Monday, November 27 student interviews assembling folders

                                                 
1. In class today:
We are assembling the materials for Wednesday's interviews
2. Below are the student interviews I received. Check them out.
3. I would like everyone to check their grades to see that they are accurate. If I neglected to give you credit for work you sent, please let me know.
4. We are beginning a new unit on how to actually analyze and write a news story, the culminating assignment being that each of you will write a couple. Over the next couple of weeks, we will explore news techniques.  Today, I would like you to read the news. 
Go to Guardian Newspaper
This is a consistently award-winning paper.
ASSIGNMENT: I would like you to familiarize yourself with this news source. Under that umbrella, please respond to the following questions and send them along by midnight, if you receive extended time; otherwise submit by the end of class. 
1. What are three daily editions under which the paper is published?
2. What are the eleven categories under which the news is divided?
3. What unit of measurement is used for the weather in the Australia and UK editions?
4. Give the title and author of one of US environment articles.
5. Give the title and author of one of the UK's men's fashion articles.

                                      CYRAH

by Honesty Madden

  It was Thursday, November 10 when I had gotten a better understanding of a fellow classmate, Cyrah. Through a personal interview with Cyrah I gotten a personal insight to her life and discovered that we both enjoy the art of film and animation. When I first began my interview with Cyrah I had this preconceived idea that she is a shy person who needs to be pushed to get information out of her. Although she shown some reservations about answering some questions, towards the end she really expressed who she truly is.

   At the beginning of the interview I stated how I am going to ask her questions about the transition from being sheltered in an environment such as high school to experiencing the chaotic world of college. I also informed her that I wanted to get her opinion on the structure of society and how our society could influence her in a personal aspect. After I did this I asked her if she have any goals that she set for herself to become to the person she want to be in life. She responded to this question by stating how she intends to go to college for film and animation in a two plus two program. Following this questions, I asked what type of career she hoped to pursue with the major of film and animation. Cyrah stated how she hoped to become a professional film animator with the hopes to revert cartoons back to having a moral lesson within the film. As she began stating this idea I began to see how passionate she is about creating animation by the tone in her voice and by the way posture of her body. The final question I asked her to conclude the interview was if she feel that she has a better insight to our society and how it could influence as she has gotten older. Cyrah excitedly stated how she began to have a better insight to politics, specifically the president election from watching the news more. She than explain how she feels that the results of this election has caused a bigger division between the citizens of our country more than ever. As a result of this she hopes to bring these people together through animation, by showing how we need to come together as one to become a powerful nation.

  Overall I believe that this interview succeeds into helping me understand the insightfulness of Cyrah. This interview also showed me how Cyrah  is more than a shy individual, she a person who has the potential to change the world in a positive aspect. From this interview I have grown a friend who demonstrates the strength that is needed to become successful in life.

                                     MARIA

by Zion Ponder

Rochester City School District - School of the Arts. another day of dragging myself out of bed after hitting “snooze” three times. I wake up wash my face, get dressed and leave right at the time I set my reminder to leave as usual. And when I say get dressed I mean through on something comfortable to lounge around in on this lackadaisical day. This consists of Adidas training pants, a hooded cotton parka, and some sneakers. As well, in a constant state of panic I remain as the bus’ unpredictable, and irregular time table leaves me to wonder if it’s coming early or later than scheduled. I finally make it to the bus stop with exactly 30 seconds to spare. I make it to school and go straight to the cafeteria to eat the breakfast that I skipped at home rushing for the bus. The first two periods consists of art, followed by two more periods of study hall. After those couple hours fly by I find myself walking to fifth period class with Jayde. In which case is too bad she isn’t my interviewee because my interview is based on music and my partner Maria claimed to to be not as up to date to music as I expected. In any respect, we begin the interview project. Both me and my partner are in comfortable clothing; from the sweatpants and hooded cotton top. She gives the first interview that turned out to be a very personal interview. It came as a relief to me when I let her know that my interview was gonna be a little more laid back,. Thus, giving me an excuse to match my lazy attire.

I instantly notice her stature change from upright to leaning against the way. This would provide for the sense of a more authentic and natural feel to her responses. I begin to the interview by asking a very open ended and debated topical question. “Should artists be allowed to sample each other’s music?” She responds in a bit of confusion on the subject but eventually answers the question in addressing the lack of originality in artists’ music when they sample. She then goes on to say that’s there’s more personality in originally mixed songs and that “creativity earns respect”. I ask the next question -  more specific, and pertaining to the idea of originality. “What was your reaction to J. Cole not winning ‘Best album of the year’ over Kendrick Lamar’s “To Pimp a Butterfly”? Note that J. Cole self - produced an album that went platinum with no features.” Reminder, she doesn’t know too much about rap hip-hop music.. So after I explain that it was a big deal and controversial in the sense that J. Cole was the highest paid artist of 2014, produced an album completely by himself, and went platinum for a second year in a row - here’s her response: “...it’s not really fair. If he worked on the album and showed as much hard work and dedication then he should’ve won it. I would’ve been upset because he deserved it… But at the end of the day it’s the people's choice... So it what it is.” I continue to proceed with an feeling of confidence in the next question: “Why do you think music is so important to our society?” As she begins her answer I notice her whole posture start to straighten up and her hands become more active in her response. She says to me with conviction, “Music is scientifically proven to help with education, learning and focusing.” She goes on to explain how music acts as a method to cope with struggles such as family and relationships, and stress of everyday life. Furthermore, it allows our internal feelings to be expressed through music itself. In other words, it gives us another voice other than our own. Another question that was sure to get a great response was “What would life be like if music didn’t exist? Does it have a positive or negative effect on our society?” Her response was “It would be boring and nobody would have any motivation to do anything” She then goes on to talk about how much our school would be affected. School of the Arts would lose an essential program, source of money and recognition. People audition and strive to get into

SOTA. Students who love music come to school looking forward to playing their instruments and singing songs. Also, our music and vocal program brings in most of the revenue and draws the most recognition and audiences. A multitude of various programs, schools, and companies request the SOTA music and vocal department to perform for different occasions each year. So to lose music would be a huge detriment to a lot of people. I also questioned whether she thought that music had a positive or negative effect, or whether it be both. She insisted that the effect could be equally as bad as the good it produces. Of course it provides motivation, helps with concentration, inspire people to go great things but it can always be used as a tool of obscenity. Influential artist who sing or rap about negative behavior encourage kids to behave like what’s being talked about in the music. Songs with explicit lyrics and content such as, drugs, crime, and violence are a common theme in some rap music. This can act as a negative influence for the younger, more susceptible audience that artists attract. Moving on, I begin to discuss more recent music. To talk about one of the top grossing artists in the hip-hop industry I ask “How would you rank Drake’s latest album ‘Views’ among his other albums? Was it worth over a year of waiting, anticipation, and hints?” She says she doesn’t wait for albums to drop but for Drake fans it turned out to be well worth the wait. Given the record sales and numbers alone it was statistically one of his best albums. Debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, 1st album to accumulate one-billion streams on Apple Music, Drake’s sixth straight #1 album, 2 million records sold… In  addition you have songs like One Dance, Pop Style, Controlla, Hotline Bling, and more which dropped before the album’s initial release causing major buzz, or ‘Hype’ which was another top song from the album. She says it was a really good album but she did grow impatient while waiting. And last but not least, one of the biggest most controversial questions; “Do you think the music industry would be the same if artists like Tupac, Biggie Smalls, Michael Jackson, Eazy E, Aaliyah, and more were still alive?” Her answer was clear, music would be very much different. Those artists back the came about through their own style and uniqueness. For example, Michael Jackson was and is known as the “King of Pop” and he’s inspired the way people dance, sing, and perform. And as we all know, imitation is the highest form of flattery. Artists nowadays look up to artists back then and are inspired to make emulate them in ways. On the other hand, a lot of new artists wouldn't see the time of day because of their lack of talent and experience. They wouldn’t have a base to start from with the deceased artists still alive. Plus, artists back then were all different in their styles which would further separate and elevate them from some of the artists of today's generation.

Turns out she had a lot more to say about music than they initially led me to believe.

                        Alannah

by Nurio Osman

“Football”, Alannah’s biggest dream. We sat in the hallway on the second floor of our school. The halls were quiet, but there were light conversations going on around us. She looked like a typical teenage girl, but her ambition was higher than most. “Tell me about your biggest aspiration in life” I said, Alannah answered with the most unexpected answer, -’I want to work in the NFL football league” she said. It would take most people a moment to answer this question, but not Alannah, she knows exactly what she wants to do in life. Alannah’s biggest aspiration is to be able to make work in the highest management position in the football league. “How would you react to an apocalypse?”, I asked her next, she thought about the question for a second. “..I don’t know..I would probably call my dad” she said. She said she would call her father because he’s a very logical person, who would know what to do. Alannah’s father is a lawyer, who is good at explaining things and making decisions.The next question was pretty basic, “Where do you see yourself in the next seven years, and what influenced this vision”, but her response was very in dept. Alannah said she sees herself in her last year of law school at Temple University in Pennsylvania, or University of Michigan, her father who is a lawyer,influenced her to get a degree in law. She also sees herself having an internship with an NFL football team, to get her better experience for her future career. “What is your definition of perfect happiness?” I asked her. It took her a second to think of an answer, “not being stressed”, she said smiling. -”My definition of perfect happiness is pretty simple because i'm so busy all the time.” she added. Alannah takes a lot of AP courses, does a lot of extracurricular, and plays football, which can be hard to handle all at once. Juggling extracurricular activities and academic classes, Alannah also added that true happiness for her, is seeing hard work pay off. Work such as, playing well during her recitals, being able to play football and being caught up with school work. I could tell football was the first thing that came to Alannah’s mind when I asked her what her biggest accomplishment was so far. She said getting a chance to play in the football team was a big accomplishment for her, because that was something she was so interested in. Alannah’s biggest fear is people misjudging her. She fears that when she is an adult everything, such as her hard work that she gets admired for now as a teenage, will be expected of her as an adult. She fears that people will have too high of expectations for her later on in life. Next I asked her what was a significant event in your life and how it has impacted her. She had a “thinking” kind of look on her face, after awhile she said working hard during off seasons to be on the football team. She went through a whole process, by e-mailing the athletic director, coaches  and preparing for the team during the summer. She is proud of her motivation and dedication.

                                      

                                                  DANIEL

                                                        

Tamia Jackson

    On this sunny but a little chilly November day I interviewed Daniel on his opinion about the music industry. The first thing i noticed about Daniel was his accent; he sounded british but he is actually from Germany. He had on a grey sweatshirt with the American flag stitched in his hood, jeans and sneakers. He actually looked like a regular american kid. Another thing I noticed was his personality, he is very laid back and funny.

    Over the course of time the music industry has changed drastically. Imagine if Tupac, Biggie Smalls, or Eazy E was still alive, how do you think the style of hip hop would be today. His immediate answer was no he then explained why “it will change the music would still be old school but in a modern way, they might lose their fame”. A big part of the interview that caught Daniel’s attention was his opinion on artist being accused of being apart of the illuminati. He had a shocked and confused look on his face, he said “They’re famous and fantasizing fantasies” I wasn't sure on what he meant by fantasizing fantasies so he explained that ever since we can remember the media put a image in our heads explaining and showing how the “American Dream” is supposed to be lived. Everyone knows the quote “Money makes the world go round” but many people don’t know the real meaning; so I asked Daniel does he think the quote has to do with why so many people want to be famous, he answered yes so confidently he explained that many people want to seek attention, they want to be known, and they want the “Social media fame”.

    We all have those grandparents who always question what we’re listening to; they might say “What type of music is that?” or “Why do they play this kind of music on the radio?” we don’t know how to say because the music in our era got adapted to us quickly and it is so catchy to memorize, unlike in the older era’s music was real it had a meaning and a story. I asked Daniel if he can change one thing what would he change and can this change make a difference today? He said “I would change the pricing of music”; for example apple music and spotify are two of the most expensive music apps. If we lower the price of music artist will get more attention. Even though the company will make less money.

                                                          

                                              

                                                               Adrianna

By Keoni Smith

It was an early afternoon in Rochester. Your typical cool, crisp, fall day in November, not a bother to those inside of the building of the School of the Arts. I decide to sit down and get to know Adrianna, since I have only known her public image. It is much like looking at the surface of an iceberg; I have only got to know Adrianna through the work she has done with our Jazz Ensemble. With Adrianna, I would ask about intricate topics. Often, I ask myself questions like these as my mind wanders, imagining that I cannot be the only one who has this curiosity. I start by asking about perfection, and her take on it. At first, she hesitates on this, being a question that she does not think about often, if at all. Once she gets into the question, the hands move and there’s a certain glow to her face as she explains how there is no real definition of perfection. Connecting it to her personal life, she says that perfection is like an end goal, where she always works towards it. To follow up, I go with a question that is overlooked, with it being something taken for granted. I wanted to know the significance of music in her life, and to see her thoughts on the idea of not having any. Right away, she responds in a very expressive manner. She makes the comparison of how vital it is to her as water is to any human; she just cannot live without it. It was easy to tell that she had nothing covered up for this question, which she proves by her background as a singer, and how she starts to hum something shortly after her response.

Discussing about music in her life was still skating on the surface, so I go in with deeper questions that would bring out her personal side. I start with a controversial topic; the election season has been eminent this month, and it was a perfect opportunity to get her opinion on politics, specifically on President-elect Donald Trump. Understandably, she has hesitation at first, since she is a person that does not seek the potential conflict that could arise. Not long after however, she admits that despite caring about the situation, she is not the strongest follower of politics. She becomes more passionate, seen in this flare in her facial expressions, as she explains her views, stating such as God being her presiding figure. She also makes the point that Congress has a lot to do with the actions of the president-elect, showing her belief and faith that she seems to have across the board, even in a situation that seems bleak.

