Random? Language Politics

Namaste Readers,

My roomies are interesting not only because of their own curiousities and different perspectives, but also the  minute similarities I notice that we share ( or tend to put under the microscope ).  Roomie K is from Negroes ( Visaya Region of the Phil. ), and he's studying Business Administration in UP Diliman.  He is what is referred here as a "super senior" because he's on his 5th year.  He switched major in his 3rd year, and now he's catching up. 

When he found out that I grew up in the States, he asked whether the stereotypes of Asians as smart and nerdy were promulgated/spread around.  We had a discussion about this stereotype ( the benefits and mostly the disadvantages ).  He also asked about the gang violence in school and discrimination.  I told him that it depends on the location ( also the exception to the generalization ).

We started talking about the English Language.  To him English is just a language.  One learns it and speaks it.  Some maybe perceived as snotty when using English ( Colonizer's language ) over Tagalog ( the Native Language ).  Without showing my "being defensive" I tried to show another side.  We talked about the framework of "knowledge is power" and knowledge of another language may give power to a certain group of people, who may or may not use that power in a good way.  Of course I tried to say this all in Tagalog.  Maybe the "elegance" of my Tagalog rendition prompted him to call me a poet.

On his wall is a mini poster that states, "Great Things Come to Those Who Want" ( not wait ).  He's quite impatient and ambitious; he does put too much pressure on himself.  He joined the council ( a type of organization in the University dealing with anything Bus. Admin related ), and he wants to enter plenty of "contest" so he can build up his resume.  He's a bit frustrated because most opportunities are in the marketing section of Bus Admin ( product for the masses ); he wants to focus on the people interaction side/ human resources ( hiring and advising et. al. ).

On the 2nd day of class, he's already stressed; he's already thinking of dropping certain activities ( prioritizing according to the most valuable and directly related to his end goal ).  Being the veteran scholar ( with a MAs degree ), I caught myself lecturing him about "balance" and "taking breaks" and "relaxing" And then I stopped because it was pointless.  It was best to "show" the ideas I was talking about.

He mentioned watching a movie.  Trying my luck being the devil's advocate, I prompted him to talk about the movie.  In one way, I was curious to get the summary; in another, I was hoping that by showing interest he would be more convinced to watch the movie.  A couple of minutes later, he set up his lap top on his bunk, and watched the movie.