Harpinder figured he would be exhausted after his seminar class, so he'd better just fill out the form now. It was easy to fill in all the basics like his name, birthday and major. Then the next few questions were about hobbies and interests. The form encouraged him to write multiple answers for each question so there would be more information to make a match with. Harpinder knew he should keep his answers general enough so that they could match with one of the mentors. For music taste he wrote a healthy mix of Bollywood songs and hip hop. For TV's and movies he wrote his favorite Bollywood films as well as some Western action movies and TV dramas. For hobbies he thought back to that morning. "Maybe you'll get someone who cares as much about fashion as you do" Ravdeep had said. It was true, Harpinder did take extra care to make sure he looked his best. Since his brother wore athletic wear almost exclusively, there wasn't much that Ravdeep could teach him. Maybe his new mentor could give him some style tips. He wrote "Fashion, video games, and food" in the hobbies section.
The next section was "interested in" with the options "men" "women" and "other" with a fill in the blank. At first glance Harpinder thought it was a question about his sexual preference. Though he reasoned that since this is a mentorship form, it must be asking what he would prefer his mentor's gender to be. His brotherly relationship with Ravdeep was so close, so having a male mentor would probably make sense. He circled "men". The laat question asked for his goals for the semester. With his crazy schedule, Harpinder hadn't spent too much time socializing outside of the Sikh Student Coalition. Even within the coalition, he hadn't felt like he'd gotten especially close to anyone. He wrote his goals as "to make new friends, and to pass Professor Martinez's class of course". Hopefully that last line would show he had a sense of humor.
Now complete, Harlinder put the form in his book bag for tomorrow's meeting. Checking his laptop he saw it was almost time for his seminar class, so he packed up and ran out. He sat down in the middle towards the side of the class, where he thought no one would say really speak to him. That was until a student sat directly next to him.
"Good evening, Harpinder". It was Mohan, the Punjabi student he met in his 8:30am analytics course.
"Sat Sri Akal ji" Harpinder greeted, echoing Morgan's greeting from the other day. Mohan was visibly pleased to see Harpinder speaking their shared language.
"It's good to see you. I haven't met very many brothers in my classes this semester. Since we have two together, would you want to make a study group?"
"Sure, I could always use the help" the two exchanged numbers. Harpinder was also glad to have a fellow Punjabi in his classes. Harpinder felt sorry that Mohan hadn't found a community of their peers like he had. Sure, Harpinder was forced into it by his professor, but he was starting to appreciate it. "You know, if you're looking for brothers on campus, you should come with me to tomorrow's Sikh Student Coalition meeting".
"Yeah? I heard of them, but I don't know. I'm not really a practicer of the faith". Harpinder had assumed that much. Mohan was still wearing a snapback, and he could see that Mohan cut his hair.
"That's okay, you don't have to follow the faith to join. It's more of a social thing. I'm sure a Punjabi brother would fit right in".
"I guess it couldn't hurt. Sure, I'll go."
"Cool, let me know if you need a spare turban. I can help you tie it on" Harpinder joked.
"Thanks, but I think my hats will be alright" the two chuckled before giving their full attention to the lecture. Once class concluded, they agreed to text each other to coordinate going to tomorrow's meeting and studying together before parting ways for the night.