I decide to not punch with another controversial question, but rather, one to get some insight on her emotional values. I ask a hypothetical question, one where I am not certain that I can answer myself; I ask about her reactions to the prospect of her family ditching her entirely. As much as she’s never thought about this, her reaction was that of a salty person. She would demand to know the reasons for being left behind, and through her expressive body movements, explained how she would continue to search for her family, expressing a strong sense of drive. As my curiosity was yet to be satisfied, I inquire about her past. I sought for a connection by asking about emotional disturbances, having been through a few myself. This one seemed a bit tougher for her; the minimal eye contact and less extroverted attitude when she started to discuss about her transition from private school to the School of the Arts gave me the hint that this was a rough time that can be kind of difficult to look back on. This is understandable, as not everyone adjusts to new environments with ease; there is the emotional baggage of leaving some things behind, as well as uncertainty of what is in store. However, as a rebound, she lit back up in her demeanor, returning to the bright, open, expressive explanations; she would not change what has happened despite the struggle, and has every bit of appreciation for it. Again, she brings up God has her good, driving force to help in her growth, exposing more of this personal drive she has that cannot be seen by the way she opens up to me.

Knowing that I should not dwell too much on the deep emotions of a person, I finish off this conversation with another controversial manner. Seeing the widespread arguments of the roles of males and females, I wanted her opinion on her definition of the genders, knowing by this point that she would not get triggered. At first, she seemed totally stumped; this was something she was likely not asked before, seen by the pauses taken to formulate a response. She proceeds with a detailed explanation that went deeper into the topic. She states the distinctions within the male gender alone, with the white male receiving privilege over other races, and black males being typically lazier, because of a negative background. Nonetheless, she makes the general argument that males are stronger and less emotional, whereas women are gentler and demonstrate more emotion. Along with that, she openly expresses that women are not credited for their contributions to society, as the two genders contribute equally in her eyes. After all was said and done, I learn a good deal of the kind of person Adrianna is. She kept my attention with her interest in answering my questions, and we would part ways satisfied and knowledgeable.

   

                                          STEVEN

Jamiah Chester

          As Steven walked up to me, I could see that he was a well put together individual. He dressed really nice, mostly black I noticed. We walked to the back of the room, shook hands, and smiled as we took our seats. I then said “okay let's get started”. I asked Steven to imagine if he had to choose a handicap, would he choose to be deaf or blind. “Deaf because my sign language is pretty fluent” Steven replied without hesitation. I congratulated him and went on to the next question. I then asked Steven to explain to me his idea of an “afterlife”. He hesitated for a moment, I noticed his hands fumbling and his leg shaking, he finally responded “umm.. I have many different views on an afterlife such as reincarnation, heaven or hell, and just roaming around the world as a free spirit”. It was an interesting response to me because I had never thought of anything other than heaven or hell. Next I asked Steven how does he think a sixteen year old should handle an unexpected pregnancy. Steven quickly responded “ In my own opinion, if she is not ready, she still shouldn't have an abortion, she should deal with the consequences”. I agreed with the response. “Next question” he said, so I asked Steven his opinion on the recent presidential election. Steven replied aggressively stating “ I feel like it was a terrible turnout because he's a racist, sexist, bigot who has no experience in politics whatsoever !” It got silent for a moment.., I smiled, he smiled, and we continued. My next question to Steven was if he got to spend a day with anyone living or dead who would it be, where might their time be spent together, and what would they talk about. Steven responded “Judy Garland” I asked Steven if he would spell her name out for me. He got a bit aggressive and somewhat annoyed by me asking this. He ignored me but continued on with the question. In a nice park on a fall day, talking about her life and the making of The Wizard of Oz”. “Nice” I responded. My final question to Steven was to take a leap 5 years into the future, what would be going on in his life. Steven delightfully replied “ I see myself on stage.. wait no I see myself on Broadway while your ass is sitting in the crowd watching me sing, dance, and act !”

Awkward silence...

                                 MANNY            
 by Sean Frisch                              

    My interview was with an outstanding person on a sunny afternoon at 11:34am, who really knew how to express his feelings towards the questions I asked. This was my classmate Manny. He was wearing a casual outfit with his glasses at the time, and had a smile on his face before we even began discussing the questions. He seemed very chill and confident at times, but also a bit confused based on my questions. His hand gestures showed me a sign of how he feels and how he explains his opinions based on different circumstantial questions. My questions were based off of today’s issues of racism (police brutality), political candidates and simple questions based on life.

    My first question I asked Manny was “ What are your ambitions about putting a stop to police brutality?.” He seemed a little shocked and confused based on this question. Eventually, after all of his thinking, he described to me that it wasn’t right and said “ I’d get involved in the community or start rallying behind others that didn’t agree with this concept.” He used many hand gestures and rubbed his face continuously during the question because I know he had to think hard in order to give a powerful answer that others would agree upon.

   

Then i continued to talk about this topic with him to open him up more, make him more comfortable and confident during the interview. I then asked,” Do you believe a law will be justified for police brutality?.” He seemed a bit surprised but he knew the answer right away. He started talking about the government and how they would take a police officer’s statement over a U.S. Citizen anyday because they protect us citizens. Manny said,” Of course not, because all officers aren’t the same as other officers.” This was actually true, and we both agreed upon this answer, because most officers don’t abuse their power and don’t deserve punishment or a law against them due to other officers stupidity.

We continued to get off topic and I had to lead him on to this next important question. So I brought up Donald Trump and the presidential debate. My next question for Manny was,” What do you think the outcomes of Donald Trump being the next President are?.” Manny actually came out and wasn’t afraid to say what was needed to be said. He knows alot about the government and history of the U.S. so came out and told me,” Basically it would stay the same, because Trump can’t input what he said or says, due to Congress. They will overrule him, no doubt about it.” Which in my eyes was a great response because we learned that in history class. We had gotten off topic talking and explaining how Trump was racist and how he would turn this country downward. I had to move on and ask him the next question.

So I asked Manny how does he feel towards racism nowadays to open him up about the topic and so he could feel comfortable about me asking the question. So I told him let’s get down to business, my question was,” We all know racism still exists to this day, but do you believe there will be a stop to this nonsense? Why?.” Manny thought hard and rubbed his face because it seemed like he didn’t want to say the wrong thing or feel like a bad person based of what he said. His answer was precise, he said,” Nobody's claims or opinions on racism will ever change because their will always be that one person who doesn't care about another due to their ethnicity, and the government force people to not be racist. So either way racism will always continue until people learn how to grow up and stop being immature.” I really hesitated and loved the response because he was very serious in his answer due to his eye contact and continuous hand movements. I was speechless and just had to move on, because we only had a few more minutes left to interview.

I had brought up another Donald Trump statement and started to describe how he felt about Trump. I had asked Manny, “ What do you think Donald Trump meant by when he said ‘ Make America Great Again’? Do you believe in this statement?.” He seemed confused on the question so I gave him time to think about it. Eventually five minutes later we laughed because he still had a hard time and I told him to think about Bush. He eventually came up with a good answer. He said,” Trump will not Make America Great Again because it's impossible to make it great due to our bankruptcy and economic issues that continue to erupt, Trump will only cause wars with his hatred worldwide. So I do not believe in his statement, even though we shall give him a chance to prove himself.” I was also a bit surprised with his answer because that’s a type of answer I would’ve said honestly. I told him to answer this last question seriously, so then we moved on to the last question.

This last question he had to think hard about. The question I asked was, “ Would you rather be homeless with unlimited resources or be rich with limited resources? And Why?.” He honestly answered this question so quick, he said,” obviously, poor with unlimited resources because you can have any resources that you need. Being rich you can only obtain certain resources. So i choose to be poor.” He answer was great and I would’ve chosen that answer as well, this interview experience with Manny was great and hope to catch up again with him soon!

   
                                                        

                                     TAMIA

by Daniel Lampe

    On a sunny but cold beautiful day in fall. I got to meet Tamia, a senior at School of the Arts. I asked her some questions to get to know her better. The leaves were slowly gliding down trees outside, while we sat in the warm and cozy inside. Tamia wore an army green coat with cute little stickers, such as a smiling heart and a rose. Her hair was straightened and she wore glasses with a brown frame. Her necklace and pink sneakers are directly falling into your sight. While we were talking, she sat with her legs crossed and had a focused facial expression.

    The first question was an introductory question of a current event to prepare her for some deeper questions. I asked her what she thinks of the outcome of the current presidential election and how do this impacting the next. She immediately replied, that the outcome is what it is and that you can’t change it afterwards. She personally preferred a different candidate than elected and she thinks that it’ll have a big impact on the world. While fall leaves were flying by the window, I asked her the next question which was about her finishing high school soon. “What career course have you decided upon and how are you going to make it happen?”, I asked while she changed her focused look to a thoughtful expression. After a few seconds of thinking, Tamia responded, that she would love to study social work for foster kids and pursue her dreams in life. Asking the 3rd question caused her thoughtful expression to vanish for a light smile, which was asking her to walk me through a day of her life 10 years from now. She replied, that she would still study at Morgan state and make something out of herself, which is a great goal. When I asked her if she could have a dinner with one person in the world of her choice, who would it be. She said it would be Rihanna, because she really likes her style, her music and her personality. She also included, that they would eat at Buffalo Hot wings and they would, of course, eat hot wings with her. The talked about topics would be why clothes are expensive and how Rihanna’s life as a celebrity is. When I asked her what her thoughts of life after death are, she looked a bit confused and she replied, that she doesn’t know. It’s weather heaven or hell she included too. The last question I asked her, dealt with meeting aliens from a different planet and what Tamia would like to ask them. Tamia replied, that she’d love to come with them, to experience their lifes and she’d love to know which planet they’re from, because she thinks it’s interesting and she always wanted to be in space.

That ended my Interview with Tamia on a beautiful fall day.

                           Nurio  

 by  Alannah Scardino

            We sat down on the floor of the SOTA hallway because the computer lab was too loud. In contrast to my plopping down into a “criss-cross applesauce” seating style, she sat down with more poise, her knees tucked by her side, perhaps due to the uneasiness being on the filthy floors of the school or simply choosing the more practical way to sit in relation to her long skirt. When I asked my first question, she immediately began tapping her pen on her hand, trying to think of something that was significant enough to say.

            The first memory that comes to mind when Nurio thinks about her childhood is the time that she fell down the stairs in her house. When she recalls this memory that happened over a decade ago, she is focused. The memory is no doubt a reminder of an unpleasant experience; she was hospitalized for a few days due to a head injury. She says that this memory must have stood out due to it being the first time she ever seriously injured herself. The drastic introduction into physical pain and the discomfort which came with it is no doubt unsettling, though Nurio does not believe that the event impacted her life in any significant way. In hindsight of her childhood development, not many emotions or aspects of her persona seem attached to the event. Simply put, Nurio says “we’re past it,” opting to move on from an accident which only had physical consequences.

            One of the most positive atmospheres Nurio can recall when she thinks about the parts of her childhood that shaped her persona is the community at School 15. She remembers her time there fondly, smiling as she talked about the artistic gatherings that the school held every Tuesday and Thursday. The gatherings were a tool to help the students come together and interact in an environment outside of the classroom. Nurio believes that this wholesome and consistent practice of peer interaction greatly helped her to develop socially and learn how to be more personable.

            The tone of the conversation remaining lighthearted yet focused, Nurio reflected on her family arrangement. As the middle child of a five-child household, Nurio wouldn’t change a thing about how many brothers or sisters she had. Playing with her hijab and looking thoughtfully at the ground and walls, she discussed how she felt her family had a “good balance.” Having four siblings allows for a lot of different perspectives, which Nurio feels gave her a sense of acceptance and an ability to work with many different personalities. Because of this, the translation of family relationships into more public social relationships which adolescents are expected to master in elementary school was considerably smooth.

            Despite not wanting to change her own family arrangement, Nurio very firmly believes that it should be ethically acceptable to want to change something about your family, stating, “Who knows what kind of a family a person has—what their story is?” From the more elegant way she sat down to her clear open-mindedness about her peers, Nurio’s maturity is admirable by any means. 

                            

                                      Zion 

by Maria Morales

        In a calm setting i had the pleasure to interview Zion Ponder , a comfortable t-shirt and regular jeans he wore on this particular day, you can tell off the bat that this individual was a driven young man . Before i even began to converse with Zion,  he opened up with  ‘’you are not your situation, but the engineer of your own dreams.’’ He has a remarkable impression on others, seeming to be a genuine, down to earth teenage boy. I began and asked him to describe one major experience that affected the way he has developed as an adolescent , his facial expression went down and he answered very boldly and said one day his dad shot this women who he was cheating with and tried to bury her and his mom tagged along and helped with this plan and his mom got charged with tampering with evidence and his dad got charged with murder and his parents ended up getting 25 to life in jail and growing up with no parents had strongly affected his development. But then he answered very positive and said that this taught him to have more motivation in life as well learn how to be responsible. Aside from the real in depth question i asked Zion to walk me through his perfect day , he described his day very visually and thorough. He said that he will wake up after sleeping for 9 hours and he will go downstairs and then go to football practice, and the practice will consist of full contact which he stated is always fun. He also said that after practice , he got ready to go spend a day at darien lake with friends. Zion enjoys to partake in social activities. I also asked him if he were take me on a vacation , where would we be going and why? I was surprised with his response more so because he didn’t choose an extravagant place he responded with he won the lottery and he would take me to disney world. Zion wants to go to disney world because he hasn’t been there since he was 7 and he has a lot of great memories in this place.

