Final Project - StoryCorps - My Interview

Woo! I interviewed my grandmother for forty-five minutes (Actually longer because we talked after we stopped recording)... and I was able to condense that down to my favorite stories (About 7 minutes). I hope you enjoy it!

Presentation: Interview Link

Reflection:

1. What was the purpose of your interview?

     The purpose of the interviewing of my grandmother was to learn more about the stories in her life. I do know a good amount about my grandmother, but she hadn't shared a huge amount of stories about herself before the interview. I don't think that is because she didn't want to, but I think it's because people didn't ask directly for them. I knew some of the stories before the interview, but having this interview made her go into more depth and explain herself more. It was extremely interesting.

2.  What were the questions that led to the best parts of the interview?


      Some questions that led to the best parts of the interview include, What experiences as a young person have been useful all of your life?, Did you ever have any bad experiences you will never forget?, and Has there been any excitement that you remember well? The whole interview was forty-five minutes long, but these questions helped lead to the best and most prominent stories that I included in the short presentation.


3. What does this project tell us about the job of an interviewer or historian?

     This project tells us that an interviewer or historian must use excellent questions and word choice to dig deeper into the meaning of the stories or get more details - More than just the summary. An interviewer must also stay engaged throughout the whole interview. This way, they can develop follow-up questions that can continue on with an interesting story instead of letting the interesting part "die down" and stop. Another thing that an interviewer or historian must do is get background knowledge on the subject or person before researching or interviewing more. I know a good amount about my grandmother, since she is one of my guardians in my life. Before the interview, we briefly discussed possible outlines on how the interview should be laid out. The most important things for an interviewer or historian to do is stay organized and stay paying attention.


4. What did you gain from this experience?


    I gained a lot more knowledge on my grandmother. She has been through so many exciting, rewarding, and rare experiences! I also have gained a little more respect for her, even though I respected her so much before. From hearing some hardships that she has gone through, especially the rat story, and how she has been a bold person has affected the way that I look at her. She seems like a must stronger person. It has also made me reflect on my life. I am sometimes too shy that I lose the opportunity to succeed in other things. I must be bold sometimes, like my grandmother, in order to make it far in this world.


5. What was the best part of the interview in your eyes and why?


    The best part of the interview, in my opinion, was when my grandmother was talking about her heritage and growing up. (I didn't include it in my presentation because it is very long). I learned a lot about her mother's influence on her and how her mother was. I didn't get to know my great-grandmother that well because she lived in Wisconsin and passed away over five years ago. I had known that my grandmother's mother had always been extremely harsh on her and had favored her twin brother. It really hurt my grandma, but I think that is also partly how she has become a bold and courageous woman today.


6. If you were to tell your great-great-great grand-kids one story, what would it be?

    Hmm... I love telling stories! There are just too many in my head! One that I would choose about me would be when I was five years old... The summer when I was five, almost six, my mother and father put me in a race. The kids' race was beginning, and I was lined up aside from my cousin, who is one year older than me. When the gun went off, we started sprinting. I was extremely small for my age, especially from being a gymnast, so the other kids over-towered me. My cousin found one of his friends and started to run diagonally towards him. I was trying to squish through the rest of the kids, but a large boy tripped me on the gravel, and I fell knees first onto the street. I noticed my shoe was untied while I was examining my fresh wounds. Once I finally got up, after crying in my head from falling down and falling behind (I am a HUGE competitor!), I noticed that the streets were bare. There were no kids. No one. I was a little frightened, but I decided to keep running. I caught up with a woman, and we started to talk. I found out her name is Kathy. She asked me where I came from and why I was running on this street, but I didn't know. After we started talking for awhile,  I started to feel a little more comfortable. Once a few minutes passed, a man on a bicycle, a policeman, strolled up to my side. He asked if my name is Alyssa Ragner, and I said that it is. He rode away while Kathy and I were both confused. (We later found out my parents were looking for me since the Kids' Race had ended.) We started to run faster until we were next to a couple of men. We turned a corner, and I saw my parents yelling for me to RUN!!! I sprinted as fast as I could through the finish line. What I really remember is how my heart was beating so fast that I felt like I was going to faint. (By just telling this story my adrenaline is rushing!) Once my parents caught up with me, they gave me huge hugs and asked what happened. I honestly didn't know myself, but I explained that after I was tripped, I couldn't find Zach, my cousin. (That got him dirty looks from everyone - He was supposed to be with me the whole race.) We started to walk to the car when an announcer called my name. It turned out that I had won the women's 5k (And I beat all the men LOL). I received my trophy (Actually it's a Plate), which I still have to this day. I will always remember that story. Even though I fell down, and was disappointed at first, I got back up and continued on with my "voyage" and finished with something completely unexpected!


