xp_logs | Sooraya and Adrienne

Sooraya and Adrienne talk after a tutoring session. College and guns are discussed...

Teaching the History of Islam was turning out to be extremely interesting for Adrienne, who had no prior history with the subject. She'd been doing a lot of research to keep up with Sooraya, who she found to be a bright and diligent student. She leaned back in her chair, shuffling papers on her desk as she sipped water, having been talking for close to an hour. "So I'll arrange the test on the Safavid Empire after the Christmas break?" she asked Sooraya, making a note on one of the papers.

“That would be fine.” Sooraya nodded, all the while gathering her papers from the desk. “I should be able to finish the basic comparison between the Safevid, Moghul and Ottoman empires also by the end of the Christmas break. I am finding though that I have to stay very much at the surface with so much material though…”

"Well, we can save the comparison for your paper," Adrienne smiled. "And I wouldn't worry too much about digging under the surface, for now. This is an incredibly rich subject, and at your age understanding the surface is going to give you a lot of insight as it is. If you chose to carry on studying Islam in college you'll be able to dig a lot more."

“I am certainly planning on taking a few courses on Islam in college… I am looking forward to that.” Sooraya had to smile broadly at the idea. “But there are so many interesting things I would like to study at college. I still have no idea what my major should be… But I will have the chance to figure that one out.”

Adrienne drank some more of her water and offered Sooraya a bottle from the mini-fridge under her desk. "What sorts of things are you interested in studying?" she asked, curious.

“Thank you.” Sooraya took the bottle and once she had finished stuffing the books in her bag, she cracked it open and took a grateful sip. “There are many things I find interesting. Mostly in the humanities and the social sciences… I also hope to learn more about Afghanistan and the surrounding areas. It would be very useful for what I hope to do after college.”

"It's great you have an idea of what you want to do after college," Adrienne nodded, pleased for the young woman. "A lot of people your age are having difficulties deciding what they want to do with their lives so they tend to... drift a little. Knowing your own mind is important." Adrienne had a lot of respect for people who knew what they wanted, having always been one herself... even when she came to regret what she'd wanted later. "So what is it you hope to do?"

“Help mutants in area’s like Afghanistan or Pakistan. I speak the languages and I know the culture and the religion. And as a woman I will be able to go where many male aid workers aren’t able to go.” Sooraya replied immediately. “Possibly with an organization like Elpis.” She was lost in thought for a moment. “I was lucky that I got away from the situation I was in and that I could come here. But there are many in those area’s who don’t have that kind of luck.

"Then it's a good thing we have organizations like Elpis to help them out," responded Adrienne with a nod. One of her biggest regrets about losing her fortune- other than losing her box at Fenway- was that she couldn't make donations to organizations like Elpis that helped out in countries she'd been to, that fought against situations she'd seen firsthand. "I know Nathan would be proud to have you over there. So you're looking at studying political science or international law in college?"

“More political science then law if I have to chose between the two. I have seen Angelo’s books and they scare me.” Sooraya said with a small smile. “But I have also been looking at something like educational policy… Maybe something about learning how to set up schools… Someone who knows how to set up schools must come in useful… I am working at Elpis for twenty hours a week. I plan on trying to find out what other kinds of major might be useful then law or political science.” She shrugged. "I hope to find my own path within Elpis."

"Something like business administration, then, maybe?" Adrienne suggested. "I agree, law books scare the sh- stuffing out of me. So do lawyers," she chuckled. "Working at Elpis should give you a good foundation to build on, no matter what major you decide on."

Sooraya also had to laugh at the remark, but then because serious. “There are so many options. I have also looked at something called international development, but that is more on the master level… A friend had a good idea though… Apparently there are minors in area studies at some universities. Maybe I can find something like that on Afghanistan…” Sooraya took a sip from her water before she asked hesitatingly. “May I ask what you studied in college?”

"I have an MBA," Adrienne responded, sipping at her water. "And then I took an education certification at Oxford when I wanted to go into teaching. I'm not sure if you could find a program with a minor in Afghanistan," she mused, curious, "but I know there are certainly minors in Middle Eastern Studies. That may be a route you can take. Do you want to go to college here, or in the Middle East?"

“No, it would have been here in the States or maybe in Attilan. I arranged to apply to several schools around here from Attilan. Actually I just got all of that done before everything happened. And I would have to look for the area studies. I need to look for Middle East or maybe Central Asia…” Sooraya took a clean sheet of paper from her notebook and quite noted it down. “Sorry, that is what I have doing for the last few months when I got idea’s. MBA… That means Master of Business Administration, right? What kind of subjects did you have to take for that? Only if you don’t me asking?”

"You can take any sort of undergrad degree to get into the programme," Adrienne answered, all too happy to give Sooraya any information that might help her decide the best road to take to get where she wanted to go, career-wise. "You just have to write the GMAT- the Graduate Management Admission Test, which is a computerized test to determine math and English aptitude and measure your ability to succeed in business studies. But admissions boards usually like it when you have an undergrad degree in something quantitative or analytical rather than something like... drama," she smirked. "And then once you're in the MBA programme there are components in Accounting and Management, Finance, Marketing, umm... there's a unit on Business, Government, and the International Economy, there's Organizational Behaviour, things like Technology and Operations Management... All sorts of things that would be useful to setting up schools in Afghanistan, I'd think," she smiled. "But a lot of universities and colleges around here offer area studies in the Middle East, too. Which schools did you apply to?"