      Aside from asking him about vacation and a perfect day i asked him a different question , imagine your life ten years from now, what will your typical day be like? It took a minute for him to respond but when he did respond he knew exactly what he wanted to do in the future. ‘’Getting enough sleep , and going to football practice in the NFL, then go to a friends house and watch football’’ Zion said. He hopes to become a professional football player and play in the super bowl. I smiled when i heard this response because he wants to pursue something that isn’t easy but i knew that this young man is very ambitious and confident. I wanted to see the side of Zion that nobody has ever seen and i wanted to know his emotional feelings toward current situations that are happening in our country. So i asked ‘’ tell me your thoughts on the presidential election that we just had?’’ His facial expression completely changed and he answered very aggressively  and also included some profanity , you can see the hatred in his eyes and he didn’t watch the election that night because he didn’t want to be disappointed but he was. ‘’I blame it on the voters.’’ He  said he wants to move to Canada because he is scared of what the outcome will be. I wanted to bring the topic back to Zion about his life so far so i asked ‘’ Do you have a particular regret in life? What was it and why?’’ He said i regret not doing ctc and not putting time or effort into the job and football program . He regrets it because he could have potentially went on college tours and he just chose work over it. Although asking these questions, Zion did a very great job with giving a thorough response and i believe he will do great things in life.  

                   

                      Keoni

By Adrianna Lester

A seat in the Hallway

Beyond the Lockers!

The second floor hallway seemed like an inviting and peaceful space for a peer to peer interview with Keoni. Starting right away he shared with me that he wasn’t good at opening up to people about his personal life, and I, simply, said “it’s nothing to be afraid of, I’m in no position to judge”. I do think I’ve meet a person with such a great smile. Literally, every question that I asked he laughed and answered it, I didn’t expect that from him. I wanted to create a simple, but not simple interview, I wanted to ask questions that made him think outside of the box. I asked questions that looked simple but for the interviewee not so much.

“Why are you the person that you are today?” I asked. Keoni instantly began to laugh with his head swaying back and forth, moving his upper body in a downward motion with his index finger on his cheek. He replies, “It’s just genetics”, throughout his answer he began opening up about his past girlfriend issues, and he explained that he usually doesn’t talk about it. He began to bring out that emotional side that I was grasping for, that every man has but hides. I told Keoni “Take me on a day with you 10 years from now”, and then I asked “what would it be like?”. He began to laugh so hard that he turned red in the face, he thought I said “Take me on a “Date” with him 10 years from now” that was a cry laugh moment. I said, “NO!”.

He shared with me the love for his music and that 10 years from now he would be teaching and performing. During this interview something really stood out to me and that was Keoni’s level of honesty and commitment to himself. I said “Going through your life experiences, I’m pretty sure you’ve done and went through things, what would you change? I really appreciate the answer he gave. Answering with a serious tone he said “I’ll be completely honest, I wouldn’t change anything”. It is so rare that you find young people with a mentality like his, that would answer this question the way he did. There are so many people that are unhappy with their past mistakes and decisions, yet they fail to realize that those mistakes molded them into the greater person and that’s what Keoni began to explain. He began explaining that without his past he wouldn’t be the individual that he is today, for he was able to learn from his mistakes and past life.

“If you could go out to dinner with anyone in the world, where would you go and what are you having?” was my ending question, Keoni began to laugh and said “Oh God”! Keoni’s answer was a bit of a surprise for me. He told me that he wouldn’t want to go out to dinner with anyone famous because the “anxiety” would be too high for him, but he did say that Mr. Stone would be his top choice. Interviewing with Keoni was not only a great experience for me, but I believe that it was for him as well. Keoni’s intelligent choice of words and big bright smile showed his unique style and personality.

“This is a Seat in the Hallway with Keoni, with your host and interviewer Lady Lest, thank you so much for your time”

                                 

                                                 EMILY ROSE

by Bre’Asia Bradley

    I interviewed fellow School of the Arts Emily Rose on the date of Friday November 11th. Emily was very calm and ready for the interview. I asked her very thorough questions about crime and collected some opinions of hers. Many murders go unsolved and suicides are suspected of foul play.

I asked her if you could go back in time to the murder, would you try to prevent it or just want to see out of curiosity? Who would be the person and why? She was very fluent and confident in her answer. Her response was; she wouldn’t try to prevent it, just watch it to see what the person did. “I wouldn’t try to stop it because that person’s death could have had certain impacts on future things.” Rose didn’t have a specific person she could think of she looked very confused. She just chose people who commit child murders in general. Rose seemed passionate about her answer, she said “I don’t see how they can do that.” Next I asked Rose about the dictator Hitler who was a horrible person in the eyes of many. I asked her if she was alive around that time of the genocide of Jews, would she have killed Hitler herself or rose up against him. Rose responded very sternly that she can’t see herself killing anyone. I asked her and why and she said killing someone with that much power can affect everyone. Rose offered a solution to my question of if there was a dictator like that here today what would she do. She said she would rather help the people that he’s hurting and would protest and do what she has to do as a citizen. “Crime is inevitable,” that was her response to my next question which was; is crime the police’s contribution or the people and why? Rose used very good reasoning and vocabulary. She thinks that crime is normally with the victim so its authority and people get away with things because of their power. Rose feels as though the country created a system of poverty and causing violence which leads to more crime. My viewpoint she added some psychology into her answer which reminds me of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. She sees it as a bottom problem in which it shoulds be prioritized. She thinks the crime is mixed contributions. There are racial cops that don’t do their job correctly, but it isn’t always every cop. She does in fact believe the problem is within law enforcement.

Following the recent election of Donald J. Trump I asked Emily what does she think is the next step for America with him becoming president? Riots and protests have broken out because of this and Rose says it's going to go on for a while. “Minorities, hispanics and so forth should try to stay above him.” She believes a more controlled route would have more of an effect. Out of curiousity for her opinion I asked what does she think is the worst thing that has ever came out of Trump’s mouth. “Racist, discriminatory and sexist remarks.” She feels scared that now he’s president and is concerned about what he’s going to do for this country. I asked Emily her views on her participation in a purge. She yelled NO! With laughter she said “if I even go out to purge someone might kill me anyways.” She told of an experience with her sister in the adirondack mountains and thought they heard the purge bell. She is terrified of something like that happening. I asked what if it was required? She would probably participate in stealing things and that’s it. My final question to her was if the person she explained in question 1 was here today what in her life or society would be different? Because she didn’t give a specific person she answered child murders her response was very heartfelt she said “Killing a child is killing potential.”

                                            

                                      FENESSE      

by Joshua Martinez- Mercado

    I was interviewing my classmate Fenesse around 11:30AM in the classroom. He was dressed in all black but his outfit looked very casual but seemed very settle. As far as the questions I asked him, I asked him questions that are based on today’s society and the issues society is facing. I asked him these questions because i wanted to see his view on what's going on and possibly how it can impact our future. He answered them thoroughly and he really had to think about his response to my questions. When he was responding, he had a lot of hand movements and gestures showing that he was really into the questions and had different opinions and put thoughts in his responses.

    The first question i asked Fenesse was “How do you feel about police brutality? Do you think there will be a stop to it?”. When i asked him that, he seemed shocked and me that it was a good question. After he spent some time thinking about it, he said “Not all police officers are bad, I don’t stand for police brutality but some police officers abuse their authority.” He then said “It’ll be stopped, but it will take some time, we have to come together to stop it.” While he was answering this question, i noticed that he had a lot of hand and head movements and was really into answering the question and really had to think about it.

    The second question i asked him was “Knowing that Donald Trump will be our next president, how do you feel about the end results of the election”. He said “I was upset, but i had to face reality.” He later went on to say “I feel like Hillary would of been the better choice in my opinion.” When i asked him this question, he was highly in shock because of the outcome of the presidential election and had a low tone to his voice because of how upset he was about the outcome.

    The third question i asked Fenesse was a random question that i put together but i was surprised on his answer because his response was really touching. I asked him “Would you be a single father/mother with a child and be poor or be a single father/mother with no child but be rich?”. With this question, he really had to think hard about this question, i had noticed that he kept putting his hand on his chin as if he was in a thinking phase and said “ Be single and rich. I don't want my child growing up knowing that he didn't have a mother, and that's how i grew up. I grew up without a father and i don't want that to happen to my child.” His answer was touching because his father wasn't there to see his kid grow up to be a young adult and look at what he has accomplished in his life and see what his future would be like.

    The fourth question i asked Fenesse was “Knowing that Veterans served our country and are elderly people, do you feel like they should be treated differently in a positive manner? (get special care, get good health care, etc…)”. He had a good answer to this question, he said “Yeah, of course, they did a lot for our country and risked their lives. I feel that they should have unlimited resources (health aid,etc…) and should be immortalized in our country to try to make it a better place for us.” He had a lot of hand movements and signs showing me that he was really thinking about this question.

The fifth question i asked him was about the presidential election and what will happen because of the results. I asked him “Do you feel that the presidential election will divide the U.S. ?” He said to me “Yes, when Trump was elected, it struck a nerve in some people. People have been protesting, rioting, destroying things and ruining the community that they live in. I feel like protesting isn’t going to do anything big, we have to face reality and move on.” His answer stood out to me because I’ve realized that a lot of people (both elderly and teens) don’t support Trump because of the racial remarks that he has been making towards others in his rallies. Knowing that Trump will be the next president of the U.S., a lot of people are scared for the future because of his past history and also because of what he has been saying in his rallies and people are thinking if Trump is going to do what he has been saying.

The final question i asked Fenesse is based on the music that we are hearing today and what is his opinion on it. I asked him “How do you feel about today’s music compared to music back then? Is it better or has it gotten worse?” With this question, he told me that it was a good question because music is everywhere we go now a days. When he was answering the question, I realized that he was really focused on it and somewhat had an idea of how he was going to answer it. He said “Back then music had meaning, it wasn’t just putting tracks and beats together and just seeing if it would sound good and impress others, it was about expressing what they felt and what was going on in their lives. I feel like music lost the vibe it had before. Some people are rapping just to rap and some are singing just to sing. Famous singers/rappers are known for leaving a path of greatness, but people making music these days seem to be avoiding that path that those legends left behind. I feel like music has definitely gotten worse, music now just has repetitive beats and the lyrics aren’t there anymore.”

Overall, my interview with Fenesse was quite interesting. We were really into the questions we asked each other and i could tell that we really tried our best to give the best possible and honest answer. It gave us a way to know and communicate with each other a bit more and really show our true selves and express our feeling and speak about what we have been noticing these past years in our lives.

                                                   

                                      TAIJANAH  

 by Ny-Asia Rivera

On a fine Thursday evening I interviewed Taijanah, her face was puzzled and looked like she was wondering what kind of questions I was going to ask her. My first question, “With trump being president, what do you think he will bring to the nation?” She didn’t have to think much about the answer. Too me it looked like she already knew this question was going to be asked and she was ready to answer it. Her answer was that, “trump is very disrespectful in everything he says. He is very sexist and especially racism, and also degrades women. He doesn’t thoroughly think of what he says he just goes off of what his feelings feel and doesn’t think of the impact of the after effect. I would agree what Taijanah says, she’s passionate about what she stated in the talk with myself. The actions she sees trump taking is just not a good look on the future president. It’s always good to ask folks where do you see yourselves down the road, because now a day’s people are confused and just don’t know where to begin their life. “Life is a game you either win or lose.” Something that made me think when Taijanah answered my question, her answer was basic but different. “I want to graduate high school, on my way to college then later graduating with my degrees I desire to achieve, finding someone loyal in a healthy relationship and in her own apartment and having a job, doing things on her own.” Usually when you ask a typical where do you see yourself question, most answers are on my own doing me etc. but her answers were more focused on her trying to better herself and her future for later down the road. In my sets of question, I asked I put a personal question in there to see how others reacted and what they would have to say about it. I asked, “What is your opinion on letting girls go to the military, army, marines etc.?” Her answer was the opposite of what I thought it was going to be. “Never Judge a book by the cover.” “Women are just as powerful as men, if men can do it so can women. Your life a journey you will always have ups and downs. “Never compare your life’s journey with anyone’s else’s. Your journey is your journey; not a competition. “When living your life, you have situation that might bring you down but will lift you up down the road. 

                                                               NYREE

      

 Gabrielle Robinson 

Thursday afternoon I got the privilege to interview Nyree.  She was wearing a white jacket and khaki pants. She did not seem eager to do this interview.  Nyree and I walked down to the library, I felt it would be best for the interview to take place in a quiet place.  When we got down to the library I noticed she had a very stoic face.  Her emotions were kind of closed up.  

Then I asked the first question she started to open up.  I asked about her feelings about the results of the election.  She looked sad, disappointed, and a little bit angry.  She was using very open hand gestures to get her point across.  She wished the outcome of the election was different but she understood the that the outcome is not going to change, she accepted that even though she was upset about the results.  The next question I asked was about her decisions that she has made from seventh grade to being a senior, and if there were any of them she would want to change.  Her response was “procrastination”.  I asked her “why” and she said “ I want to try harder.  It’s my senior year, I don’t want my senior year to be about me procrastinating.  It should be about me doing my best.”  As we continued talking about it, the look on her face showed her disappointment in herself.

The question that I asked next seemed childish and very silly, but I was proved wrong when she answered.  The question I asked was “What would your dream house be?  Describe it.”  She seemed to open up more. She was smiling, her eyes lit up like a christmas tree.   When talking about her dream home, the atmosphere was calm, cheerful, and very open.  She told me she wanted a “small modern home” she said that because that was what she grew up with, it make her feel “comfortable” and “safe”.  She said the she wants a “water bed” in her room, then of her room she wants a “walk in closet, with a secret door leading to more things”.  She seemed to enjoy talking about her dream house.  The question after that seemed more serious and dark, it was a scenario question.  I said “You are walking into a dark room, you see a table that is lit up by one light bulb hanging from the ceiling.  On the table there are pictures of you loved ones.  When you reach the table, the door closes behind you and the lights flicker off.  How do you feel?”  She told me that if she was home then she would feel “safe” and “comfortable”.  If she was not home she said that “I would feel jumpy and kind of nervous”.

