Unrestrained Laughter: Incongruity

For Halloween this past year, Joe Hartshorn invited me and a couple of our girl friends to go trick-or-treating with his younger siblings. If you don’t know already, Joe’s youngest sisters are absolutely adorable so it was an obvious decision that we were going to drive to Frisco. After an awesome time going around with his family and helping sort all of the kids’ candy, my 3 friends and I decided to go on a walk and have conversations amongst each other. About 5 minutes in, we stumbled upon a park. Our inner 5-year-old selves ran over to the swings and were monkeying around on the playground equipment. As we were leaving, Joe attempted to jump over a teeter-totter but his foot caught the lip of the seat and he pancaked face-first into the mulch. My two other friends and I burst out into laughter. In fact, I even fell on the ground and was rolling around because I was laughing so hard. It was one of those things that you just watched in slow-motion and kept replaying it in your mind, each time producing unrestrained laughter.

The laughter in this incident is definitely an example of incongruous humor. We all expected Joe, because of his apparent ‘athleticism’, to successfully clear the obstacle. However, when the unexpected happened it caused us all to laugh. Because of this event, the rest of the night was full of jokes and laughter. The mishap not only affected us in the moment but for the remainder of the night. Moreover, I believe the event brought us closer together. Even though this event was so miniscule, and doesn’t even relate to friendship, the power of laughter is immense. Human beings are able to develop chemistry between each other in so many different ways and laughter is the quintessential way of doing so. To this day my 3 friends and I still reflect back on that moment, and the night as a whole, as one of the most memorable nights of first semester. Without this seemingly miniscule event, I would be unable to confidently say that.

Conversation #1: My new FRIEND

When I first heard about our assignment to meet with students within the extensive English program I was ecstatic. The fact that individuals travel from all over the world to receive an education and broaden their horizons, often times hoping to find a job in the states, fascinates me. I have always loved talking to international students and was confident this would be no different.

I first met Nasrallah inside the BLUU by union grounds. Immediately, I was amazed at his overall speaking capability. We experienced little difficulty in understanding each other with the only obstacle being his accent. We had planned on eating lunch in the email previously exchanged, so I offered to buy him Chick-Fil-A or swipe him into Market Square. To my absolute surprise, Nasrallah asked me if I wanted to go to “Maharaja”. Because I don’t leave campus much I had no idea where this was and was immediately taken back. I had just met Nasrallah and he already wanted to drive me to a restaurant!? I decided it wouldn’t hurt and agreed to eat there. I soon thought about how absolutely amazing it was that Nasrallah was willing to drive me to a restaurant without any previous encountering. This stuck out to me. I quickly noticed Nasrallah’s outstanding personality and his genuine appreciation for the opportunity to meet someone new. I was excited.

At lunch, Nasrallah and I carried out conversation like we were two childhood friends catching up after not seeing each other for a couple years. We asked each other the basics – hobbies, majors, hometowns, jobs, etc. In fact, Nasrallah stimulated much of the conversation. I especially liked this because it didn't make the conversation feel awkward. The last thing I wanted to come out of having a conversation partner was the feeling of being ‘forced’ to meet with each other. Instead, I wanted a natural feeling in which we are BOTH excited to meet and get to know each other on a more personal basis. Luckily, this is exactly how it feels. After lunch, Nasrallah drove me back to campus and made a plan to meet the following week.

Nasrallah and I were both excited to meet again and continue to develop a friendship.  

Learning Experience: Academics vs. Social

I was extraordinarily excited for college. Leaving home to experience a whole new state and dive head-first into a brand new community intrigued me. I could not wait to attend new classes and still be able to nap in the middle of the day. Furthermore, the new-found freedom college promises fascinated me. I couldn't wait.  Before I left my parents told me countless times to “start strong” and “manage your time well”.   I tend to be a fairly confident individual, thus I was convinced I would have absolutely no trouble immediately succeeding and successfully managing my time.

I was wrong.     

                            

I quickly discovered that although the academics aren't overly challenging yet, managing my academic and social obligations efficiently will be tough. The college workload didn't surprise me. It was not too overwhelming and I credit my high school in preparing me for this academic aspect. That being said, I knew this was my first semester and had heard numerous times from upperclassmen it was BY FAR the easiest year work-wise. It was imperative for me to take advantage of the opportunity and earn the highest grades I could. The combination of academics and social life was challenging though. In fact, extremely challenging. I’m a fairly social person and the first 2 months I didn't understand that sometimes I have to say no. My first couple grades came back and I was not satisfied in the least bit. I knew I needed to sacrifice some of my social time to concentrate more on academics. Luckily, I was able to recover and eventually discover the proper amount of time I needed to complete school work.

Managing time effectively may be the most valuable skill for college as it is absolutely imperative to succeed.  Further, it will be just as important moving on in my life as I enter the work-force. I will need to be able to govern my time efficiently so that I can complete tasks in a timely manner. Although I’m still not perfect, I can confidently say one of the most useful and valuable things I learned during my first semester in college was how to effectively balance my academic and social obligations. 

Unrestrained Laughter

When I attended my first few classes in the fall this year, the most common ice-breaker utilized was to name a fun-fact about yourself. Every time, I answered that I skied on the Vail Development team throughout high school. My love towards skiing and the mountains is definitely an enormous aspect of my life. Thus, the first thing I did when I got home for Christmas break was immediately drive up to the mountains and ski.

During the summer my dad bought a new pair of skis and this was going to be the first time he had used them. Both of my parents are great skiers, however, my dad tends to slow us down some so we were hoping the new skis would increase his speed and elevate his overall ability. The first day on the slopes is always a little rusty, but it obviously felt great to be back. Everyone was enjoying their day and my dad was beginning to get used to his new skis and ‘break’ them in. After a great day, we decided it was time to head home so that we would beat the traffic. On the last run, my dad was skiing over a little roller, caught an edge, and tumbled head over heels. Of course my mom was extremely worried because of his hard fall, but luckily my dad popped right back up and finished the run. After the somewhat scary crash, we definitely knew that was our last run of the day.

About 30 minutes into our drive home, my dad stated, in all seriousness, “I can definitely tell the difference of these skis compared to my old ones. They are so much wider and I can’t believe their stability”. Immediately my mother and I broke out into uncontrolled laughter. My dad had just had one of the worst falls he has ever taken and he was commenting about the stability of his skis!?! We couldn't control ourselves. Eventually we calmed down and respectfully responded to my dad’s statement.

This incident is definitely an example of the superiority theory of humor. In a sense, the laughing poked fun at my dad. My mom and I could easily tell that he was offended by our laughter and it bothered him. Looking back at it, I can understand why he may have been upset. My dad and I are both extremely competitive individuals and anything that denounces our athleticism or ability tends to bother us. If I was in my dad’s shoes, I am sure I would have been somewhat bothered by the uncontrollable laughter. Regardless, my dad’s comment after his fall is one of the funniest things I can recall from this year.