Hussein 1 Yusuf Hussein Professor Koss Writing Intro Comp September 13, 2021 Finding Purpose When I was growing up, I never believed that heroes existed in society. If they existed, then we wouldn't be suffering from racism, poverty, and discrimination. We would be living in a utopian society where everyone is happy. As a child, I never had anyone I could look up to in life. My family and I immigrated to the United States in August 2004. At that time, I was three years old, with parents who had no education that wanted their kids to live a pleasant life. Which meant they had to sacrifice everything they once had; their family, friends, and hometown. I come from a refugee background therefore I faced a lot of challenges. These challenges reinforced my disbelief in the existence of heroes. There was a time in my life when I was at my lowest. I had mental depression. This depression wasn't normal; I came to see myself losing hope in life. I sought medical attention, but the doctors couldn't find what was wrong with me. I had so much going on at the time, for instance, my paternal grandmother, who I never got to see passed away in Africa. That left me with my maternal grandmother. This broke my heart. In addition, I had challenges at school and work. I was going through a rough phase in my social life as well. This is mainly because I have a weakness of making other people’s feelings a priority but not my own. This makes me feel like am losing control. I also felt a significant burden on my shoulders to help others. It also made me Hussein 2 overlook all my dreams and what I want to fulfill in my life. Our purpose and dreams are the things that keep us, humans, sanity in check. This was the case until recently when I came across this unique individual who has changed and shaped my perspective of life. That is, Chadwick Aaron Boseman. Boseman was born on November 29, 1976, in South Carolina. He was an American Playwright and actor. He played the iconic character T'Challa / Black Panther in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. When I say iconic, I mean that this man shined a light in the African American community and the rest of the world. But that's beside the point. Let me tell you how he impacted me, Yusuf Hussein. One day I was surfing the web for inspirational videos. I came to find myself watching Boseman’s Howard graduation speech. I can say by far this video has touched my soul in a very unbelievable way. One thing I couldn't forget is that he said, "You should rather find purpose than a job or a career. Purpose crosses disciplines. Purpose is an essential element of you. It is the reason you are on the planet at this particular time in history.” (Boseman, 02:05). At that moment, a light bulb sparked in my brain. I only get one shot at life, so I told myself, why not do something you love, even if you die trying. From then on, I've decided my purpose is to help my ...

1. Hussein 1
Yusuf Hussein
Professor Koss
Writing Intro Comp
September 13, 2021
Finding Purpose
When I was growing up, I never believed that heroes existed in
society. If they existed,
then we wouldn't be suffering from racism, poverty, and
discrimination. We would be living in a
utopian society where everyone is happy. As a child, I never
had anyone I could look up to in
life. My family and I immigrated to the United States in August
2004. At that time, I was three
years old, with parents who had no education that wanted their
kids to live a pleasant life. Which
meant they had to sacrifice everything they once had; their
family, friends, and hometown. I
come from a refugee background therefore I faced a lot of
challenges. These challenges

2. reinforced my disbelief in the existence of heroes.
There was a time in my life when I was at my lowest. I had
mental depression. This
depression wasn't normal; I came to see myself losing hope in
life. I sought medical attention,
but the doctors couldn't find what was wrong with me. I had so
much going on at the time, for
instance, my paternal grandmother, who I never got to see
passed away in Africa. That left me
with my maternal grandmother. This broke my heart. In
addition, I had challenges at school and
work. I was going through a rough phase in my social life as
well. This is mainly because I have
a weakness of making other people’s feelings a priority but not
my own. This makes me feel like
am losing control. I also felt a significant burden on my
shoulders to help others. It also made me
Hussein 2
overlook all my dreams and what I want to fulfill in my life.
Our purpose and dreams are the
things that keep us, humans, sanity in check.