After that I asked about her childhood, more specifically traumatic experiences.  I asked “Have you had any traumatic experiences in your childhood?”  She answered “I can’t remember” I asked “what do you mean?”  She told me “I don’t remember most of my childhood, like birthday parties, how I would act as a child, etc.”.   Then I asked “How do you think that would affect you as a person?”  and she said “It makes me appreciate all the things that are around me,  it makes me stop and savour what goes on around me”  she continued with “ most people want to capture the moment with a picture,  I am not like that because pictures don’t help me remember anything,  it’s more important for me to just enjoy the moment and not worry about what is going on around me.”  After that emotional question, I feel like Nyree had a weight that was lifted off her shoulder.  From what I gathered from that question,  she seemed relieved that someone listened to her and heard what she wanted to say.  In conclusion this interview was successful and I learned a lot from her, and I would be honored to interview her again.

                                                     

                                   NY-ASIA    

 by Taijanah Jackson

               

It was around 11;30 in the morning when I interviewed Ny-Asia. We both stood in the second floor stairwell of the School of the Arts building. I walked to the steps and sat on one of the steps and Ny-Asia stood in front of me. We both smiled at each other. She wore gray sweatpants and a white graphic tee shirt with a black scarf around her head. “Who should go first?” she asked. It doesn't matter to me, I'll go first.” I replied. I took a long sigh and began my questioning. “Okay, question number one. There's two doors. Door one is unlocked and inside is $75,000. Door two is locked and the key is missing but inside in $100,000. Which door would you pick door one or door two?’’ I asked. She looked slightly confused about the question so decided to rephrase it. “Say there are two doors and door one is unlocked and inside there is $75,000 but then there is door two and door two is locked and inside is $100,00 which door do you choose?’’ I asked again. She thought about the question for a second smiling looking up at the ceiling. “Um… I would pick door one because you never know the key to door number two could be inside.” she said. I never thought about the possibility of that and it opened my mind a bit more to different possibilities. “Okay, moving on to the next question; Tell me the benefits of being poor and happy as oppose to rich and unhappy?” I asked my pen was ready to move as she answered the question. Again she looked as if she knew what she wanted to say but hesitated a bit i answering the question. I would rather be poor but happy because I would get to learn the different aspects to like and I would not to take what I have for granted.” she answered. Her Answer to that was pretty straight forward and I didn't have any objections to that. I thought it was a pretty straightforward honest answer. As I was about to move on to my next question Ms. palmer walked past and compliments Ny-Asia on her headdress. To which Ny-Asia replied with a thank you. I waited for their short conversation to be over before I started to ask my next question. “If Bernie Sanders were the Democratic nominee how do you think the outcome of the election would have been different? Why or why not?” I asked. This time was different right away she gave me an answer. “I think trump would have still won because he has money and because of that he's powerful. Also, Bernie Sanders is older and he probably wouldn't be around for much longer.” She replied. I nodded my head in agreeance with some of the statements she made. ‘’Okay next question Would rather live in a universe where everything is perfect there are no flaws or would you rather live in a world like today where you are allowed to learn from your flaws?” I asked.  I would rather live in a world like today and you would be able to learn from my mistakes and if you're living in a perfect world you're living in a fake ass world and if the world was perfect you would basically be a follower and not learning anything.” she said.  ‘What Do you believe Trump meant by “Make  America great again”?” I asked . “He’s saying that society is messed up and the world is not where it needs to be, but with him being president he thinks he could make America great again… which is hot really true.” she said. “If you were president, what would be the laws you would make and what laws would you take out?” I asked. “I think I would limit laws and the young men go to jail they are punished too punished too harshly and in other countries it’s not like that and when they get out they think that’s how the world really is and they aren't treated with love or anything.” she said

                                                                 SANDRA

by Jose Alicea

        The sun glistened through the window next to us as I sat down next to Sandra. The halls quieter than usual, mainly because most were in their classroom. It felt like an ideal day to speak with one another on such questions. “What do you hold a high value for in life “? “Knowledge “ she said. Her answer more powerful than the knowledge we learn from books in these classroom. Knowledge that you seek out and learn from. “The more knowledge, the farther you get “ she said. I came to a understanding of how important education was in the short time we spoke. “What are your goals 10 or 20 years down the road”? “Graduate high school

, attend college, all goals since grandma and mom could not”. I could feel a strong sense of ambition from her, to accomplish these goals not only for herself but for those around her. Here we sat speaking to each other on such topics, and I finally asked her “ has there been any particular situation in your life that has made you the person you are today” ? “When my mom left for 4 years and I had to basically become a mother to my little brother, it made me stronger as a female”. I started to see where the ambition and desire to be successful came from. Eventually, being that we both attended a arts school I asked her “ If you could be a artist for one day who would it be”. “ Leonardo da Vinci, artist back then were not as privileged as us now, it was almost like a science back then compared to now “. I t found her reasoning as to why she would like to be that artist interesting, being that it was deeper than “I like his art “ type of answer.  We moved on to talk about events going on in our country at the time and we spoke about the presidential election. “ What do you think of the outcome”. “ Disappointing, electoral should not even exist ,our lives should not be in hand of 500 people, it should be direct instead of someone else choosing” she said. I agreed with what a lot of what she said, and many others out there did too. As our conversation came to an end, there was one more question I wanted to ask her, “ What excites you about the future or even something now that makes you keep on going “. Her answer to this was the one that stood out the most to me throughout all of the thoughtful answers, “ HavIng no clue what is next keeps me going and having an open plate to whatever is next “. I believe that is part of the beauty of life, not knowing what is next but knowing something always lies ahead.

                                                   

                                            Katherine                            

 by Rashid Pendleton

I sat down with Katherine one late November morning. Before the start of the conversation, I couldn’t help but think about the last time we actually had a conversation. I’ve known her since elementary school, until this day we have practically spent our entire educational career in the same building. I wondered how the conversation would go, if it would feel as if we were long lost friends that haven’t spoken in a while or would it be similar to meeting an entirely new person. Katherine wore red pants with a white tank top and converses that gave the oppression that she was comfortable. I remembered glancing out the nearby window before she arrived in the seat next to me. The interview started if with the simplest of questions dealing with her “life values”. She spoke calmly telling me that she believed that friends and family are two of the most important things in someone’s life. She expressed her idea of creating a safe environment for people to make them feel comfortable and wanted wherever they may be. I found that Katherine was being honest with me, concerning the idea of the change that she has made in the world already. She stated that “she hadn’t had a big impact”. She went into explaining ways she could make this place we call a “world” better than what it is. I remember the amount of eye contact she initiated, feeling her eyes watching me as I wrote notes.

Creating a safe became a motif early in the interview, stating that the “aggressive” language being used in the world today would have to come to an abrupt stop in order to make it better. The way that the population thinks would also need to be adjusted becoming much more open minded and listening to other’s opinions. I wondered what she thought mainly of Trump at this moment based on the previous comments he had made about women, was he degrading the world as a whole by his actions? As I pondered this the conversation shifted to the topic of politics, Kathrine stated how she didn’t expect Trump to have such a large support system. I must admit that I knew of the support system that Trump had, and I knew that he would come out on top over Hilary. Kathrine on the other hand did not, but she went into explaining the idea of accepting the fact that he is now the president and that we have no choice, but to give him a chance. She doesn’t believe that he will be a dictator or even stick to the platform he developed throughout the electron considering that he was a democratic nearly ten years ago. She thinks having a republican as president in will only result in smaller progress for the country than if it was a Democrat. A downfall isn’t what she would described our new president as, but instead she considers it a waiting period. We all just have to wait the next four years out, hoping that Trump could actually bring some good to this country.

I shifted from the topic of politics into a more personal heartfelt topic, I asked a question concerning the controversy of whether living in the inner city and going to a public school had a negative impact on the her as a person and student. As I asked this I pictured myself talking to someone of higher authority a superintendent or even a principle. Thinking of the ways that they would be able to flip the question, making it seem as if the inner city offers much more of a learning experience than the suburban areas. This is exactly what Kathrine thought, the fact that she grew up in the city and attended a public school actually helped her develop into the person and a student she is today. It offered much more diversity within the school and allowed much more focus on learning outside of the classroom from fellow peers. She keyed in on outside learning expressing how she feel that it is the most important form of learning there is. As I listened I found that she seemed very intrigued in the idea of public schooling, not in the sense that she completely praises it because of the goods it offers, but also very content with the flaws it possesses. This led me into the closing of the interview, getting a general break down of the what she felt is the most important things she expressed throughout the entire conversation. Kathrine went into stating what America needs as a country, even though it has one of the most stable economies and has higher human rights than other countries. America is a divided country by individuals who work only to better themselves and not each other. Instead of caring for only yourself Kathrine believes that we should come together and unite to work towards a common goal of bettering America.

As the conversation came to an end the answers that Katherine gave me sat with me. I pondered the connection I had to them not only because they were reasonable and logically made sense, but for the way that she viewed the world from her perspective. It was my first outlook on the world through the eyes of a young women and the conversation open my mind to interest that I never thought I would find within myself. As she walked away from me, I realized that we have much more in common than what meets the natural eye.   
               

                          SAMANTHA  

                                   

by Tonyeisha Brown

                

            Just a normal, chilly day in the fall of Rochester, New York. I met with Samantha Burgos in a computer classroom setting where I conducted a structured interview. Sam and I conversed sometimes but not all the time. We knew each other, but not as much as you should know I friend. For my journalism project, I was to conduct an interview with someone. I decided to interview Samantha in the corner of the computer room. Samantha was dressed up, giggling, and semi-eager to start and get on with the interview. The first question that I started with was “What are your three most important values in your life that makes you who you are and why?” Samantha was intrigued and listened to the questions carefully. It was a question that took her a minute to think about. She then answered, smiling, “Family, money, and goals.” “Why?” I asked her again. She answered with one reason for all three, “Support. Support. Support.” The next question that I asked her was “What do you consider to be your biggest setback in life and how has this had an effect on you?” Sitting up tall she answered “My cousin’s death last year, negative effect by showing me grief and it has had a positive effect by me learning how to get over grief.”

            I wanted to know more about who Samantha is and who does she want to be. “What are you planning on doing for the next four years after you graduate?” Quickly she answered “College to study Psychology and get my master’s, get an internship in Psychology and I don’t know after that.” “Why is Psych the major you want to major in?” I then asked, attentive to her answer. “I want to help people who can’t help themselves, understand worldwide why people do the things that they do, and decrease crime rates.” After she answered I asked her “What do you want to be in life and why?” Samantha intrigued in the questions and answered a Psychologist or a Psychiatric Nurse because nursing is ‘in my interest and this combines the both of them’.

            The 2016 Presidential Election has been a very controversial event. I wanted to know Samantha’s views on the election. I asked Samantha how she felt about the outcome of the presidential election results. She had a detailed opinion, multiple thoughts, and engaged in the conversation. “Hilary won the popular votes, Trump won the electoral votes.” She couldn’t understand “How people could favor such a racist, sexist person to run the country.” “What surprised you the most about the election results and why?” Attentive and answered quickly, Samantha stated “Every state that Trump won, he only won by 1-5%, there wasn’t a big difference.” She didn’t know “how he won when a lot of people favored Hilary.” Samantha went on about who support Hilary such as a few names of celebrities. The next question that I asked her was if she was to be President, would she and how would she change the world. “No, but if I was, women would get the same pay for the same job, the rich wouldn’t be as rich, certain limit on the rich, free in-state college, get rid of nuclear bombs, and make peace with rivalry countries.” Samantha did not want to be president but she still had ways that she would change the world. My last question was “How would you handle yourself as president if you were in the most stressful moment of your presidency?” She answered, “I wouldn’t make a decision, I’ll ask input from the vice president and every other person that helps me like the cabinet, the senate.” Ending the interview, Samantha and I shook hands, ending our conversation with me having more knowledge on who Samantha Burgos is.

                                     ZACH

by Claire Foster

During my Interview with Zach I learned a lot about him. Me and Zach have known each other since 7th grade, but have never really been close. After this interview I have learned more about Zach on a personal level. One of my biggest interests in people is their biggest regret, although it seems like a very dumb question, I believe that it shows a lot about a person learning the things that they wish they haven't done and having them think how their life would change if they did or did not do this. Zachs answer was something that I did not expect. “My biggest regret was not going with my childhood dog when he was put down” he said. Zachs reasoning behind this was because he would have gotten closure and his friend from a young age would have had someone to go out with. My second question was if you could get away with any crime in the world what would it be? This allowed me to see the wants which he had in his life. Zack responded with anything that involves money, or value he thought that the best crime to not  get caught with was to have money because it would be most beneficial. This interview took place right after the new president was elected. Although many people don't talk about political views, I feel that you can learn a lot on what people believe in with a question. My question was what is your opinion in trumps presidency, responded with a slight giggle, Zach proceeds to say how he thought Trump was a joke and was unqualified. He followed up his statement was he may not be as bad as we all think though,we need to give him a chance but if he does anything wrong then people will impeach him and he will be gone. Noticing that one of his wants was money from previous questions i decided to ask him what he would do with his life if money was not an issue, along with the thought of us graduating and having to move on with our lives and doing things like adults. Zachs response came o the thought of doing video games and creating them. He thinks it would be a personal benefit because he would be making something he enjoys and wants others to enjoy it too. Another question i like to ask people to get to know them is what their favorite and least favorite feature is about themself. I believe that that can show a lot about a person and shows the confidence to tell the answer. Zach said that his favorite feature about himself was the humor he accepts. Zach has the power to not get offended by any joke and think they are funny which is very beneficial to life. In this moment Zach opened up to me to a very personal thing in his life which many people struggle with and I am so honored i got the chance to learn this and work with him. Zach told me that his least favorite feature about himself was that he has a lot of social anxiety. This has affected him for his whole life and he has had to get through and modify portions of his life with it. He said that this causes him to have a lack of eye contact with the people around him when holding conversations and he feels pressure talking to people even in a pressureless situation like this one. My final question i asked because i can not relate to it and was very curious about what others think about it. My question was if long distance relationships are a good idea. Zach had the mature answer that he thinks they are a good thing as long as both the people understand the work and time that needs to be put into it and understand that they might not be together for a year or so.

