The Apple Doesn't Fall Far...

So this week’s assignment to interview a willing participant was so interesting. Our “think tank” group decided that we would all interview our fathers. We agreed that they would be easily accessible and happy to talk with their daughters for this class project. We agreed on the central question: How did your childhood influence your life? Follow up questions included (1) How did your childhood lead you to your career? (2) How did your childhood affect your adult life?

When I told my Dad about this project he was happy to chat with me and although, over the years, I had heard his childhood memories, interesting antidotes, and funny stories, it was always in a social context and never formal or recorded. Since our schedules did not allow for us to interview in person, we decided on an audio-recorded phone interview. It was easy to imagine his facial expressions, hand gestures and smile as he was talking.

A few specific themes surfaced during the interview regarding his childhood, but no matter what direction the interview took, his stories always came back to food. Yes, the hardships of the Great Depression, the family work ethic, counted blessings, money, religion, problems, love and music were all discussed but most of the conversation circled back to food-lots of food, not enough food, who was cooking the food, good cooks in the family, Sunday food, preparing food, cooking food, Italian food, courses of food, etc.

I never realized how much my family talks about food. It is one of my favorite topics to discuss and is also a popular theme with the rest of my family, children and friends.

This assignment was a great way to practice our interviewing procedures and skills in my opinion. The experience was low stress and could be forgiving in the event of a possible question or technology glitch. There is definitely an “art” to the interviewing process that I am hoping to get much better at with more practice.