3. This was the case until recently when I came across this
unique individual who has
changed and shaped my perspective of life. That is, Chadwick
Aaron Boseman. Boseman was
born on November 29, 1976, in South Carolina. He was an
American Playwright and actor. He
played the iconic character T'Challa / Black Panther in the
Marvel Cinematic Universe. When I
say iconic, I mean that this man shined a light in the African
American community and the rest of
the world. But that's beside the point. Let me tell you how he
impacted me, Yusuf Hussein.
One day I was surfing the web for inspirational videos. I came
to find myself watching
Boseman’s Howard graduation speech. I can say by far this
video has touched my soul in a very
unbelievable way. One thing I couldn't forget is that he said,
"You should rather find purpose
than a job or a career. Purpose crosses disciplines. Purpose is an
essential element of you. It is
the reason you are on the planet at this particular time in
history.” (Boseman, 02:05). At that
moment, a light bulb sparked in my brain. I only get one shot at
life, so I told myself, why not do

4. something you love, even if you die trying. From then on, I've
decided my purpose is to help my
beloved Kenya by rebuilding it from the ground up. To do this,
I'll need to pursue a business
course in college to understand how the economy works back
home. From there, I'll take my
knowledge back to Africa to show people how to better run their
businesses. I was fortunate
enough to live a very sustainable lifestyle and I don’t want to
continue in the life of ease after I
am done with college. Boseman says ‘Take the harder way, the
more complicated one, the one
with more failures at first than successes,” he said. “Then you
will not regret it.”(06:05). Going
back to Africa is not easy but I know in the end I will not regret
it.
Hussein 3
Thirdly, Boseman says that “Everything that you fought for was
not for yourself, it was
for those who came after you.” (04:15). I shed a tear as I heard
this statement coming from a
refugee background. This quote symbolizes my parents; if it
weren't for them, I wouldn't be here

5. today. In the long run, it gave me the drive I needed to acquire
an education that my parents
didn't have. And to act as a noble leader for future generations
in my community. I've always had
this vision of leaving a legacy once I'm gone. I want people to
remember me for all the good
personality traits I brought into this world, just like Chadwick.
So after the video was over, I came to a sense of reassurance
that surprisingly made my
depression disappear. I began to value myself, along with
knowing what I am capable of doing.
Looking back now, I have seen how naive I was. Heroes do
exist; they are just saving people in
their unique ways. Boseman is truly a hero.
.
Hussein 4
Hussein 5

6. 1
Group Observation
Yusuf Hussein
TCU
Professor Koss
Intro Comp Writing
11/03/2021
2
The Audience
According to statistics, the USA is home to more than one
million students from across
the whole world. Bridges International plays a crucial role in
ensuring that international students
settle for their studies in their respective states and campuses,
especially TCU'S campuses.
Bridges International is a Christian organization that is non-
profit and based in the United States
of America and abroad. Since most of the members of Bridges
International have studied, lived

7. and worked overseas and understand the unique needs of
students, there is the need to offer
services and mobilize the international in the United States and
overseas. Bridge International is
thus considered to be a community that is made up of followers
of Christ who are majorly
committed towards the provision of service, promotion of
building relationships and engagement
in conversations that are highly spiritual with international
students to promote leadership on an
international scope(Bridges International,2021).
Therefore, this paper emphasizes and addresses issues that
international students face
when they go to study in foreign nations such as the United
States of America. Emphasis is
placed on students who intend to join Bridges International
since it is already available in all
TCU campuses to facilitate connection with students from
similar countries and form a network
based on a significant background. Since relationships are
highly essential in life, there is the
consideration of the hardship that international students
encounter in making friendships and

8. relationships as they transition into the American way of life
and education system(Bridges
International,2021). This paper is thus influential for those with
intentions of travelling to the
United States based on an educational scope and who intend to
settle down well in the United
3
States of America. In short, the paper is very beneficial to three
categories of people who, of
course, have the same thing in common; ongoing students who
are on the session, the students
who would like to pioneer the movement or Group on their
Campus, and those willing to join the
Group on their campuses.
Since Bridges International is non-profit, there is no payment
required from the services
offered. The Group works with active volunteers to offer the
services such as the provision of
airport pickups while ensuring a helpline that is always
operational. The new visitors may be
exhausted from the journey and may need someone to show
them where to rest or show them the