    Working with Zach helped me get an understanding on him and learn things i would have never known before. I am very grateful we were able to participate in this project because of my love for learning about people and getting to know someone new on a personal level.

                                    Griffin

by Jayde Ashanti Lucas

On November 10, 2016, I Got the chance to interview Griffin Harrison. He Seemed really comfortable and prepared to answer every question I threw at him. Most of the questions asked were really personal and he seemed to not be thrown off by them. He answered them in great depth and intelligence. He had really good posture and character, and after a while it didn’t even seem like an interview, but more of a conversation.

After I gave him a little bit of time to get comfortable and prepare, I proceeded to the first question. I asked him “what do you think you will be doing in your life 10 years from now? How will you get there?” He then answered “I would like to be a professional drummer, I want to have graduated from college, with a  masters degree in music. Either playing in an orchestra, band, or just playing. I want to be able to share music to people.” I found this answer really interesting because he's so young and full of ambition. He knows exactly what he wants to do and how he wants to do it. Leading to his answer of the second part of the question, “step 1 get into college, step 2, make connections with people, network yourself, use social media, and know how to reach people,do auditions, teach people and finally get a studio.”

I then asked him the next question, which was “What do you have that is of great value to you but of no value to anyone else? Why?” He then follow with  “I would say ambition, if one opportunity doesn't work out, another will.”“I don't wanna be mediocre I want to be amazing and the best at what I do, a lot of people don't work hard to get where they want, you can't procrastinate you can't waste your time, because what's the point?” He looked really passionate while explaining this to me, you can see the determination in his eyes.

Thinking about the problems we’ve been having with police brutality, it encouraged me to asked him, “If you were a police officer for 1 day what would you do with the authority? Why?” He responded with, “ I wouldn't try to show that i’m tough… police don’t really do anything, they don't get out or talk to people. I would make sure everything is good. Id try to resolve issues. Try to get people to work things out in a nonviolent way. Show people police doesn't have to be feared. They're people just like you.” This made me a little joyus because I like to see that he is cognizant of the problems with the police and he would try to make a change if he could.

My following question was “If you could know one thing about the future, what would it be?” This question did indeed throw him off. It took him a while to answer it, but when he did I wasn't disappointed. He said “if we ever reach world peace, I wanna see what the world looks like in 100 years. From 100 years ago we had segregation, and 100 years after we have Obama as president. I wanna see the change socially and politically.” He is always thinking about the world around him and how we can progress.

Next, I asked him “If you had to give every human the same one quality, what would it be and why?” I asked him this to try and see what kind of person they are and would want others to be. He replied with “Empathy, because there’s a lot of people who can’t put themselves in somebody else’s shoes. For example, a girl got bullied for shoes she wore, but she couldn't help it. I felt so bad about it. So yeah, empathy.”

I wanted my final question to really cause him to think and reflect on himself, so I asked “How do you see yourself? Do you think it's different than how others see you?” After repeating the question and giving a little thought, he says, “I’m an American. I’m a free spirit, I don't follow people and I do my own thing. I don’t worry about much, if people don’t like it then oh well.I work towards my goals. I am dedicated and hardworking. I’m not sure how others see me. I would hope they saw me as real and inspiring.”

This interview with Griffin was great. I felt like it really opened his eyes to some things that he didn’t think about before, but it also let me understand a part of him that I never knew. I was really impressed by his professional aura, mature mindset and humble character. I thank him for participating in this interview with me, and hopes that he does very well in life.

                                                             MALCOLM

by Serena Benson

As i sat down with Malcolm for his interview i sat on the floor because there was not an open seat around me and i was toon lazy to grab a chair this allowed malcolm and i to have a very relaxed interview from the start. I started with my first question; “ what would be one social media that you would use for the rest of your life?” he thought about it for a while, then answered with “snapchat” a app where you send pictures back and forth. He then thought about it more and changed his answer to facebook. Facebook would be the app he chose to use because “ it's a way to stay connected with his friends and his family, mostly everyone has a facebook so it's easy to say connected.” i then moved onto the next question, “would you rather be surrounded by puppies or a single person for the rest of your life.” he laughed and said puppies, there’s no problems and attitudes with puppies just happiness. I pretty much agreed with malcolm on that one, because who doesn't love puppies. My third question was “ what is one thing that you would  change about the educational system?” this one was a hard one for malcolm to explain, paraphrasing malcolm was saying that he wouldn't want everyone to be equal due to people go through different circumstances. The fourth question related to the third one a little bit “ are you grateful for the opportunity to go to a public school? Would you have rather gone to a suburban school?” this one malcolm answered with “ public for sure, i wouldn't be the person i am if i hadn't gone to a public school, i'm very grateful”. The fifth question i asked was “ would you rather have your dream job but not make the money or have a boring job but make an abundance of money”? This one he said that he would rather have a boring job so he would be able to support his family. I thought that was very coinsiderate of malcolm to say, it was nice to know that he would want to support his family over himself. My last question was a grave amount of either or questions more like a silly get to know you questions. Such as that malcolm prefers m&ms over skittles and that he is allergic to peanut butter along with that he is team iphone. I found out a lot about malcolm during this interview process and i’m very glad i had that experience with him. 

                                                         
                                                            CLAIRE

by Zachary Mangiaracina

                On a particularly nice day for October, Claire Foster gave me an interview of her view of different topics. She was full of energy and had thoughtful responses to all of my questions. When the questions came up she knew exactly how she felt about them like, if she were given a full day with an unlimited amount of money how would she spend her day? She told me that she would go straight to New York City and hit up any and every mall she saw something that she wanted, afterwards she would go and visit any of New York’s sightseeing locations and maybe go to a Broadway show, enjoying as much of the good life as possible before having to go back to her normal day where she would probably realize all of the things she could have done the day before. The next question was another hypothetical asking whether or not she would rather be able to know every kind of language and be able speak and write it perfectly but give up knowing how to speak English entirely and could never learn how to understand English ever again, she responded with saying that she’d gladly take such an opportunity and definitely mess around with any English speakers that wanted to talk to her while then being able to visit any place on the globe that wasn’t a native English speaking country. Getting more into her real life I asked what it is that you do in between classes, and she preferred to go straight to class and wait for her friends to show up rather than waiting in the halls, risking being late and just in general didn’t see the need to be outside of class to socialize. I was curious of whether she would like to be famous and have all of the facets that go with that and she said that she wouldn’t mind being famous but only if she was famous for a good reason unlike the Kardashians, but rather earn her place for being famous. Finally I wondered what she would do if she could own any franchise, or kind of business, what would it be and the idea of owning a shelter or home for dogs would be her business because she absolutely loves dogs and would love to be surrounded by them at all times. The interview was very straightforward and pleasant to be a part of, and gave me a better understanding of herself and her views.

                                                                    SEAN

by Emanuel Cornier Rivera

On a sunny Friday afternoon without a cloud in the sky I was interviewing Sean in class. Sean was dressed casual with a nice dress shirt and fancy white shoes. At exactly 11:34am the interview started we were to busy greeting each other that we started complimenting each other on how we were dressed. We didn't know who should go first so we played rock paper scissor shoot the outcome was Sean winning and I had to go first. I started the interview with a simple question “in what ways do you consider, yourself as a leader or a follower and why ?” he was stomped I asked again and he responded by saying “Both because i'm a strong leader in different categories but i'm also a follower because I learn from others mistakes.” Sean did not seem to be phon of that answer but i kept it going with the questions. I ask the next question “What is one of your biggest accomplishment in your life so far? How has it impacted your life?” Sean didn't even needed to think about the question he knew what exactly to say “I have to say my biggest accomplishment in life is obtaining a sports award from a rochester sports banquet and it impacted me by continuously succeeding in life.” Sean went into so much detail about this award that he went to google and showed me how the award look. We were getting easily distracted by the computer that I wanted to get his attention again so i quickly asked a question “Imagine your life 5 years from now and tell me about a typical day?” he didn't answer the question until he logged off the computer I was guessing that he wanted to give me his full attention and I appreciated that. “Starting a career in nursing, livin life in Florida, trying to start a family and finally to be the most important person in everybody’s life.” I ask “why would you want to be the most important person in everybody's life” he looked at me differently like I knew the answer to that “Because I love having all the attention on myself it makes me feel relevant to everyone.” Sean answered the question as if he is going to become famous over time. “Tell me about a time in your life that you wish you could have a do over? What would you do differently?” Sean really had to think about the question he changed his position many times before giving me an answer. I didn't want to rush him so I patiently waited. “I would honestly go back 5 years ago when my grandmother found out she had cancer and convince her to go to the hospital to get tested before she found out she had cancer.” “Imagine the perfect dinner, both the food and the setting? Where are you? What are you eating? Who are you with?” “Red Osier it's a seafood restaurant, candle lit dinner, far back corner alone, the food would be a prime rib and i'll be with someone special.” When Sean said special someone I giggled and so did he. “Who is that special someone if you don't mind me asking” “Well of course by that time hopefully I would have met that perfect girl I been waiting for.” The answer that Sean gave me it tells me that he is a romantic type of guy. “We just finished a presidential election? What are your thoughts on the outcome? What do you anticipate in the next four years?” “My thoughts of Trump winning is mainly based off of racism and immature behavior.” When Sean said Racism it really got me thinking of how badly people talk about Donald Trump being a Racist. “Why do you say racism and immature behavior.” “Throughout Trump's campaign it has been a disgusting thing to watch the media makes it even worse by comparing Donald Trump to the KKK and the rallies are completely unnecessary.”

              
                          Josh

By Katherine Fuss

            Through our major, Josh and I have been classmates for a while, but we’ve never really had any personal conversations. This interview was a really interesting way to get to know him a little bit more, and learn things I may have never known otherwise. Since we already knew each other, there wasn’t much of a need for introductions, so we jumped right in.

           

“What are your current thoughts on college?” I asked. “Are you excited or more nervous? Or do you have other plans entirely?” Currently, I myself don’t have much of a direction, so I’m always interested to hear about other people’s plans.

“Right now I’m not going. I’m joining the marines.” He replied. “I love challenges, and being the best at the things I try. The marines was the best way to get both.” I really admire that. It takes a lot mentally and physically to join the army, and I don’t think I could ever do that. He also explained that it would be a way for him to be better than his brother, who he seems to have an ongoing competition with.

“What’s the last picture you took, and is there a story behind it?” was my next question.

“The last picture I took was picture day, because I had to.” Not necessarily the most interesting answer, but it just shows that not everyone has an interest in photographing the things in their lives.

“What’s the most valuable thing you’ve ever lost, and how did that impact you?” This question can go a lot of different ways, so I was really interested to hear his answer.

“The most valuable thing I’ve ever lost would have to be… though question. A teddy bear that I used to have when I was little that my great great grandmother gave me before she died. I’ve never really been sentimental about things, but that, when I lost that, it kinda hurt a lot. Stopped talking for a while after I lost it, too.” That really shows that loss of any kind can be really hard even on people who aren’t particularly emotional.

“Do you have any unusual talents? If you do, what are they? And if not, what’s a talent you’d like to have?”

“I don’t think I have any unusual talents, normal ones I guess. A talent I would definitely like to have would be to be a lot better at baseball.” Honestly, I think this is a pretty hard question to answer, unless you know right off the bat (like being double jointed or knowing how to moonwalk). But baseball is a solid answer, it’s great to improve on something you already love.

“What’s the biggest lie you’ve ever told?”

He thought about this one for a while. “What is the biggest lie I’ve ever told?” The hesitation either meant he doesn’t usually lie, so it’s difficult to think of one, or that he lies all the time, and it’s hard to pick out a single one. But knowing him, I’d bet the former is true. “That I’m excited to see my brother, I guess,” he answered. That makes sense; the love-hate relationship between siblings is always a dependable cause for lying, especially hearing about how competitive they are.

And for my last question, I asked, “if you could be fluent in any other language, which one would you pick and why?

“Mandarin.” He answered. “I want to be able to go to China and talk to people, and get their views on the world. I’m curious about a lot of things.” His answer to this was probably the most interesting thing I learned from this interview; I didn’t know he had such an interest in travelling and learning about other cultures.

Though it was just a class assignment, this interview was a really interesting way to learn a little more about Josh, and get some insight into some topics that we probably would have never talked about otherwise.

                                                                    Bre'Asia

by Molly Elliot 

After six years of being in school together, Bre’asia and I finally had a conversation that wasn’t to do with the dead line of our next assignment or the reading we were supposed to finish for English class. On Thursday when we read our partners off the blog she realized after six years of being in school together that my first name is Emily and as we walked out and found a place in the hallway on the floor against the lockers to sit and talk, we began to learn much more. We took turns asking each other the questions we had come up with the day before, Bre’asia went first and immediately I realized that her questions were much more politically involved than mine, and maybe they were influenced by the recent election but in any case, they made me think.

I decided to create questions based on social interactions to see if I could better gauge how Bre’asia acts in different kinds of situations, my question came after Bre’asia had asked me about murder, a solemn subject, I look at her and asked “How do you react when a baby stares at you in public?”. She immediately smiled and laughed, her first response was that she didn’t like when people stared, but when it came to children its was cute, “I’ll go play with it and be like: “Hi!””. This backs ups my own personal theory that little babies can make any person of any age act silly. I then asked her if she would respond the same way if the babies parent or guardian was watching, she had to think because she had mentioned earlier that she didn’t like when people stared, then she said she might “hold back a little, or maybe say hi to the parents” but in any case she would indulge the baby in some way or another. I find it cute that babies have such an affect over people of any age and back round.

