"Let's just get an Uber" - a phrase (or something along the lines of) some of us have probably heard pretty recently. Then comes the attempt at small talk between driver and passenger to pass the time from point A to point to B. I'm one of those people guilty of not really giving a second thought to these conversations, but two weeks ago in the late hours of the night there was an exception.
For the sake of the driver's discretion I won't (and probably can't) disclose their names.
The first night was Tuesday. He was an international student from Libya. He came here to study chemical engineering. He told us about one time in Libya when he was doing his job out in the area where he lived and how he had almost been killed twice. He told us about how ISIS was taking over his country. I hardly knew anything about Libya, unfortunately and ignorantly enough. He didn't quite elaborate enough for me to ask him some questions. He told us some of his favorite things he missed about Libya though, like meat pasta. “The food is great,” he said. He told us about how he could trace his family roots back 1,500 years and how they had crossed through most of the Arabian Peninsula. He told us how now they have practically nothing.
My second ride of the week was on Friday from a calm and collected fifth year senior. He was built like someone who could knock me out with one punch, eat me up and spit me out before I could even flinch. He was born and raised right in the vicinity of Bryan. He was studying Sports Management. I asked him what his plans were after he got out of school. He explained how he wanted to join the Navy after graduating. I asked him what made him want to do that, to which he replied: "Basically to kill those who kill us. I know that not everyone agrees with that but that's what I believe". He said it in the most serious and dedicated manner, like that of a soldier. I didn't know how to respond at first or what to really think. I just said, "I understand". I saw a wedding ring on his left hand.
The next morning I couldn't help but thinking of both drivers and how utterly different, yet very similar they were. All of us were connected through the greater family that is being an Aggie. Both of them were here to pursue their dreams, working for the same company to help pay their way through. One of them to escape from a dangerous life in hopes for a better future, the other seeking to find that source of danger and eliminate it for the sake of giving others a better future.
Needless to say, I gave them both five stars.