9. hotel room, the taxi station, and other services deemed possible
and beneficial. Therefore, the
Bridges International Organization offers a variety of services,
inclusive of acting as the
designated tour guide. The Group is also charged with the
responsibility of ensuring international
students establish meaningful connections. Through all these
offerings, the primary objective of
the Group is to ensure that an international student gets to
familiarize with America through
facilitating the development of relationships on a global scope
while ensuring maximum
enjoyment in the American environment during the period of
study.
Bridges International also plays a significant role in ensuring
that the international
students successfully reach and settle down through ensuring to
follow up on flight schedules. In
your initial days, they offered transportation to your new places
of residence as well as your
goods. The Group helps them procure the needed items and
houses and probably shows them
around the site and orient them on the dos and don'ts and the
required stores to find items

10. needed. They also boost the international students' language by
hanging out with them during
their organized hangout activities(Bridges International,2021).
Some people may not understand
4
when the Americans communicate, and the Group will help
people understand the language
more.
Those services provided by Bridges international are very
pertinent in making sure that
the international students settle down successfully in the United
States of America. The team is
committed to making communications through the dedicated
staff team spread all over the
country. The people of the ground also play a role in referring
their countrymates who are
travelling to the United States of America to be affiliates of the
Group on their arrival. This paper
discusses how Bridges International Communicates its vision,
objectives, and goals to the
members and other people. They are interested in joining the
team. The Group communicates the

11. objectives to the team members as well as the other non-
members.
Bridges International Organization runs a functional website.
They can reach millions or
thousands of international students studying in the United States
of America through the website.
The blog posts cover the past experiences of the services
offered, the testimonies, and real-life
social matters that may affect the settling students. Some of the
topics covered in the blog posts
last year revolved around servant leadership, exploring the
outdoors of the United States of
America, and others. Maybe in the following paragraphs, let us
discuss some of the information
communicated through the blogs.
The freedom to explore the new country at an affordable cost.
They present the U.S. as a
conducive, expansive, and diverse country. The natural areas
are all around the United States of
America. Some natural resources or regions include the
National parks, outdoor areas reserved
and protected by the government containing campsites, hiking
trails, and facilities like the
bathrooms charging around $25 per vehicle for entry. Apart

12. from the national parks, there are
5
also state parks found in every state, and they offer similar
services provided by the National
parks. One of the points of the actions would be to plan a trip
with friends to explore the national
parks and the state parks. With the existing COVID-19
guidelines, you need to ensure that the
restrictions are those you can work with(Bridges
International,2021).
The bog posts also give direction on how communication is
done in the U.S. by talking
about how mobile phones work in the U.S. The correspondence
sheds light on how one can
access mobile phone services in the U.S. To decide, one should
make some of the considerations
such as; whether you want to be committed to a year plan or
monthly instalments plan. One
should also consider whether they have friends to team up with
to pay for a cheaper family plan.
If you already have your device, then it will be much simple and
easy to acquire. They also give

13. the details on getting the data and the cost of the same. The
chance to connect and empower the
international students is also what the blog posts communicate.
The conferences and seminars
are both virtual and physical to be certified both socially and
cognitively. The meeting was on the
vision together, and the model is adopted in organizing the
students into family groups, plenary
sessions, and seminars. The conference was to happen on
January from 1st – 3rd in 2021. The
meeting was set to charge a small fee of about 19 dollars.
The blog posts take students through sessions of boosting and
promoting their mental
wellness and spiritual growth(Bridges International,2021).
Through some of the blog posts, like
the one on depression, they reach out to students who may
undergo the issue of mental starriness
and experience some difficulties coping with emotions and
stress. They also provide spiritual
nourishment through posting devotionals and scriptural
reflections on reality through the
6