The night before we came up with interview questions I went on a YouTube spree and watched half of the videos on the internet of people paying it forward, and it got me thinking about how much I would love to be able to impact someone’s life so much by just a random act of kindness so I decided to ask “Would you rather receive $1,000 or be able to give $1,000 to a random person of your choice and why?” It didn’t take Bre’asia long to give me her answer which was that she would rather give $1,000 away, “I’m not materialistic, I have it and I don’t really need it”. Since I had felt so influenced to pay it forward after seeing all those videos I thought to ask if seeing other people do random acts of kindness inspired her to do the same and again her response was almost immediate, “oh yeah, like if people buy me lunch I feel obligated to pay it back to them, or do something for someone else, it’s like something nice for me, something for you”. When I first asked her she said she would rather give it to a friend or a family member who needed it more, “Would your answer change if you had to give the money to a random person in blind faith?”, she then told me about a time that she did give what she had to a random stranger, “I was coming out of the corner store with like a lot of snacks and I saw this man who was homeless asking for money, I had just bought snacks but I knew I had money, and so I gave him the $30 I had left”. She puts up a very tough façade, but Bre’asia is very kind.

My next question made her laugh again and she knew her response right away, that was a common thread throughout the whole interview, it never took Bre’asia very long to formulate her answers because I think she knows herself very well. “If you met someone your age who still believes in Santa would you do your best to keep the illusion going, or tell the them the truth”, she broke out in a big smile and laughingly said “I am bluntly honest, and I would not! There is a certain age they should stop!” She told me how she stopped believing in Santa, the tooth fairy, Easter bunny and all that jazz when she was eight. “I would be kinder to kids but blunt with my peers” and “I will not have my 16-year-old son or daughter believing in Santa, no way”.

Next I asked Bre’asia “If you were a person of power in a company and had to choose between deciding who must be fired, and actually firing a person what would you choose to do and why?” This question always seems to go fifty-fifty whenever I ask it but Bre’asia said she feels that she would rather decide who would get fired because she would feel too bad. I was surprised by her response because she had just said before how she is very blunt and honest so I felt like that decision would suit her more. “I would feel too bad”, I then asked ion what basis she would choose to fire someone, “work ethic” “Would you go based only on your gut or could other people opinions influence your decision?” “I don’t do hear say, that’s just how I am with people, I would go with my gut”. This answer and her answer to my last question were very in line with each other. My final question was asking if Bre’asia would accept the exact life she wanted, free tuition to school, a house, a car, and a lavish life style with the only condition being she would be living somewhere completely away from everyone she knows, she didn’t have to think about this question at all, “No, I’m independent, I’d rather be around my family and I want to work up to where I want to be, I don’t want anything handed to me”. I think these two questions really shows Bre’asia’s work ethic, which is strong, and consistent.

Finally asked a question to see if I could get to understand Bre’asia’s personality more, I wanted her to describe a scene using her favorite color. “I’m lying on a blue floaty, in the clearest blue water (I don’t know where) surrounded by peace and quiet, I got a sexy blue bikini and I’m looking at a blue sky”. From this I gathered that her favorite color was blue, which is something we have in common! “Now create a scene using the color that best describes you” As usual with no delay, “Red, it’s an angry color to me and I’m mean at times, I don’t like people, I’m hot headed and I like to curse people out”. This reaction was so opposite the one she had just described and I asked her what she thinks that says about her, “Because there are two sides of me and the color that describes me solely depends on who I’m with like, I’m red at school, but blue when I’m sleeping or with food!”

After walking back into class and looking over all of her responses I realized that Bre’asia knows herself very well which is a quality I really admire, to know exactly who you are and understand your personality enough to be fully honest about it in all situations. I’m glad I got to interview Bre’asia cause she can make me laugh and it’s refreshing to talk with someone so honest about what they know.

Katherine 
by Josh Pettway

                Weirdly warm, sunny and bright fall day, Friday morning in a computer lab. Katherine Fuss fellow theater technology major is normally quiet, smiley person, but easy to talk to about anything when you do bring a conversation to her, Intelligent can grasp any task thrown at her, has a nice, easy way of seeing things. Sometimes takes a second to collect her thoughts to give you the best possible answer she can, others may make her hesitate because of the delicate nature of the question, but will still give an intelligible answer.

                What are your thoughts on spirituality? “Can be very important to people… a lot of people use it to explain unexplainable things.” At the same time not being super religious herself. Choosing to
re-word my question because it didn’t fit exactly the past answer I got. What gave you this particular outlook on life? what made you see things this way? Parental influence, both parents are believers of the Christian faith, but school exposure of different views and situation helped her to pick her path, not being super religious but also not counting out belief entirely. Do you think those who perceive their beliefs as true are wrong? No, everyone has a right to their own belief, but those who discriminate others because they believe their belief is better or wrong or act on irrational ideas of exterminating a religious following is completely wrong. After three questions instead of continuing with questions prepared I decided to go off script and just ask random things that I wanted to know about Katherine myself. Why choose Theater Tech.? “Probably couldn’t really do anything else.”, which I myself doubt with how easy it seems she can pick up on anything she tries. Likes the practical nature of the major, “Not saying others aren’t practical, but visual arts would probably be my second choice.” Why do you work so hard? How was that instilled in you? Practice, working with teammates to improve, along with the help of coaches, exposure to shows and learning with experience. What are your thoughts on transgender bathroom? Katherine didn’t seem at all uncomfortable by the question, she took a minute to collect her thoughts, she herself supports transgender, rather have people use the bathroom they’re comfortable with, “It’s unfair to force someone into a bathroom of the opposite gender they identify with.”

                Katherine made this interview a lot easier, she gives off a warm presence that gives comfortability between two people, I enjoyed this interview and enjoyed the time I spent interviewing Katherine.

                                                                   JAHDA

                                           

 by Kennadee Grisham

It was a thursday morning when I sat down in the hallway of the second floor in School of the Arts with Jahda . She had her hair in a ponytail and an Aeropostale jacket. She had on dark colors and her shoes were untied. Her jacket was open and her shoes were grey. We sat down that morning not knowing the outcome of the work we were about to put in. I kind of had a feeling on how she felt about the day and how she would respond to the questions. Careless and unreasonable, going with the obvious. The first question I asked was how would you describe your views on the presidential elections that currently happened about a week ago. She started with “um, I feel like” a lot throughout the interview. But she said that there is nothing she can do about it and we all have to deal with it. She said that she thinks america would go back instead of progressing forward. That first response showed a reflection on her body language and her attitude as well with her clothes and what she was wearing. Her voice sounded very nonchalant and unconcerned.  Before we started I went back into the classroom to get a chair, when I came back she laughed and said that she was too lazy to get up and get a chair. Which made me think even more about how her answers to the questions would be carefree and not really interested. “What is something you can’t live without?” I asked. “I can’t live without food. (laughs) I can’t live without music. The past year it’s been a lot of stress and music releases it all.”  she said with a serious face. “ Music is a stress revier for you?” I asked. “Yes, it blocks everything out that no longer matters.”

“What do you think about racism in this country?” thinking that some of the stress was coming from the country and it’s problems. “ I feel like, of course racism is bad. And it’s gonna be here no matter what. Based off the people who lived here the different racial groups and history black and white. It’s taught by families and it’s hard to distinguish it.” she said looking down picking at her shoes. Moving on “what are your duties at work and how does that play a role in your life?” I asked. “I don’t have one yet, well I got one but haven’t started it, the job that I have now is a wait staff position, like a waitress, it’s at a nursing how. I feel like being around other people, older people you think about your future and it’s sad.” “Almost done” I said, “What  do you think about the stop and frisk policy and is it a form of racial profiling?”. She went over my last few words saying “That’s exactly what I think of it. A legal way to show prejudice.” I shook my head and agreed. “Do you think that america is divided, If so how and why do you feel this way?”

She stopped and thought about this. “What do you mean?”. “ Like culturally, physically, religiously or like politically.” I said helping her out. “ It’s divided with political reviews. Democrats and Republicans. The  two different groups want two different things not trying to compromise anything”.

                                                      JAMIAH

by Steven Colson

                          

 On a brisk fall afternoon, I had the pleasure to interview Ms. Jamiah. She walked up to me said “hello” shook my hand and took a seat. I noticed the way she looked, she had that it's fall I’m coming cute and classy. She wore a basic black tank top and a cardigan fit for the season and some blue jeans with black boots. Her hair was curly and beautiful every piece was put perfectly into place. So the first question i asked as about the presidential election. She was ready to talk about that. She said “i don’t like the outcome, Hillary should have won because Trump doesn't have the qualifications of being a good president and I hope there won't be any acts of violence between races. The question and response that really stuck out to me was when i asked “ tell me about an experience you’d like to red? How would it turn out”. Jamiah had this look in her eye that she was scared to answer. Very timid and afraid reaction as if i was going to judge her, but she sucked it up and said “The day i lost my virginity”. I had asked the follow up question of “why?”. It seems she comes from a very religious background and felt she should have waited till marriage. She felt she was so young and dumb and wasn’t ready for that adult decision but did it anyway. I must applaud her on her bravery of answering this question, i know it can be a very touchy subject for certain people. She was hesitant at first but then opened up to talk about it. Then we went on a much lighter topic,of what fantasy goal would you like to achieve. Jamiah answered with “teleportation” I responded with ‘’why’’? She said “ because life would be more interesting and faster with teleportation even though it would be very costly”

  That concluded that interview with Ms Jamiah        

                                                           

                                                             TONYEISHA

by Samantha Burgos

    On November 10, 2016 I had the wonderful opportunity to interview Tonyeisha . I briefly knew a little about Tonyeisha prior to the interview because we have had classes together in the past, but I never got to actually get to know about her interests and intake on life. Not seeming scared or nervous at all, she answered all questions thoroughly and honest. To get to know a little about Tonyeisha I asked her a few open-ended questions that would allow her to really think about, and allow me to get an insight in what type of person she was. When I asked about the Presidential Election, she strongly believed that the electoral college should be abolished. She also strongly believed that Hillary Clinton should've won and that we might be doomed for the next 4 years with Trump as our president. What really gave me an insight about Tonyeisha is when i asked her what keeps her going in life and her answer completely shocked me; She said that the way society is set up inspires her, to not only be better but to also make a difference in the world. This showed that she was a very generous and kind person willing to create change. 10 years from now, Tonyeisha explained how she would be in boot camp in Virginia participating in an FBI training academy. As we narrowed down to the simpler questions, Tonyeisha got stuck when i asked her what she would undo in life. When she finally thought of an answer, she claimed that if she had a chance to, she would've took school more serious. For example, she would have studied harder, turned everything in on time and complete all of the homework. It was my pleasure to interview Tonyeisha Brown, I learned that she was a very sweet, compassionate person and i also learned that we actually have a lot in common.

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                                                                         RASHID

by Katherine Scardino  
                                                                                                         

It was windy and bright beyond the windows that bordered our class room. Rashid was dressed in a fashion befitting the autumn weather, and seemed very relaxed in his jeans and hoodie. At his desk Rashid was in a very familiar environment; smiling and talking with ease. I started the interview off with a broad question, something to get the conversation going. As light hearted as my question seemed to me, “If you could do anything with your life what would you do?”, I was surprised to receive such a definitive and ambitious answer. “Cure cancer” was his reply. Rashid then laid out a life plan than encompassed getting into Stanford for medical biology, earning his PhD, and beating the most infamous of diseases. When I asked Rashid if that is how he would like to be remembered, as the man who cured cancer, he agreed only in part. Yes, he wanted to have that medical legacy, but he also wanted to be remembered as someone who valued family. It wasn’t surprising to hear this smiling; comfortable person say that they have a strong value for family. It certainly wasn’t surprising to learn that in addition to earning his PhD, one of the most important milestones he wants to witness is his younger brothers’ passage through college.

As the conversation turned to the 2016 Presidential election Rashid sighed. He seemed, as most did, tired with the election and disappointed with the results. When asked how the recent election reflects on the people of the United States, Rashid stated that he didn’t believe the election results represented what the people wanted. After all, Hillary did win in the popular election. I asked him if, given the opportunity, he would remove the electoral college. He gave a hard pause. “It’s just not working. We have Trump so it’s just not working”. Rashid put most of the blame however, not on the electoral college, but by the black and white partisanship than runs this country. However, despite his disappointment in the election, Rashid does not hold the “end of days” perspective many bleeding-heart liberals have. Rashid does not believe that that a Trump presidency will have a large effect on his personal life. He shared his concern for the protests and division that came in the wake of the election, “Right now we’re in, like, a rage period”. Once the dust settles though, there will be little drastic change. Rashid was focused on Trump’s lack of experience, which will hinder him in acting effectively. “He’s more confused than we are”.

After touching briefly on the eradication of political parties and the electoral college, I asked Rashid what he would change about the U.S. system of government. Rashid thought for just a moment, titling his head upwards as if confirming his answer before he spoke. “Honestly…” Rashid set his head back, “More women in government”. The U.S. is behind most major developed nations in that regard, and Rashid cited several nations whose governments were “more successful” than ours because of it. When I suggested that Rashid might have been disappointed about the 2016 election result because it kept women out of the highest office, he wasn’t quick to agree. While he was proud that Hillary’s campaign showed that a woman could be president of the U.S., she wasn’t necessarily the best for the job. Rashid stressed “fair chances” between the sexes, a system that would allow the best people to run the country while keeping a 50/50 gender ratio. The interview ended with a clear goal, one that asked for diversity and inclusivity: “That’s something we, as a country, need to work on”.

