Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Field Notes: Second Interview
After your second interview, post your observations from your experience here as a comment. Continue to record as many details as you can remember from your visit to The Gathering Place. (That is, describe how you felt coming in for your second shift, who you worked with and talked to, how the interviews unfolded, what you noticed or thought was significant.) You might also pay attention to any differences you noted (either in yourself or others) during this visit, or reflect on what you think you're learning from these interviews.
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ReplyDeleteHOPE
ReplyDeleteI sat alone, cracked open the classic-red can, and waited for myself to wake up.
This was Hope's second day at The Gathering Place. Hope is from Rapid City—the city of Rushmore— where she has lived in reservation dorms since 6 years old. The interview was scattered, as she described Denver: both situated in the mouth of tough hopes and lost dreams. I will try to capture some of her intricate thoughts and reflections.
Hope wants the dental care and bus tokens. She wants to keep what she has and go where she wants to go. Forgiveness and independence, she said simply. Hope eventually wants "to get off on [her] own so [she] can have a Grandma house" for her 3 grandchildren.
Her story was rhythmic and unstoppable. I am deeply affected by her advice: keep beautiful, face your fears, be true to your heart. There are many parallels between my family history and what she revealed in just 29 minutes.
An artist once said, "All cokes are the same and all cokes are good."
My second trip to The Gathering Place was more calm and relaxed. The weather was better, and I arrived there with Nicole. My confidence radiated, as I knew what to do this time around. As I took the stairs up, the comfortable sight of the green walls released any last strain of anxiety I had. We sat down on the couch and relaxed as one of ladies, close to Professor Bateman, recognized us and amiably made small talk with us so we would not feel awkward. Our first interview was with Mary, a math professor from China. I was excited to practice my Chinese, but Mary definitely reaffirmed that she had been a professor when she corrected my tones. It was fantastic to see how strong her culture resonated within her as she insisted we get some tea and coffee before we started. Mary made all three (Leslie had joined us by now) of us laugh, not because of her difficulty with English, but rather her random interruptions in the interview to give us some Asian remedy or advice. This definitely hit home a little bit. My favorite moment in the interview with Mary was when she emphasized the importance of happiness. Even with her broken English, I knew exactly what she was trying say. After talking with Mary, Nicole and I talked with another passionate woman who had difficulty with an organization that had killed her cat. Her passion was so strong; she explained what action she was ready to take against this. She emphasized her desire to rebel the correct and legal way. We felt so proud of this woman we had known for only a couple of minutes.Finally, we talked to a disabled woman. She gave us some valuable answers, and her stories touched us. The second time at The Gathering Place definitely affected me more, as I saw these strong characters and heard heart wrenching stories.
ReplyDeleteI was once again given a warm welcome upon my second visit to The Gathering Place. As I made my way through the door to the second floor, the mysterious peacefulness of the dining room again hit me. Why is there no hostility? Why is there no fighting between the women and the staff? Or among the other women (though at this point I will note a small dispute between two women that erupted and quickly subsided with the help of the staff during my first visit)? I sat down with two women on this visit, both of whom were currently homeless (this was a first – last time they were all in some sort of housing of their own, but relied upon TGP’s services to sustain that). In addition, both of these women had been released from prison within the last 12 months, and were now utilizing TGP to find employment and readjust to society. I was taken aback with just how much even one year (in the case of Diane) behind bars can do to one’s chances of finding employment, after thirty-some years of working for an oil and gas company in a relatively high-level position. And now, here she is, in front of me. She has so many more years on me and so much more knowledge, experience and wisdom. But one small mistake has entirely altered the dynamic of this relationship – she’s homeless and I’m a student with a job all set to go for the summer. It seems so discouraging for anyone. Regardless of her experience and qualification, I would wager that it will be a long time before she ever finds employment, if at all. She’s so pleasant and intelligent, and I couldn’t even imagine her in a prison setting. She noted what an extreme help the computers have been her in being able to update and send her resume, seek out job opportunities, and just to have an e-mail address to stick on her resume. She seemed to take everything with ease and took complete responsibility, yet it was still so disheartening to see someone with so many years of work experience fall so quickly from one position. But The Gathering Place will be there for as long as she needs it.