14. scriptures. All these blog posts aim to grow the students both
spiritually, emotionally, and
physically at the same time. In short, they provide holistic
growth for all international students.
Retreats are other ways through which Bridge international
communicates to its members
and those willing to join. The retreats aim to bring the people
together to have bonding sessions
and have members and those in attendance develop a test for the
Bridge international
organization. One of the recent examples is the hill country fall
retreat that happened just
recently. Retreats communicate to people that the Group is
peaceful hence emphasizing the need
for unity and harmony.
Bridge International is spread across the United States, leaving
no place unexplored. The
Group welcomes people for meet-up sessions that are organized
throughout the country on
campuses. The Group, through the website, has developed a
system where someone can be able
to use the search box to find the nearest location of Bridge
International. The different areas to
small groups contain links where one can click on them then be

15. led to the place where the small
group location is situated. Bridge International is spread across
the different universities in the
United States, more than twenty of them and more than thirty
Bridge international Locations.
Again, these links to small groups and locations guide the newly
reporting international students
visiting the United States for the first time on their study
journey.
According to the observation and some research, the Group has
invested in courteous
language and the need to connect and network with new friends
and keep the old ones. One of
their advantages is that they have left the idea of mobilization
to the volunteers who have seen
the service offered by the Group. There is some freedom of
launching and rolling out a particular
group on your Campus if you feel compelled about the need of
such a group on Campus. One
7
needs to communicate the intentions to do so then they are
given the go-ahead to launch or roll

16. out the program(Bridges International,2021). The Group on the
ground does effective
communication since they are the ones who interact with the
people and at the bottom. The
people on the field are the ones who are aware of the number of
new students arriving on their
campuses as well as being keen to observe as they are settling
down in their recent locations. The
absence of the hierarchical structure makes things easier to
handle with the different groups with
diverse members. This said, it should be noted that the
objectives of Bridge International remain
very clear, and whoever wants to be associated with the Group
then must agree with the goals
and at the same time be ready not to set up a parallel
organization.
To grow the interconnectedness and the power of the Network,
they have stayed tuned on
Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. Remaining relevant in
today's generation is determined by
the depth of your networking system. They have chosen to stay
relevant by fishing from where
the crowds are. Facebook has more than two billion users,
growing and growing daily. The same

17. thing applies to Youtube and Instagram as well. The platforms
mentioned above are vital in
today's generation as they remain a catchment area for the news
to spread to millions of people
worldwide(Bridges International,2021). Bridge Internatio nal can
reach out to people on the
ongoing programs and events through social media platforms
and inform them of the upcoming
events.
Social connectedness does not only reflect on social media
platforms alone but also
during physical gatherings. As the name suggests, the bridge
comes in to close that gap of
loneliness and enhance friendship creation and maintenance
during these occasions. The Group
organizes thanksgiving parties, Christmas and Easter events,
and celebrations for the
8
international students to bond together. They hold a weekly
meeting where the students can even
play games during such sessions. They also communicate
through the Vision conference that is

18. held once a year. It brings together students to enjoy music
worship, fun and exciting, powerful
speeches and sermons from different renowned speakers from
across the States. Indeed, Bridge
International is a group worth learning from and borrowing
leaves from them.
References
Bridges International(2021).Bridges Blog.Retrieved from:
https://www.bridgesinternational.com/about/
https://www.bridgesinternational.com/about/
Final Reflective Essay
For your final reflective essay, describe the revision process of
your writing during the semester,
using your first and final drafts from all 3 essays as a reference.
Your reflective essay is a critical assessment of your progress
this semester, in which you look
back on all your essay drafts and point out specific areas where
you see improvement. Quote
your own work as necessary. Show me specific instances of
where your writing has improved,
and point out areas where you think you still need work.

19. Indicate the progress you made from
Draft 1 to your Final Draft, for each of your essays. Tell me
which essay was easiest for you, and
which one was most difficult, then tell me why. What
challenges did you face along the way?
Which of the essays was your favorite to work on, and why?
Word length: 700-800 words
You will hand deliver a physical copy of your Final Reflective
Essay to your instructor by
the end of our scheduled Final Exam Date/Time: Monday,
December 13th at 2:00 pm.