7. What kind of legacy do you want to leave with your family?

     I want to be known as a person that could pretty much "do-it-all." This sounds kind of snobby or that I have a large ego, but I just want people to know that it can be done. I've had some hardships in my life, as I know everyone does, but I have pushed through those. I have not given up, and I never will. Hopefully, one day, I will be a well-known author or musician, and my family can be proud of me for that. I also want to be known for my loyalty for my family. I will never, EVER, let any one of them fall down and not get back up. I always put everyone else before me, which hurts me a lot sometimes, but it is just the kind of person I am. Just like my mother was. This will be random... But my dad thinks that the "workaholic" attitude of my mother was a huge factor and cause of  her cancer. I have that same behavior... It worries him. It also slightly worries me. I want the legacy of me to be that I was the "little girl that could.. and did." ...Without getting cancer :).

Final Project - StoryCorps - Reflection of Stories

Story Summaries

1. "Do You Remember the First Day You Were a Teacher?"
      This story is about how a man became a kindergarten teacher after being wounded in Vietnam; Interviewed by previous student (Now 16 years old).
2. "I've Never Seen You Turn Anybody Away"
      This story is about a man who gives free haircuts to veterans, a veteran himself; Interviewed by his hair cutting assistant, who went for a haircut one day.
3. "I Saw a Flash of Ankle and I Went Smack Dab Into the Wall."
      This story is about how a woman met her future husband at a university that they both worked at; No direct interviewer, but mostly husband talking.
4. "What is Your Life Like Now, Dad?"
     Two sisters are interviewing their father, who has Alzheimer's disease.
5. "Let's Talk About Miss Devine."
     A man and woman remember their stern neighbor and Sunday School teacher.

Reflection Questions

1. How do these Story Corps clips fit in with some of our themes from our units?

     These Story Corps clips strongly fit into the "Through Their Eyes" unit because these stories are coming from the point of the view of the people telling them. There are also parts of stories that follow the things we learned in Eras and Conflict. The one man that became a kindergarten teacher was in the Vietnam War. He got to leave the war when he stepped on a land mine and blew off most of his hand, leading him to have to wear a prosthetic hook. [His kindergarteners were really intrigued by his hook :)]. This is also similar to how a veteran gives free haircuts to veterans. His assistant, who was the interviewer, explained how he came to him for his first haircut, dirty and drunk. I wonder if he had been in the Vietnam War? When the soldiers came back from the Vietnam War, they were not welcomed and many of them became alcoholics to try to rid of the stress and depression. ...Anyways, the main units that these stories followed were Through Their Eyes, Eras, and Conflict.

2. Which of the stories that you listened to was the most impressive or interesting to you and why?

    The most interesting story to me was the last one I listened to about Miss Devine, a Sunday School teacher of a man and a woman in the South. They had quite a few stories about her. I loved the one when the man explained that one day, when Miss Devine would go house to house picking up the children, he didn't want to go to Sunday School that day. He told Miss Devine that his mother didn't prepare enough clothes for him to go to Sunday School. He stated that his mother must have been so intimidated by her that she just turned around when Miss Devine responded to the boy's lie. Miss Devine asked what clothes the boy had. He said that all he had were his pajamas and tennis shoes. The man then said that she told him to put on his tennis shoes and go to church in his pajamas. The woman talked about how Miss Devine had numerous trees with fruit in her lawn, but she wouldn't give anyone fruit until it was rotten. Those were my favorite stories about Miss Devine. Doesn't Miss Devine sound like she has a strange character?   