ReplyDeleteMy second interview session at The Gathering Place almost seemed like an entirely different experience. I feel it was because my mindset was so different. I was much more prepared, I knew what to expect, and I was far more confident. However, Geoffrey was not there when we arrived and I was not yet confident enough to start talking to women on my own, so I did have to wait for him. I did my first interview with Leslie, and we talked with Cora. Cora had a lot to say, and I really didn't have to ask any questions at all. She just talked and Leslie and I listened. I did the next interview with Charlie, and that one was rather short. But after that both Charlie and Leslie left and Geoffrey was busy so I was on my own to find women to interview. This was both a scary and liberating feeling. It forced me to get out of my shell a bit, and to be more forward and outgoing with all of the women in the shelter, rather then just sitting back and waiting for them to come to me. I began walking around and asking women if I could talk to them. Most were very nice and welcoming which was a huge relief. A few said no, they didn't want to talk. In one case I approached a table where a women was sitting alone and asked if I could talk to her and she responded by saying "Well first of all if you are going to talk to someone you need to sit down not stand next to them. Get on the same level as them." This caught me off guard, but I sat down immediately and she basically proceeded to tell me how to properly conduct an interview. As I interviewed her I was horribly nervous that I wasn't living up to her expectations. But as we talked she seemed to have a lot she wanted to say and I felt as though I got a really good interview from her. With all of the interviews from that day I felt almost like they meant a little more, or were a little more personal because I had asked them myself to talk to me. I think that means a lot when it comes to the relationship between an interviewer and the person being interviewed. Overall, I learned a lot from the second day, and it was a really good personal learning experience for me.
ReplyDeleteMy second interview session at TGP was a little less formal. The first time I made the interviews too formal and it might have hindered the interviews a little bit. However, this time the big difference was since we were short a recorder most of the interviews with clients was done with Priya so maybe with two people the client felt like it was more of a general conversation. I met some really great women, who told me their story about their cat being taken from her, how to cut your hair so it looks natural and how the bus drivers are slightly mean to some of the bus patrons. It felt like the women opened up a little more with more personal stories the second sessions of interviews rather than the first. It was nice to hear what these women were passionate about and how it affects their lives.
ReplyDeleteMary is a client of TGP that I will never forget. She reminds me of my grandma being persistant on having us be comfortable and well fed. Mary kept insisting that we get some juice or coffee before the interview started. It was very hospitable.
The second time coming to The Gathering Place felt much easier to navigate. It was much busier than our last visit because it was the morning as opposed to the afternoon (when we had our first visit). Our second interview reinforced many of the things that Sunne talked about, but also gave a different light into The Gathering Place. Gery had experienced homelessness herself, so the issue seemed to be more personal with her. Many of the women trust her and look up to her because of her experience and she was very willing to tell us about the challenges that she went through. We learned much more about the food bank and it seems like it is a huge resource for the women.
ReplyDeleteDuring our second time around at the Gathering Place, I felt more at ease with conducting another interview for I had a better idea of what questions would be interesting to ask. In the interview with Rachael, we all went up to the rooftop of The Gathering Place. Brooke and I enjoyed this setting, even though it was very bright but it was a great area to have an interview. We found quickly that Rachael had a different background from our first interviewee: Amy. Rachael came to The Gathering Place through the Door Program from Cincinnati, Ohio with a background of Spanish. Rachael explained how since she has been here at The Gathering Place, she has found her Spanish speaking skills as very useful when it comes to serving clients who primarily speak Spanish. Overall, the interview went very great; Rachael even asked us some questions on our perspectives on some of the issues concerning homelessness. By the end of the interview, it was easy to say that the most difficult fact to face when thinking about her one year commitment to the Gathering Place ending is leaving the relationships and community behind.
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