Find A Friend
While cleaning out my room at home in preparation for my parents’ move to Baltimore, Md., I came across a photo album given to me by one of my best friends from when I lived in suburban Chicago. Inside was a scribbled message wishing me a happy 10th birthday, which was signed by my friend Zina Alkafaji. The album was full of pictures of us from a trip to Six Flags during Halloween, some pictures us playing with her baby sister, and of us watching Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
That same day, I entered her name into a Facebook search, and her name and photo (as well as her older sister’s) came up immediately. About an hour after I had added her as a friend, I received a message from her on Facebook:
“Gracyn! Wow I'm so glad you found me on Facebook! I can't believe how long ago we were friends-- I think it was like 12 years ago, we were in like 4th grade, and my little sister was just born, and she's 12 now. Crazy huh? It's kind of a coincidence cuz I was jogging in your neighborhood the other day and I passed by your house and thought of you.”
Though I only ended up living in Lake Forest, Il., for a little over a year, Zina was one of my best friends at Lake Forest Intermediate in fourth grade. We were in the same homeroom class, and realized our birthdays were within days of each other’s. After I found out that we lived only blocks away, we began hanging out constantly.
The next year, my family moved to Edgemont, Pa., which is where we’ve been ever since. It was really hard for me to leave such a close friend so suddenly, and I tried to stay in touch with her as much as possible during my first year away. Unfortunately, after that one year, we lost touch completely. I had a new best friend, and the only thing I had to remind me of Zina was the photo album she had given me.
After several email exchanges, I found out that Zina graduated from Lake Forest High School and attended the University of Illinois in Chicago, where she then graduated within only three years. She studied Psychology and Dentistry, and has moved to Dubai in the Middle East for a year because her dad is teaching at the American University there. She now works at the library at the American University of Sharjah.
Zina told me she would keep me updated on her life and how she is doing through Facebook, and I told her I would do the same. I also searched for other friends I had made when I lived in Maryland and New Jersey whom I had lost touch with. I was not successful in all of the searches, but I was able to find some very close friends. It’s amazing how a single website can allow its users to simply enter a name and instantly become connected to that person with a click of a mouse. I really hope to find more friends through Facebook in the future, and I plan to keep in touch with each one of them.
Gracyn Tighe
posted by Ron Bishop @ 2:29 PM
1 comments
1 Comments:
Gwenna Johnson
COM 300
16 January 2007
I Wish I were Talented like Mary Lisicky
At almost any hour of the day from the age of eight to eighteen I could be found on the driveway of my suburban neighborhood playing basketball. My happiness almost completely revolved around the percentage of free throws I was making, or how many times I could hit the shot from behind the log pile. One day in July, a team from Whitehall PA ventured down to Lancaster Catholic High School to play in our yearly tournament. As a defensive specialist, I always guarded the opponent’s best shooter. This is why I met Mary Lisicky and how I received an education about the art of basketball.
Mary was raised in a large family, and was the youngest of five brothers and two sisters. Of the eight children, five went on to play sports in college; three of which excelled at Division I basketball programs. Although Mary was offered scholarships from multiple Division I basketball programs, she committed to Georgetown University in the fall of her senior year of high school. Mary was excited to become a Hoya because, “Georgetown is known for its challenging academics and its Women’s Basketball program was really strong and had a great coaching staff. “ After pausing for a few seconds Mary added, “Oh, and it was really important that my games would be played close to home so that my family could come see me play, and Georgetown is a member of the Big East Conference so my games would be relatively close-by.” From the start, Mary proved to be a huge asset for Georgetown. Her freshman year, Mary knocked down 76 three-pointers and set the record for the most three-pointers made in a single season. A four-year starter, and two-time captain, Mary’s enthusiasm for the game led her to success. “If basketball hadn’t been so fun, I probably wouldn’t have played as well as I did. As long as I was enjoying what I was doing, I would perform well on the court.” At Georgetown, Mary is the 8th All-Time Leading Scorer, holds the highest free-throw percentage with 88.2%, and has the highest career three-point total with 431 three-pointers. Despite her accomplishments, Mary suffered a setback early in her senior season as a hip injury kept her from playing in two games. “It was really frustrating to have to sit out because I had never had a serious injury before. And on top of that, there was no diagnosis for my hip, I was just told to rest it as long as I could. So, I missed two games completely and lost a lot of playing time after that… Any athlete knows that injuries are something you have to deal with, it was just unfortunate that I was injured during my senior season.”
At Georgetown, Mary studied business and majored in Finance and is currently a financial advisor at Morgan Stanley. She said, “I really enjoy my job, I get to help people with their retirement and show them how to invest their money in the market. It’s exciting when I get really big clients, like a few weeks ago I helped a man invest one hundred million dollars after his company was bought out.” Mary tried to explain the rest of her job to me, but I was lost in all the financial jargon.
Mary is presently living in Rockville, Maryland and helps to coach community basketball for 7th grade girls. Mary joked, “I’m not trying to brag or anything, but my team did win the championship last year when they were in sixth grade, and I think we’re gonna take the title again this season… I mean, would you expect anything less with coaching like mine?” When she is not working she plays with Madison, her chocolate lab puppy, and hangs out with her friends in Washington D.C. It was through our mutual friends from basketball that I was able to locate Mary. Although she was initially confused as to why I contacted her, we had a really good conversation and it was nice to catch up with an old friend.
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