An Interview About My Aunt

My initial interest in naval service came from the death of my grandfather. I never truly understood his service to my country because I was too young comprehend, but as I learned of his heroic contributions, I got a burning desire to want to serve as well. My grandfather had fought in WWII as an anti-aircraft gunner in the Philippines alongside the US Navy. He just barely took down an enemy ZERO before it came in on a strafing run on his base. When I became aware of his military history I was astounded and my grandfather instantly became one of the greatest influences in my desire to serve. He stood out to me as someone with honor, duty, and loyalty and never backed down from a challenge. He loved his country and risked everything for it and

I chose to interview my grandmother, Maryann Metzger. I chose her because she is probably one of the strongest people I know. I wanted to learn more about her childhood. After talking with her I realized that she may not remember a lot about women’s rights at that time but she does remember segregation. Through this I learned many things that I didn’t know before.

For the oral history project, I interviewed my grandmother. Her full name is Imelda Laborce, while she is known as “Meldy” to most family members. She was born in a small town called Calapacuan in the Zambales region of the Philippines. She was born in 1955 and is 61 years old. Like me, she was born in the Philippines but eventually moved to America sometime in her life. I believed she was a good candidate because I knew she was one of the earliest members of my family to travel to America. Hence, she must have good stories and have a rich background. I also never really knew anything about her past, so I just thought it would be interesting in general to learn about it. She currently lives in Union, New Jersey and works in a hospital as a nurse.

In the early 1940’s Marie was born into a small tight knit family living in a small rural Kentucky town. Marie is now in her seventies and has led a very interesting life traveling the country, raising four children, and shaping her chosen profession. Our interview sessions were conducted over a period of time, as Marie is very active and has little “free time” to spare.

The author constantly used short stories and visual description to get her thought across, entertain, and inform the reader. She told not only stories about medical findings but also about how the medical field works in general. One of the stories that stood out the most was the one about the socratic lectures that senior doctors would have with doctors-in-training to help them get a better understanding of treating real patients. She compared it to how medical school is now, filled with lectures and powerpoints of past patients, whereas back fifty years ago they had a more hands on experience. She wrote it in a way that was funny, comparing how “back in the day” you could actually look at a patient’s illness and now you have to see a slideshow of pictures and use that information to diagnose them, along with medical

After much thought and discussion with a mentor in my community, I walked up to my parents when they were relaxing in the living rooms and blurted “I am enlisting in the Marine Corps”. It came out rushed and my dad’s first response was “no you are not”, and of course I replied, “Yes I am”. A big argument broke out after that and it took a few weeks for the waters to settle. My parents really wanted me to go to college, and I really wanted to join the military. Oak Park tends to produce a lot of college-bound graduates, and for those who do not go to college, they become Marines. A deal was settled, my dad knew of NROTC, and he convinced me that it was in my best interest to become an officer. After a lot of stubbornness on my end, I agreed

Family can be very influential in the decisions that we make whether by persuasion, support, or other means. The person I interviewed is Dr. Gutierrez, the director of the Symphony Orchestra and the Director of the Center for Latin American Music Studies at TCU. He was born in Ibague, Colombia, in 1957. He went to the Conservatorio de Música del Tolima, where he got his high school and bachelor’s degree at the same time. Then he went to Illinois State University to get his master’s degree in composition and conducting, and then to the University of Colorado to get his doctoral degree in orchestra conducting.

I have recently interviewed my grandmother Mindy. I chose to interview my grandmother because we have a close relationship and I look up to her and love spending every second with her and couldn’t think of a better person to interview than her. The reason for this interview is to get an insight of how her pregnancy coming from her. In this interview I will learn all about her pregnancy, from the beginning to the end. Mindy is my grandmother because she is my mothers mother. Mindy has spent most of her life in Kenya, and now resides now in America.

Who is one of the best biology teachers in the Tacoma School District? Mrs. Ferrin a sophomore biology teacher at Mount Tahoma high school. As I walked in her room I was welcomed by the soft sound of music. There also was a lot of human body diagrams showing how much she valued science. She is very short compared to most of the teachers at Mount Tahoma, therefore her nickname “shorty” is very accurate.

Enlisting in the US Air Force in 1995, my father planned to stay active for four years. I recently learned

The military has always been a part of my family’s life. My grandfather was in the army along with his son and my grandmothers other son’s. I also have many cousins who are still in and one who worked at the Pentagon. My uncles use to always tell us stories about their military service and how much they learned. Most of my cousins that joined only joined because of these stories and the lavish lifestyles they have seen my uncles live. Unlike them, I wasn’t drawn in by the stories my uncles told me, or the war letters from my deceased grandfather. For some reason it was my mothers dream for me; probably because its always something she wanted to do but was afraid, a fantasy I wasn’t quite ready to live in for her or them.

My want to attend a service academy came as a surprise to no one. Both of my parents served in the military and in a traditional kid fashion I wanted to be just like them. But the last thing my parents wanted was for me to enlist. They always told me I was too smart to not get a college education and to enter the military as an officer. I chose the Navy as my first choice after listening to my stepfather’s stories about his time on a fast attack submarine. Now I was set on this path to hopefully one day become a Midshipman and Naval Officer at probably around the age of eight or nine. As I grew up and matured in my academic interests I found that my best subjects as well as those I shared the most interest in were those containing math and

From the beginning of my junior year, I came across the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps website and I decided to apply for the scholarship program. I analyzed every single information on the internet and took every part of the application process seriously, after all, this commitment affects a considerable amount of my future. I continued to research more about the Navy and prepared for the physical assessment test by running a few miles every day and beating my previous push-up and sit-up records. A few months later, after I had enough courage and hope, I excitedly sat down with my whole family and friends to discuss my plan. As I explained through the process, I cannot forget the anxious faces across the table; my parents were very uncertain

I will tell you a tale of a woman of great success. This is a woman that has inspired me to be something great one day and to never give up trying. Though she may be growing into her elderly years she has lived a very challenging, joyful, loving and successful life. She is a woman of great faith and character, she is my grandmother.

For my interview, I interviewed a woman by the name of Mrs. Miskell. She is a close family friend and also teaches at the elementary school that I used to attend. Mrs. Miskell has been teaching for fifteen years. She has a class of 21 including 2 special education children who are mainstreamed into her class for a few areas of study. She team-teaches one day a week with the remedial math teacher, and one day a week with the remedial reading teacher. Her children switch classes with one other class for social studies and science. In this interview, I covered her views on special education and security in today's schools.