3. What are some similarities and differences in the interviews you listened to?

     There are a lot of similarities in the interviews that I listened to. Most of the stories talk about positive things that have happened in the interviewees lives or how they are doing things that better themselves. The only exception is about Miss Devine, but the man and the woman were laughing and looking back on their childhood as a wonderful, fun-filled time. The biggest difference between the interviews was one interview in particular. It was the one when a man, who has Alzheimer's, is talking to his daughters. They don't really talk about specific stories but things about his life. That is understandable when he has dementia, though.

4. Are there similar patterns?

    The main similar pattern I can find is the format of the story, or interview. It starts out as a "topic sentence" or summary of what they will talk about. They, of course, tell their story or talk about their lives, and then they finish off with a very positive note or good quote summarizing.

5. What connection were you able to make, the interviewer or interviewee?

    I honestly don't completely understand what this question is asking, but I will do my best to answer it well. If it is asking who I make the connection best with, I would probably, after listening to the stories, connect best with the interviewee. I love story-telling, and I have many stories to tell. The connections I was able to make between the interviewer and the interviewee is that they are people that connect easily with each other and care a lot for one another. You can tell that they are genuinely intrigued and engaged in the story and finding more things about the interviewee. This is especially the case between the sixteen year old girl and her previous kindergarten teacher. Instead of forgetting him after second grade, or so, she explained also that he helped her learn to drive a car. This bond of friendship is really important in these StoryCorps interviews.

American Dream - Essay

Alyssa Ragner 

U.S. History II

Carrie Jacobs

28 February 2012

My American Dream

           Just imagine. There are seven billion people on the earth right now. There have been 
numerous others that have lived and died on our planet. All of them have had at least one dream. How many of those people have been able to fulfill that dream? Not many, but no matter the circumstances in our world, dreaming will never cease. The value of dreams is priceless. Without dreams, the world would not be anywhere near the way it is today. Dreams started it all. From the beginning of Adam and Eve, when Eve and Adam were tempted by the fruit of the forbidden tree by the devil, they dreamed and believed that they would become like God if they ate the fruit. The idea of dreaming and trying to fulfill those dreams and accomplish those goals has been continued from there. From the building of the pyramids to the Orville Brothers to Steve Jobs, the amounts of dreams are endless. Society today suggests that we should try to live the “ideal life,” with the perfect job, the perfect family, and the perfect amount of numerous activities where we thrive astoundingly. But… since when have we been living in an “ideal” world? Well, it’s for sure that we aren’t living in one right now. This dream that the media wants us to accomplish is unachievable, but I believe that my dream is. Though it may seem cumbersome, my dream includes me becoming a musician and author, my future family to be involved and flourishing in the activities that we are a part of, and for my brothers and father to also follow their dreams.

           To begin with, my main dream for myself is to become a musician and author. I have always loved music. My mother got me into piano when I was almost four years old, and I have been going strongly from there. In fifth grade, I began playing the flute. Throughout my whole life, since I could begin talking, I have also enjoyed singing. I have been a part of Heartland Youth Choir as well as my church choir. Aside from getting numerous amounts of practice in, I have prepared myself for a professional life of music by playing in church several times, being a part of competitions, and being the main accompanist for two weddings. The other part of my dream for myself is to become a notable author. Writing, in general, is a thrill for me. I get to dig deep into my thoughts, emotions, and imagination to create children’s stories, ideas for a series, and poetry. The dream for myself is similar to the traditional American Dream because I want to be given the same opportunities to be successful as the kid down the block. Even though I am not extremely wealthy and may not come from a “privileged” family, I still want to be given the same opportunities to be great. But, how will I make this dream a reality? Alongside with going to college, I must put my all into being successful and forcing myself to practice my instruments. I must also acknowledge that I should take any spare time in my life and put that into my writing. I play the largest role into making my dream a reality. It is up to me to help create my fate.

