Interview Reflection

We meet our interviewee at the Living Room coffee shop in Point Loma last Monday, the 8th. Erin promptly arrived, we got our coffee and sat down. It was an awkward setting , a busy street was behind us. However, nothing was awkward about the interview, Erin was forthcoming and very insightful.

Erin grew up in Cape Town, a city in South Africa about the size of San Diego. He grew up with his mom, and his sister. His parents were divorced so he did not see his dad too much. Erin’s parents were not of the same race, which means that Erin is colored, colored people make up a majority of South Africa’s population.

Throughout the interview I was repeatedly struck by such meaningful quotes like ,“Education is the most important”, and, “You can never fail, you only learn.” Such quotes are ones that inspire, but these coming from a twenty something are unexpected. Furthermore, I was amazed that he could overcome such discrimination to become more educated. Erin was the only colored person in his class.

Erin said that his life changed with his first trip to the United States in 2003. He liked the United States so much that he returned to snow board at Lake Tahoe in 2004. After that, he moved to San Francisco, then San Diego. Erin found that traveling really changed his life; he told us multiple times that any opportunity to travel should be seized.

I found that not only was the interview process fun and exciting but also provided me with more knowledge about other cultures and exposed me to other’s experiences. Now that I have completed the interview I feel that I have taken away so much, like education and travel are the best ways to expand your horizons. The process felt very natural because it was more like a conversation. Initially I was nervous, but eventually I became comfortable with the conversation. To a point, it became almost comical, because that for every question Erin answered it seemed that two more questions came into my head.

In conclusion, I feel that I learned a lot in not only content, but also about the interview process. I also found that the interview yielded a significant amount of useful information. The interview information proved to be unique, because it was something that you could not find in a textbook or on the internet. The process was so fun, and effective that I may use it in other projects throughout my time at High Tech High.