Collegiate Times

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"Adnan will call up Pat once or twice a week for help with the kinds of things you normally need family for," Mrs. Artis said. "He'll ask about things, like how to buy a car or why does insurance cost so much?"

Pat Artis says after meeting Barqawi, they feel like he's a member of his family.

"When I came to Virginia Tech last summer to show around a young man from our community, I asked Gen. Allen if there was someone who could show him around," Pat Artis said. "He said, 'I'll have our Regimental Commander, Adnan Barqawi do it, he's special."

Artis was curious about what Allen meant.

"You'll have to meet him, you'll understand," Allen said.

After meeting with Barqawi, Artis told his wife he wanted to have him over for the Thanksgiving holiday.

"Nancy asked me who this guy was, and I told her, 'You'll have to meet him, he's special,'" Artis said. "I was at the same loss for words."

Artis invited Barqawi out to Canyonlands National Park to see what he calls "real dark."

"When we got out there, and we turned out the lights, and the stars shone so brightly, like grains of Tide scattered on black velvet, he just started laughing," Mr. Artis said. "Deep down, under all that stern leadership and earnestness, he's like a ten-year-old kid."

Artis says this may be why he's so intense.

"He never lost touch with the kindergartner inside," Artis said.

Barqawi said he's looking forward to giving back to his country for all he's gained from it.

"For 17 years in Kuwait, something was pestering me that was out of my control: here in America it doesn't matter who your ancestors are or where you're born," Barqawi said.

After graduation, Barqawi will leave for Houston to train for his assignment teaching elementary school children in the Mississippi Delta region, well-known for it's grinding poverty and low level of high-school graduation.

"Jay Williams, who I met in Japan and who is the campus coordinator for Teach for America told me, 'Adnan I think I have your next job lined up,'" Barqawi said. "This was exactly what I've been training for, to lead and inspire young people who need a hand up with limited resources and limited time - that's what leadership is all about."

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