Schoolwork and Admiration

I just finished another term (which makes one year) at Walden University. I loved my qualitative research course. One of the assignments was to interview people about someone they admire. I tried my hand at a little more interesting writing style on the paper and thought I'd share a portion of it - based on my interview with Tony and on my interview with Bethany, my sister. Enjoy!

Themes of Greatness: Mini-Case Study Project

He leans forward towards me, across the table. His hands begin moving as he becomes more animated, expressing his emotions about the day his idol died. “It was a tragedy for the entire country.” He remembers who he was with, where he was at, and what he was doing the moment he found out that President John F. Kennedy had been assassinated. He was only a Catholic schoolboy at the time, yet his memories are stark and unforgettable. Since that day over 40 years ago, he has studied Kennedy’s life, his politics, and his legacy. When I asked this man to tell me about the individual he most admired, he had 50 years of memories and study at the ready to share. It is impossible to tell who enjoyed the interview more – me or him. I learned quickly that asking the right questions can get a wealth of information and feeling from the right person.

She laughs as she thinks about the person she most admires. She turns crossways in her chair and pulls one leg up underneath her. Imagine my surprise when she looks up and says that the person she most admires is… me. I look back at her somewhat skeptically, as if to see whether she is teasing me, but she is determined. She wants to answer my own interview questions, about me. “Is that okay?” she asks. “Yes,” I reply. “You can answer anything you would like.” During the course of the following interview, I find out just how much my sister truly does admire me and why. I learned that asking her pre-determined questions forced her to articulate and consider things that had only existed in her feelings before, which created a lot of intimate data for the study. I also learned that I was uncomfortable hearing someone analyze their feelings about me aloud.