                                                                         Avana

by Mabel Diaz

     This early November I got the opportunity to interview Avana, who was wearing a casual pink outfit which matched her mood. The first question that I asked was, what are your overall goals and life plans after High school graduation? Avana answered smiling “I want to be a business woman who looks fabulous every day, ( Avana giggled) and then answered maturely,  my ultimate goal is to get a bachelor in Communication and live a Happy wealthy life”. We then got carried away with her overall life goals, that I went ahead to the second question which was, “Tell me about something you said or did that you would do differently if you had the opportunity.” , Avana’s mood then changed and she replied “I would take back my 9th grade report card because I wasn’t able to get the job I desired because of my average”. We then got to the third question which was, “What makes you believe that you’re going to be successful on what you want to do? Do you believe that nothing is going to interfere or make you change your mind?” Avana replied calmly, “I work hard, have enthusiasm, faith and I push myself, I plan on attending college for four years, and I’m going to try to figure out what I really enjoy, and the only thing that will change my mind is my interest”. After her response on the third question we then went ahead to the fourth question which was, “Do you have a plan B, if Plan A doesn’t work out? What is it?   Avana then started thinking and answered the question, “Southerland, which is a customer service company”. After her answering her question, I then asked a similar question which was, “If things don’t work out how you want them to, what other ideas do you have?”, Avana replied smiling, “I want to live life to the fullest and if things don’t work out, I just want to be happy and continue working hard”. Last but not least we got to the last question which was, “After you get want you want or have a way out, what do you plan to do after that?” Avana replied smiling with dreamy eyes, “I want to have a family with the man of my dreams, have 19 kids, a big house, and grow closer to family by traveling the world”.

                                 Kiarah

By Ler Tha Taw

       On Friday afternoon, in Journalism class, I sat down with Kiarah in library to interview her a few questions. This was a class exercise, but I discovered a very interesting person. Before we went to library or start the interview, we walked down on the stairs and she seems she’s not in a good mood. She looks pale and sad. I ask her if she’s okay and she said she’s ok, “ just let’s not talking about this.”  I couldn’t do anything so I said ok. When we get to library, we sat down, I smile and she smile back at me. She looks beautiful but sad. On that day she’s wearing blue jeans, maroon long sleeve shirt and also wearing Maroon shoes. That day was November 11,2016.

        

       After we sat down, I start to ask question. The first question I ask her was “ Can you tell me about your plan after high school?” She replied to me with her soft voice and said, “ I want to go to college, and study Music Therapy.”  I said wow that’s interesting and she smiled and said thank you. Then I asked her the second question: “ When you meet an obstacle or a challenge, how do you handle it?” She answered me: “ I will try as much as I can to fix it, if not then I try not to stress about it.” We smiled while and stared at each other for a moment, probably each thinking about our own stresses in life.  I said, OK, next question. “ Can you tell me some experience about you that have made you stronger?” she look down and said: “ witnesses forms of abuse, I used to be upset about it, now I know how to handle it more. For example- physical and verbal abuse.” I was surprised! Then I ask her another question. I asked “What inspire you about learning?” she replied with smile on her face and said “ Family forces learning or etc. ” and I said that always happened to me. Then we laughed together. As the timed passed by, I could  see her start to look happy as normal. After, I asked her “ What aspects of college life did you look forward to?” She said everything and  then stopped as I watched at her face. Then she said “ well not everything really. I will be in a dorms with roommates and I'll get to decorate the room. There will be  professors, classes. I'll get to go to little parties and lots of  studying. “ I said “wow” you have a really good planed. And i added my last question for you this afternoon was “ Have you always had the same set of goals, or have they changed over time? Why or why not?” She said yes it changed over time because at first she wanted to be veterinarian, Doctor, Nurse, and Music Therapist but now she’s only interested in Music Therapist. She wants to play music for children to make them happy.

         We laugh, then we shake hands by the end of the interview.

                                                        SHYAIR

by Alyssa Steger

    We sat in the corner of the room by the window and I felt the cold draft on my back. Shyair and I never had a real conversation before so I sat down excited to get to know her with my random questions. I asked if she wanted to go first and she laughed as she replied “No, I’m good, you go”. We eased up right away and were comfortable to talk to each other about anything we were going to ask.

    I started by asking what animal Shyair would be if she could and why. She looked at me for a second a little confused about why this would be a question. Before she answered she pushed her glasses up on her nose and then wiggled her nose. She sat up really straight like we were in a professional interview and said “I think I would be a panda because they’re just adorable.” Immediately after, she slouched over in her chair and started doodling while giggling. I think she was nervous at first and then we broke the ice with this random question. She looked as though she was ready to answer any question I had after this.

I asked about Shyair’s favorite and least favorite childhood memory, and was lucky to get to know her on a personal level. She adjusted her glasses on her face again as she recalled a memory she had when she went to the zoo with her family. Her mom, two uncles, aunt, and grandma exchanged jokes by calling each other each of the animals they saw. As she told me about her memory, she explained how her family makes her unique. I learned Shyair is an only child and spends a lot of her time with her grandma and uncle who is only five years older than her. She told me how even though she appears to be shy and quiet all the time, she is goofy and random when you really get to know her. When I asked her what character she would play in a movie about her life, I saw the connection Shyair and her mother share when she said that she would either be her, or her mom. She explained she would be her mom because they are a lot alike, even though her mom is loud and has no filter sometimes. It was interesting to see a different side of Shyair than the quiet girl in class that doesn’t say much.

The next question I asked Shyair was if she was trapped on an island and only could bring three things what would she bring and why? Shyair paused for about 30 seconds and thought about it. It showed her intellect when she answered “A lighter, for fire. Some pots, to cook and sterilize, and antibiotics if I get bit by something.” She thought out her answer and gave me reasonable reasons why she would bring each item.

After I asked the next question, I realized this should have been the first question I asked. I asked “Could you to describe to me how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with only words?” Shyair laughed hysterically. As Jahde passed by and heard my question she laughed too and said that was extremely random, and was wondering who would ask that. Shyair proceeded to give me a very very thorough answer about how she would open the cupboard to get the peanut butter and open the refrigerator to get the jelly, and continue on. Shyair gave me every single step necessary almost as if I was blindfolded.

Shyair and I talked about what kind of books she reads, and what she does on her spare time when I asked her “What would you do on a fourteen hour plane ride without internet?” It was interesting listening to what Shyair does in her free time. She listens to music, and sleeps in her spare time. The most intriguing thing was that she reads for enjoyment. Not a lot of people read for enjoyment in our age of technology. It was interesting to hear about how Shyair enjoys to read mythology, romance, and books that are not well known.

I was very grateful to sit down and have this conversational interview with Shyair, a girl who I usually do not talk to even though we have art and journalism together. It was interesting to get to know the girl in class who never talks, but has a story to be told. I learned a lot about a person, with my random interview questions. Shyair is very smart and quiet, and when you get to know her she is funny, giggly, very easy going, and fun to be around.

                                                       ZARIAH

by Bayleigh Nicole Thurston

Zariah led the way through a surprisingly cluttered hallway. I suppose her idea to step out into the hallway to avoid the chaotic classroom environment for the sake of better interview recording quality had been futile seeing as everyone else had the same notion. She seemed determined though, as she weaved through the other students to a clear spot at a warm sun lit window sill. As I absent-mindedly followed her through the crowd of wanna-be reporters, I noticed the bold sans serif print on the back of her navy blue sweater shirt. Well not noticed, noticed would imply it was something I chose to see and become aware of. Noticed makes me think of subtle, like “hey here I am friend”, but the high contrast of the navy blue against the reflective bright white of the large bold print made it seem like it was yelling “HEY OVER HERE I’M RIGHT HERE LOOK AT ME NOW” it demanded my attention.  Which was frustrating because the wrinkles that formed in the baggy fabric across her back made it nearly impossible to read. That is until she abruptly stopped in front of the previously mentioned sill. Then I could make out “Youth Apprentice Program”, which quickly disappeared as she turned to face me and sit herself on the sill. I regained my focus and wondered if I should change my first question. Why ask “where do you see yourself in five years?” if you think you already know the answer? I asked anyway, but knew immediately I had been wrong in my assumption. I thought she would say she would see herself in the medical field either as a nurse or a doctor because the Youth Apprentice Program or YAP for short was a program for Rochester City School District students to enter into a 2-year paid internship at a Rochester Regional Healthcare center to get hands on experience for a future career in the medical field. But in the first few seconds as she began to say well… I knew that she had realized the medical field no-longer interested her and she wanted to follow a new passion. Perhaps it was because we had done her questions first and I went a little deep or maybe because she’s just honest or in those few seconds of hesitation she realized what she really wanted for herself down the road, but for some reason she told me she wanted nothing more than to be publishing a book she’s working on. “I’ve been getting into some writing, a lot of reading, so I find myself interested in journalism so hopefully I’ll be working on my bachelors, writing a couple of books or editing for a company”. When developing my questions I wanted to see how the interviewee would act in a high-stress environment and what roles would their family and friends play in that. Again my assumption was wrong, I predicted  she would say she would try to save everyone but Zariah was more honest than what I had expected. As she took in the scenario I gave her - zombie apocalypse - she breathed in deep, eyes wide then turned her attention to a nearby plant before saying “I personally, tend to… corner myself? And you know… Think about mee when I’m in a hectic situation. Um… My family really wouldn’t matter at a time like that and I would try my best to save them at a certain point I haveta do what I haveta do for myself.” She paused, ripping of a part of the plant before looking back up at me somewhat sheepish, “I guess that’s kinda selfish but…” She sorta faded off so I thought it best to go onto another question I decided not to assume this time because I am obviously not the detective I thought I was. Zariah said she would take refuge from the zombies in the Solomon Islands, somewhere off of Australia and Papua New Guinea. Her eyes brightened as she said it too, her words seemed distance as though she was picturing herself there as she described it, “it’s not like where most tourists go, so I would love to go there and the people there are wonderful. They have such a positive aura, which is something I think all people should have”, when I implored her to expand on that last comment she brought up the outcome of the election and how the school had become a more stressful environment, she wanted a place to escape the tension. I asked her to reflect on what the world would be like after a catastrophic event like a zombie apocalypse. Then posed my last inquiry, “In the beginning of the interview you said in five years you would see yourself being a recognized author or editor, would you still pursue that passion?” She said there was no reason to pursue it, she would always have it in her to do it, but when the world is doomed there’s no use in trying to pursue something like that. “It would hurt me because it’s my dream and the world failed me. I would lose all hope.” 

Wallace 

by Cyrah McCullough

It was a last minute interview with Wallace Smith. The original person I wanted to interview wasn’t at school that day, so I was disappointed when my teacher told me to interview someone else. Upon seeing who my interviewee was and his reaction I couldn’t help but chuckle and shake my head saying to myself, “Oh my God.” As I gave a brief summary of the questions, I noticed how relaxed and calm he was which made me happy. We were sitting by a window and the sunlight was hitting him as if reminding me this information was about his thoughts and his point of view, that he was the center of attention right now.

“That’s a great question.” he said, seeming to be off put by the first question which was his personal definition on the meaning of life. “Life has no definition, life is more… y’know, different for everyone. I mean, life is... the basic point of living is trying to find the meaning of life. So, is the meaning of life to find happiness? Is it finding your spiritual realm? Is it, y’know, in other cultures, finding the way to be reincarnated? Me personally, I think the meaning of life is to find happiness and run with it.” Following with his thoughts of his life differing from others he continued, “As I said before everyone is different. There are some people who are not as spiritual, their meaning of life is to live it, y’know to the fullest, and some people are like… such as monks. Their meaning of life is to find peace in the afterlife or reach enlightenment, where you deserve an afterlife.”

Asking if a person of lower class would have the same thoughts, he answered, “Their meaning of life would be survival. They want to make ends meet, and in some cases they can’t, but they still want to find a way to survive and for their case, y’know who could blame them?  Let me give you an example; You have three friends. You and three friends are stranded on an island, and you found all the food. You’ve hid it from everyone else and you’re happy! You know you’re satisfied, because you found a way to survive,”

“but on the other hand… can you really survive by yourself? I don’t believe  you can, on a one man planet you wouldn’t be able to survive so you need friends to help you. Not even friends, but like other humans with the same mindset as you to survive.” Listening to his response, I had to ask him if he thought those who are happy should help those who are simply trying to survive. “Yes,” he responded without a moment of hesitation, “...you have the rich and wealthy people who sometimes keep their wealth to themselves, but there are some who, as I feel, are very necessary and you should look more into it. People who start foundations and charities and actually put their wealth into good meaning trying to help others survive as such those of the lower class y’know.”

Back on the subject of American society, I asked Wallace what three things he would change in our society if possible. “Generosity of everyone. I wish everyone lived with the mindset, ‘If I have it, then you should have it too.’ Now the second thing I would change is the violence; how can we survive if everyone is killing each other? And in some cases those who are supposed to be protecting others are killing those who they’re supposed to protect.” While he answered the first two questions without faltering, he hesitated with the third. “Third thing… ways that people entertain themselves… the stripclubs, the drugs, the… y’know, things that are inhumane.” Although surprised by the final response, I could tell he was slightly uncomfortable with that topic and decided to ask what he thought would never change in society. “Violence,” he responded quickly again, however his voice was softer this time, “there will always be violence. You can’t avoid it, it is inevitable. Poverty, poverty will probably never change in society just because of people’s greed and the lack of distribution of income.”

With America knowing who our president-elect is now, Wallace said he hoped for Trump to carry through with helping the poor while also saying, “All I can say is you can’t judge a man by his cover. Everyone uses different techniques and other things to get into office, but once they are actually in office they might not be the same person. All I can say if give him a chance. He earned it basically, he went through the same process as everyone else. I personally don’t agree with it, but as our president you have to stand behind him you can’t fight against him, he is our command-in-chief. You can’t avoid it so you might as well live with it. I hope that Trump actually makes America great again…  no matter if it just one term or two terms. If he earns two terms, then that means he did something right the first four years.”

