a student visa. If that didn't work out, he could try the Silicon Valley option before giving up on trying to help her advance her desired career. He knew this wouldn't please Badrick but hoped to persuade him his daughter was a genius who needed to have his blessing in advancing her.
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