For this week’s blog assignment, we were assigned to do something nice for a person who is managing a tougher workload than ourselves. As soon as I heard about the assignment, I knew who that person meant for me — my very own roommate, Sameer Ahmad. As a Marriott School senior finance-major, Sameer’s currently taking 20 credit hours, 15 of which are classes, 3 are an investments’ internship and the remaining 2 for a case competition. As a sports fanatic, we follows and plays football very often. You would mostly see him on the phone connecting with his family, for whom he is very passionate about, or friends from all over the world. Alongside all this, he regularly takes out time for lunches, dinners and various other hang-outs with friends (including me. Yes, I know I’m very fortunate).

This week, I took him and another close friend of mine for a dinner to Bombay House. Knowing the importance of Indian cuisine to our taste buds, I felt that there could be nothing better than delicious chicken makhani and naan at this stressful point of the semester. Although this dinner had been due for a couple of weeks but I’m glad it happened this late, as this is the time of the semester when the weather, the school, this whole monotony seems to be getting the best of you.

Apart from this, another thing that added a lot more value to this weekend was the football session just this evening. Our ending play–the long pass–turned things around. He was the quarterback, one of the things he loves to do, and I was the wide-receiver. With our practiced coordination, Sameer’s epic judgement and my up-to-par WR skills, we made a 72-yard play feel like magic. It was just something that you experience very rare in your life but you often look back to and can’t help but say “wow, that was me, a part of something that incredible.”

The importance of that catch was not in the play but how that split second completion became a game-changer for both of us. This accomplishment just opened the doors to a whole new world of possibilities. The next question just popped up like that; what else could we accomplish now?

I guess the symbolic significance of that completed play helped me recognize something, that actions do speak louder than words. With this, we continue on, recognizing and appreciating those things in life that broaden our horizons and make us conquer more.