Isabel's blog

During the conversation with Jesus, we discussed what we like the most about Morningside. We both agreed that we like that Morningside is not too big but also not too small. It feels like a community. Afterwards, I thought a little bit more about that and realized that different cultures are also a big reason why I like Morningside so much and realized that even more after my conversation with Jesus because our cultures are totally different.

Jesus grew up in Okoboji, Iowa. Before I came here, I would never guess that Okoboji was in Iowa, because it sounds like a tropical island if you do not say the state with it. Jesus grew up with his older sister and two little brothers. His older sister is a teacher assistant, one of his brothers is a freshman in college and the other is a freshman in High School.

Over the summer, Jesus went back home to work and spent a lot of time on the water. He showed me how many lakes Okoboji has, and I can tell you it is a lot. That is also a reason why he spent almost all his time on the water this summer. Jesus loves boating, jet skiing, and wake surfing. When he is not doing all of that, he works on the water. Jesus works at a resort, and he is a bartender there on one of their boats.

Before he told me all of this, I would never expect to find a boy from Iowa who is so much on the water. Especially because Iowa has no ocean or sea nearby, but I think that the lakes are a good replacement for that.

I know this all sounds like an amazing summer, but we are back in school, so who is Jesus in School? Jesus is a Junior, who has a mass communication major and has minors in Spanish and Marketing. Spanish would probably not be that difficult for him, as his mum is from Mexico, which makes him a Mexican American. Jesus commended on that and said, “I can understand a lot of Spanish, but speaking is a lot harder for me”. I have the same with German, so I think the Spanish classes will be helpful for him because it is nice when you go on a vacation to also speak the language.

Besides school, Jesus is also here for the volleyball team. He is a defensive specialist and is looking forward to the season. They have a lot of freshmen this year to get the team to a higher level. They also have a new coach, who is coming from a D1 school, so he will probably have high expectations. If he would not play volleyball, he would probably try tennis, because in his own words; he sucks at soccer.

One of the last questions I asked him, is what he wants to do when he is done with school. He told me that he would love to do something with Sports broadcasting or videography. I think that is pretty cool.

Besides the cultural differences we have, which I think is pretty interesting, we also have a lot in common. We both like scary movies and graduated from high school during COVID. Also, this is our second class together. We never talked a lot before, so this was a nice conversation to start the class with.