Sooraya scratched her head and frowned a little. "If have to be honest, those subjects don't really spark my imagination. At least, not to really major in it. And I plan to keep the area studies to a minor. I want to learn more, but not really focus my whole education on it. But I applied mostly to schools in the neighborhood. Empire State, Westchester College... Empire State did offer a few interesting courses like Urdu and Arabic and a few Islamic courses. And several others from here also attend, so..."

"Having friends on campus is certainly a strong incentive," Adrienne nodded. "Of course, you'll make plenty of new friends as well. And hopefully they won't try to marry you off," she added with a chuckle, hoping Sooraya was at a point where she could joke about what had happened to her.

Sooraya smiled, but it didn’t really reach her eyes. “Let’s hope not… And to be fair, it were only a few of them. Leyu included some notes from other friends in my crate, along with a few gifts. They were all pretty much horrified. Especially those who had been a part of AIMYS before Sayyid and left before I did.”

"It was nice of Leyu," Adrienne smiled, "to arrange something like that among your other friends. What's AIMYS?" she inquired, unfamiliar with the acronym.

“It’s not something very official.” Sooraya explained, a real smile on her face now. “AIMYS stands for Attilan Islamic Mutant Youth Society. It was what we called ourselves. We started out as a group of young Muslim mutants. We all supported the idea of integration of humans and mutants and all of us were not extremely strict Muslims. So we met and talked and did things together. Until Sayyid came and things changed.” Her face darkened at the thought of Sayyid.

"He was a little bit more strict a Muslim than you folks were hoping for?" Adrienne made a face. "Well, good thing he's back in Attilan and you're here at the mansion. People here are a little more tolerant than Muslim men like that in Attilan. Sometimes not much," she chuckled, "but hey, at least women have recourse to kick the ass of a guy who tries to buy, sell, or force you to do anything. Short of hiring someone to kill him for you, of course," she added with a wry laugh. "I don't recommend that course of action."

“He was a Muslim fundamentalist and an admirer of Magneto. That is why most of the originals didn’t like him…” Sooraya explained more clearly. “And Muslim are still a minority in Attilan, but there are more of them there then here…” Then she realized the last thing her teacher had said and frowned. “I pity the guy would try to kill him… He is dangerous…”

Wow, did this girl ever lighten up or did she take everything seriously? Adrienne drained the rest of her water. "Who said it had to be a guy trying to kill him?" she smirked. "I know plenty of women who could take on dangerous fundamentalist jackasses and come out on top. Have you been keeping up your self-defense classes since you left the mansion?" she inquired.

“I have been training some, yes.” Sooraya left it mostly vague, but then looked her teacher in the eye, letting the mirrors down a little to show the fear in her eyes. “Sayyid is scary. Achmed and the others I don’t fear as much, but Sayyid is different.” She blinked and the shutters once more fell in her eyes. “But I am sorry. I didn’t mean to put all of that upon you, Miss Frost.” She also finished her bottle of water with one large gulp.

Adrienne waved off Sooraya's last comment, concerned. "Do you think you need to be scared of him anymore? Do you think he'd come here? Come after you?"

“If he has the chance, yes. Maybe not here at the school… But I have told the Professor and several other people… And I am sure they are doing everything they can, also in Attilan… I try not to think about it too much… I want to continue living, not hide in the shadows.” Sooraya managed to smile. “And mostly I have been able to do that since I came here.”

"That's good," Adrienne nodded sympathetically. "You can't live your life in the shadows. You should keep up the self-defense, too," she advised. "Maybe learn how to handle a gun? Y'know... just so you're prepared?"

Firmly shaking her head, Sooraya answered: “I won’t use a gun. I have been training to defend myself. I hope it will be enough if I ever need it.”

Adrienne shrugged her shoulders. "Suit yourself." She rose from her chair and gathered some papers. "I'm sure self-defense will be enough." And maybe Sayyid would be arrested for taken down by the X-Men or dead by the time Sooraya was ready to leave the mansion. Maybe she could ask Vanessa if she had any contacts in Attilan who could keep an eye on Sayyid's movements. Or Wade. Or Garrison. It was nice knowing people with contacts. "A good kick to the junk is usually enough of a deterrent for crazy assholes," she grinned.

Sooraya had to stop the full out laughter. “I’ll be sure to keep that in mind, Ms. Frost. “ Almost mischievously she continued: “It might also work against some other…” She glanced at the clock. “I have to go. Thank you for the advice and the water…”

"Anytime, Miss Qadir," Adrienne smiled, standing up and following Sooraya out so she could return to her suite and do some knitting. "I'll arrange for that test and give you plenty of time to prepare for it, although I know you'll do just fine."

Sooraya just smiled and nodded as they headed on their way…