           Provided that I will get married and have a family, the second part of the dream I have created for myself is to have my future family to be involved in many activities and be content with what we have. I have always been an overachiever. I hope that my family strives to be great in everything that they do, but I do not want to overburden them either. I want to find the happy medium where we can be busy but not too busy. This part of my dream is similar to the current American Dream. Society tells us that we should be living the “ideal” life where we are perfect in everything that we do, including the numerous activities that we are involved in. No one is perfect. And now that I think about it, where did hobbies go? Hobbies... When you can just do something because you love it. People nowadays are trying so hard to create this perfect, or ideal, life that they lose the simple, easy qualities in hobbies. My dream for my future family is to let my children do something they love and not try to push them to be the best. My dream also includes us being somewhat busy. We should be involved in our church, volunteering, music, art, sports… Not too much, but enough to let my children see the many elements that our world has to offer and provide them with a well-rounded lifestyle.

           Above all, the final part of my dream is to have my brothers and father also follow their dreams. They are a very large part of me, and if they are not successful and happy, then my life would feel like it’s crumbling as well. My dream for my father is that, after my brothers and I are out of the house, that he be able to do his real career, acting. My dream for Ethan, the eldest brother, is that he would become either a zoologist or a flourishing singer because he has a beautiful voice. My dreams for my other two brothers, Caleb and Grant, are a little fuzzy at the moment since they have a while until they have to decide which path to take. And though that is the case, I can generally dream that they thrive in everything they do. The most important dream that I have for all of them, which I am extremely confident that they will fulfill, is that they continue with our Lutheran faith and stay strong in going to church. I have faith that the Lord will guide us in the right direction to fulfill the dreams that we are meant to complete. My brothers and father complete me. Though that phrase is used quite often, it is doubtlessly true for me. My brothers, father, and numerous other people in my life play a role in helping my dream become a reality. My father pays for my music lessons, and him, loving to write, is a huge mentor for my love of writing as well. My music teachers strongly want me to continue with music for the rest of my life and make it my career. My brothers, especially the middle one, Caleb, help push me to continue to practice my instruments and complete my many other activities and chores in my life. I have this never-leaving feeling that I have to be the best role model for them and never let them down. After the many years of being sick and being absent from school too often, I feel that I have let them down, and I need to pick up the pieces from before I became sick and make sure that I don’t fall apart again. My grandparents, especially my father’s mother, are a huge element in my quest for fulfilling my dream. My grandmother plays piano, and her mother was a top-notch, concert pianist. My grandma regrets that she stopped playing obediently when she was younger, and now that I have the talent that she saw in her mother, she isn’t going to let me waste it. The people at my church also want the best for me, and knowing that I am a great musician and writer, they push me to play in church and continue practicing. In all, to fulfill my fantasy, my family must also follow their dreams in order for my personal dreams to be complete.

           So, is my American Dream attainable? Yes, I believe it is. In order for it to be fulfilled, though, I must become a musician and author, my future family will flourish in our busy lives, and my brothers and father will also follow their dreams. What is your American Dream? Is the American Dream still around? I believe the American Dream is alive, but it is just evolving. I think that it is alive and changing because the way we are living is changing. The American Dream will probably be alive for many, many more years. There is always that desire in a human being to become successful and do what we think will bring pleasure to us. I also believe that generations can have similar dreams. My father wants to be an actor. My brothers and I are also in the Fine Arts and maybe want to find a career in that. A common thread of dreams among all generations is to be able to find a good job and find a family even though we do not all come from the same background. I also want to have a successful job. A unique thing about my dream is that the two things that I want to be, musician and writer, seem like they have a sea of differences between each other. My dream may not happen at the same time, and it will be difficult to entirely achieve, but I intend to complete it.  …Will I get the opportunity?