With the mentioning of hope, I asked if he thought that hope was important for American society and its dream. “Hope for American society is crucial because it’s like a motivation that can motivate anyone. As you said before, the low income, the high income, the wealthy, the sad, the happy, the athletes, the doctors. Hope is basically one of the foundation of life as your first question. Without hope you’ll get nowhere. Hope motivates most people.” With that statement, I decided to end our interview asking what he wished everyone in American society could hear.

“Unite.”

Upon that, I ended the interview and we headed back into the classroom. As we walked, Wallace mentioned how people wouldn’t think he thought like that or that he had values like that. What was sad was that I was one of those people, believing he had good views, but not anticipating the strong response he gave. All I could do was tell him that he had a bright head on his shoulders while hoping he could also be proof to others to not give up on our society.

                                              BAYLEIGH
by Zariah Pendegrass

  

   I watched as Bayleigh sat with ease waiting to be asked mysterious questions that could either be mind boggling, or even put her in deep thought. I proceeded to ask what three items she would have if she were stranded on an island. She chuckled lightly knowing exactly what she wanted to say and for me I instantly saw the ‘green’ light bulb flash over head. Though it’s a trick question to ask considering teens are so hands on with technology; she mentioned somewhat the opposite. Bayleigh quoted ‘’a life supply of cooked pasta, a genius who can figure out anything and my phone’’. A genius? It was quite comical because no one ever expects to have another companion to with them when being on a stranded island. Though I’m sure the genius would only be used for the idea of meals and getting away to safety. So the adding of a cell phone would be for her personal leisure.

    Continuing on with the interview I asked ‘’Tell me about a situation you’d like to redo. How do you think the outcome would have changed, if you made other decisions’’. Her mood drastically changed because she couldn’t answer right away. I could tell that she wanted to say something meaningful, but didn’t know how put it into to words because it affected her in such a way. She states ‘’that it would was going to take some thought’’.Bayleigh tended to take longer to respond than I thought. She then began to put herself into a puzzled state every second I waited. Soon enough she goes on to explain about the popularity she had in through the fifth and sixth grade and how that seemed to vanish over the years. The conversation was so natural as if I were a complete friend of hers. She described how her social life didn’t make her who she was today. It was known that she liked who she was and she wasn’t going to change that, but if she could go back she would gain more confidence. Breezing through the other remaining questions she continued to explain her thoughts on the ideas that were thrown at her along with enjoying a moment of laughter. One question she got in depth with. So I asked her ‘what are you anticipating for your career goal and how will you accomplish this?’ Then I knew where her heart laid.

    She briefly explained her passion for computer engineering. The passion she had for it was completely obvious by the creative movement she displayed with her hands when explaining. If her plan was to ever go wrong she would somehow make her dream come true.

                                                      JOSHUA

by Fenesse Walker

    The interview was held on November 10, 2016 at School of the Arts on the second floor in room A239.  Joshua was dressed in a black hoodie with light jean pants on, and black sneakers. I asked Joshua a few questions about himself and his journey to where he is today. When we began the interview he was nice and calm. I first asked him “Where did you grow up and what was it like?” He told me about how he grew up in Puerto Rico and how it was different. He said “The lifestyle was bad, the police and stuff was different from how they control it over here.” It sounded like he wasn’t very proud about where he came from. I then asked him “What motivated you to take on your talent at School of the Arts and how have you improved over the years?” As I was finishing up this question, I could see the happiness and eagerness that Joshua had on his face to answer this question. He answered with “My parents always have motivated me”. He then took me into a flashback to where in Puerto Rico, and he had a sketch pad and used it to draw. He then went on to say “I feel I’ve improved a lot since 7th grade, and I have a great teacher. We would critique our work and I would take the feedback and use it to improve my drawings.” I then said “let’s move onto the next question”, and then i asked “How did your journey impact the person you are today?” He sat there for a minute, and finally answered with “It’s been crazy, crazy, crazy.” Joshua had a look of discomfort on his face, he then answered with “I grew up without knowing a lot of things in my life, and I have many memories that I remember and have sticked with me.” I had a follow up question asking him “Are you happy with yourself?” He answered with “I’m on both sides because I’m more laid back and not doing things I should be doing and it’s different because I was more focus when I was younger.” Then I said “Right now you have your whole life ahead of you but think about 8 years from now, where do you think you’ll be?” He sat there for a moment and he began to laugh, then he answered with “I see myself probably by myself, have my own car, and hopefully two jobs, after high school i want to do photography”. I then asked “If you could change the way your life turned out would you or not?” He began to smile and then said “Yea I would change some things academic wise because after 10th grade I got real lazy.” I then said “I have one more question for you, if you could swap your life with a favorite celebrity of yours who would it be and why? “ He laughed and said “I don’t know” then he answered with “J Cole because he raps about society and what’s going on in the world and I would want to be apart of that.” We then both sighed and then laughed and was happy with how our interview went. I said “Well it was nice interviewing you” and  he answered with “No problem”. The interview was great and it gave me a lot more knowledge of who Joshua really is.

                                                                Seamus Clarkin 

by Jaida Hartzog                                            

                                        

On November 11, 2017 Donald Trump was elected as President of the United States of America. Everyone was tuned into their television, radios, etc. impatiently waiting to hear who was elected. Millions were very shocked, angry, hurt, and others were happy. Donald Trump’s hurtful words and actions towards specific races, and groups of people left a lot of people in disbelief. However, there are still those out there who support him and although you may not agree with him their opinions still matter. After, hearing and seeing the reactions of my peers who were against Trump i wanted to get a clear view from someone else besides myself.        

On November 12th, 2017 an interview was held between Mr. Clarkin and myself. Several explanation questions were asked that he briefly answered. He approached the interview with much respect and open to answer any questions that i had for him. Beginning the interview we began to talk about the election and about the things that occurred. Mr. Clarkin stated that “Trump becoming president was very shocking and unexpected”. I then asked him “ well, how do you honestly feel about Donald Trump being president?”. “Horrified” is how I feel... “very upsetting that we as a country would allow something like this to happen” was his exact words. You can hear the frustration and sadness in his voice. He talked about how the women in his family maybe affected years from now. Although, Trump supports his causation race, his disrespectful statements towards all women is what bothered Mr.Clarkin. Trump talked against gay marriage and how he doesn't support it, but there are many people who support it so I asked Clarkin how he felt about Trumps judgement. “How do you think we should handle marriage equality?” I asked. “ Marriage equality is very important”. “I've went to school and even have friends who are part of the LGBT community, and I support them”. “ I agree with you, I believe that we all should be able to be free loving whoever we want no matter what gender or race they all” I replied. Racism still continues on today and many lives are affected because of it. Donald Trump has made it clear to us all that racism is ok with him. He's said racist things towards African Americans, Latinos, Mexicans, etc. and it just isn't fair. To what extent do you think racism impacts our country? I then asked Mr.Clarkin. “ I feel as if those who may have supported trump not all are bad people with bad intentions..but they didn’t try to put themselves in someone else's shoes”. Clarkins reaction was as if he thought about maybe his life wouldn't be affected as much, but maybe a friend, or a neighbor, or the people around him would have been affected. His reaction to my question I can tell he was very concerned. Trump becoming president didn't sit well with him and throughout the interview I can tell. As of right now many people may not see a bright future for America but we must all hope for the best “where do you see or hope to see yourself doing in life 4 years from now?”. “ Teaching classes in high school, then driving over to a university to teach...drinking coffee...and most of all escaping from Trump and his Nazi army”.

Donald Trump has left a bitter taste in a lot of people's mouths. A bitter taste that has caused protests, and riots around the world. His comments and statements towards women, gays, and specific races has bothered many people. Mr.Clarkin disagrees with Trump being president and throughout the interview I could see the affect it had on him. Mr. Clarkin wants equality, and justice served in our country. Although, their are people out there who see a bright future with Trump being in it , others are horrified.                       

        
                                                             JAYDE

by Griffin Harrison

I had the privilege to sit down with a good friend, Jayde Lucas, to conduct an in-class interview for a project in my senior journalism course. The mood was somber, as this conversation came on the wake of the presidential election and the results put a dark cloud over our head. However, our interaction was nonetheless a jubilant and enthusiastic experience. My intent was to learn more about Jayde by asking questions about her childhood, and what she thought about certain issues. After we greeted each other and inquired about the day so far, I started with my opening question.

“Talk about one major adolescent experience that has contributed to your development”.

She smiled, as if she was remembering a happy experience, and said,

“I attended #12 school. I was in the Frederick Douglas program in 5th grade, which was a program that had black kids learn about their heritage, culture and different movements. The kids in the program did oratory was speech work. I trained and practiced for a competition, placing in the top 3. As a result, I got in the D & C news paper. I was on tv, at only 10 years old. This inspired me to be involved in culture, history, and made me want to be outspoken and fight for what is right. All Because of the learning program”.

I then asked,

“Who were, and are, some of your role models growing up and why did you look up to them?”.

Jayde immediately responded with

“My parents. My mother always acted as the example for me and my brother, for school, and morally. I try to follow in her footsteps, trying to out-do her. Right now she is getting her PHD, causing me to aspire to get PHD. She pushes me to do everything and anything, especially because of her past. Then there is my father… he has been through a lot. A “Rebel”. But I don’t want to be like him. He is an example of what NOT to do. However he is resilient, working with the city, doing positive things. Reminds me that even if I stumble, I can always bounce back”.

So far, she was very comfortable and willing to answer questions and to open up and talk about her personal thoughts and beliefs. To keep with this genuine tone, I asked Jayde,

“What is it that you like to do for fun, and why?”.

After a moment of thought, her answer came.

“I like shopping, going to pandora for rings, singing, dancing, performing, singing in the shower, and going to the beach”, followed by a short chuckle. “Sorry that was a lot”.

“No that’s great! Please go on”.

“Well, I like to be outside, make friends, be out and about. However, I work a lot, ever since I was 14, so I haven't had lots of fun experiences but whenever I can I go outside, makes friends, enjoy nature, and enjoy being around other people”.

I followed up with, “So with that being said, what do you want to be when you become an adult? Career wise”.

“Well, to be honest,  I do not know. I have dabbled in arts since I was younger. This includes acting singing, dancing, drawing, speaking. People told me I had to pick one when I was younger. But I couldn't choose one because I loved them all equally. I would love to be a performer in my career, being in front of people. I want to inspire others, no matter what my job is. However, I find it hard to narrow down my options…”

“So you are basically a Renaissance woman!”

Jayde let out a laugh, and exclaimed

“Yeah, I guess I am in a way!”

“Would you ever consider being a politician?”

She didn’t give much away on this one, only smirking and replying,

“Maybe”

Since the presidential election had just taken place, and she might be interested in being a politician in the future, I thought it would be appropriate to ask this question next.

“Do you believe America is segregated? Why or why not?”

What a received was a look like I was crazy, and a

“Hell yeah! Of course America is segregated. We just elected Donald Trump president. Yes we have progressed, but in the suburbs and all those schools are predominantly white. Public schools are mainly made up of minorities. It’s covert segregation. Even though you can’t see it, it exists. The government, back in 2008, we elected our first black president. A lot of people think he will be the last great african american public figure. Example, michelle obama might not be elected because of segregation. There are undercurrents of racism, city vs. rural.”

This was maybe the most passionate answer that Jayde had given me in our discussion so far! She might not be certain she wants to be a politician, but she definitely has the tools needed for the job. Now, to wrap up the interview I ask her to reflect back.

“If you could give a piece of advice to your 7th grade self, what would it be?”

“Don't worry about what anybody thinks of you. Always be yourself. Follow your heart. Never let anybody stop you from doing what you wanna do. And lastly, boys are bad.”

A bit of humor at the end there. Overall, it was wonderful to talk to Jayde and to get her view on certain issues and to hear about her experiences.

“Jayde, thank you for your time today!”

“Thank you, Griffin!”

                                                               MABEL

by Avana Davis

I sat down with Mabel at School of the Arts around 11:40AM. She sat down while looking down. She appears to have on a mostly black outfit with a red under shirt that hangs out the bottom. And a slick back bun. The question was asked “how do you think the future will be with Trump as president? What if he makes everyone in the House of Representatives republican?”  She attempts to say something, but no words came out at first. She opened her mouth once more and responded “I didn’t want him as president, but hopefully he brings good feelings. I don’t believe his beliefs, taking away financial aid and birth control…There would be world war III if he changes the laws.  The only people that would be on his side are hillbillies and red necks” as she chuckled. She looks slightly down when I asked the next question. When you grow up, what would you want to be and why?” She looks up to me and responds “When I grow up I want to be a business woman like make up company like CEO or a whole company like Sephora” as she smiles again. She leans slightly onto the desk and waits for me to ask the next question. “Who is your favorite singer or rapper?” She says “I don’t think I have one, but I would say Rihanna and Beyoncé, because Rihanna is humble and has a cool style.” She looks up at me again as she waits for question four. “What are you doing after you graduate?” She hesitates and thinks for a while than says… “I plan on going to college in a four-year college to own a business in make-up. And after that I plan on going to college for cosmetology.” We break for a while as she waits for me to write than I ask “When do you believe it’s the right age to have kids?” She responded “great question. Umm. I would say twenty-seven, twenty-eight. Because your more mature and at twenty-one, twenty-two you are not as mature. At an older age you have a better career, house, and life and your married to the man.” She was making hand jesters. Mabel is than asked the last question. “How do you think you can improve yourself this year to become a better senior?” She cuffed her hands together and said “After school I just go home and sleep, so after school I should go home and do my work. Get involved in school activities and fill out college apps.” We closed out our conversation by having small talk and giggles.