I recently had an assignment for a class in which I wandered around uptown Charlotte with three classmates for a day. Our goal was to meet people, hear their stories, and understand their thoughts about certain issues. We were also told to discover the unique places in Charlotte and try to get an overall "feel" of the city.

I have to be honest— I wasn't too excited for this. I had never met anyone in my group until the day of, and I was bummed about missing another class I wanted to attend. (My group ended up being wonderful.) But, I tried to keep a positive outlook.

One requirement we had was to use public transportation to travel to uptown. So, at 7:30 AM, a herd of college students piled onto the bus. As you can imagine, the bus driver and regular travelers seemed a bit shocked and annoyed. I took a seat beside a petite middle-aged lady. I said, “Good morning!” … No reply. (Or if she did reply, I didn’t hear it.) Oh no, she’s frustrated by all of these obnoxious kids. What if she is late for work?!

After several moments of awkward silence, she asked me why we were on the bus. I explained to her our assignment, and she seemed interested. From then on, the conversation took off. We talked about her job, her children, my major, my friends, and everything in between. I learned she is from West Africa, and she has only been in the US since 2000—in Charlotte for even less. She was so sweet.

After a bit, she stood up to get off the bus at her stop; she was headed to her job at a beauty salon (which she doesn’t love, but it pays the bills.) After she left, I smiled. I realized the beauty of the conversation I just had—we are two people from extremely different backgrounds, but we instantly connected by sharing our stories. It was a good beginning to the day.

We arrived in uptown and had a short session and breakfast before we embarked on our adventure. My group and I sat down and discussed our goals for the day. Not long after that, we began walking in Uptown Charlotte.

We went into buildings, sparked conversations with random people on the street, and discovered hidden treasures in the city. The day I was dreading a little turned into one of the highlights of my week. We were able to walk up to someone and have a meaningful conversation with him/her, and it wasn’t weird because we explained our assignment.

Most people were super friendly and willing to speak with us. It was incredible how a simple question evolved into a long, intricate discussion. In the same city that was plagued by protests a week earlier because of brokenness between human relationships, we made deep connections with diverse people full of ideas, compassion, and kindness.

As I reflected on our conversations in uptown, I had a prominent takeaway. If we would just talk to each other, we would understand! Why are we so intimidated by each other?!

If we had the bravery to ask someone his/her story, we would be connected. If we could understand that we are all the same, we wouldn’t be so divided. We should celebrate our differences, but we should also realize that we are all humans with the same emotions, fears, and dreams.

We have this ability as children (just observe kids for a while, you’ll see), but somewhere along the way, we lose it. We think that our conversations are confined to the people we have met and know.

There are walls we put up as humans, and we fail to recognize that a simple “hello” can break them down. When we are genuinely curious about each other, we make connections. When we are kind to strangers and create conversations with them, we make friends. When we make friends, we learn from them, and our lives are forever changed.