One of my main goals for this blog is to retrieve perspectives of the COVID-19 pandemic from within the common American family. In my last post, I interviewed a young boy by the age of eleven about his thoughts on the virus that would very well represent the newly formed generation. In my hopes of representing the standard American family, I decided that an interview with a young teenage girl was a great option in addition to my last interview with a young boy. It was interesting to see the similarities and contrasts between my last interview as opposed to this one. As the blog continues, I hope you can appreciate the different ideas associated with each type of person that may be represented in a family. Focusing on this interview, many new ideas and concepts were brought to my attention throughout my time with her. After a handful of questions addressing the pandemic, I was able to see what matters the most in her life. Similar to my last interview, I decided to start on a positive note by asking her what positives she has encountered from the pandemic. Now, believe it or not, this was, in my opinion, the most interesting part of the interview because her responses were not something I was expecting. Her responses consisted of getting to sleep in, not having to stress about her appearance and cheaper gas prices. Now you may be quite surprised at how simple and specific these answers are because I was too. It is interesting to note as well, all her responses were based on her individual life and did not mention any other positives that may involve other people in her life. I received similar responses when I flipped the question by asking her what negatives were involved with the virus. I want you to keep in mind, these first two questions are very broad and are not focused on a specific person, place, or thing. She responded by saying, "the main thing is my social life being taken over. I can't really see my friends anymore." This time around, I was not as surprised by her response. Notice how she considers the main negative of the virus to be one that involves the effects taking over her social life. In addition to this response, she also mentioned having to do more chores around the house as a result of being home most of the time and her parents having to continue to report to their full-time occupations. Again, her response is quite simple, but it tells an interesting story. A story that revolves around her individual. I wasn't ready to make up my mind yet on perspective so I continued hoping to find what she truly cared about in a time of uncertainty. I transitioned the interview by asking her the same question I used in my last interview simply because it brings out interesting responses in my subjects. The question addressed the fear she has for the virus based on a scale from one to ten. With ten being the most scared and or nervous, she replied with a confident answer of four. She went on to explain that she and her family are fairly healthy individuals indicating if one of her family members contracted the virus, they would recover relatively quickly. This was a valid response, but I knew there had to be something more and sure enough, there was. She continued to explain most of her fear involved with the virus comes from two factors. The first being, the health of her grandparents who like most elderly people, are susceptible to contracting the virus due to their weak immune system. By this time during the interview, I had contemplated maybe her story was different than what I originally thought. However, that original story proved to be more accurate with her following response. The second factor she stated addressed the length of time associated with the virus. In other words, she was afraid of how long the virus was going to last and keep her from enjoying special life moments involved with her social life. These moments include activities with friends, high school events, and other social gatherings. My experience as a current college student allowed me to relate with her on a more personal level during this part of the interview. I could tell where she was coming from in this situation. However, it is interesting to note that part of her fear with the virus is associated directly with time and her social life that is involved. I see this idea one last time as the interview nears a closing. When asked about what things were helping her cope during this time of uncertainty, she responded in a way that I expected, but with a twist. She stated, "my friends have definitely helped me through this time. This virus has made me realize to not take any day for granted and to not take your friends for granted either." I fully agreed with her response and while it was based again on her social life, the concept behind her response was quite magnificent. Furthermore, I then asked her about wanting to go back to school. She immediately replied with a "yes". She explained that while she likes the online format, she utterly misses the social aspect of high school. I decided to end the interview by asking her how she thought the rest of the virus was going to play out. Her response was very positive stating she thinks the stay at home orders will be over soon and that the number of cases of COVID-19 will go down. By now I felt confident I had gotten a grasp on what mattered in her life during a time of chaos and uncertainty. The COVID-19 pandemic has not only changed how society operates and interacts, but it has also changed the people in how they view certain things in their life. The phrase "don't take any day for granted" really stood out to me during this interview and gave me the inspiration for the main idea of this blog post. This phrase can be also be related to the idea of analyzing what matters most in a person's life. I noticed throughout the interview that the high school student valued social interaction and her own individual. Her responses did not seem to address all other aspects that are included with the Coronavirus, but rather they are based on her own well being and the social interaction that is attached to her life. I am very grateful that she mentioned the idea that requires all individuals to take a step back from the situation and simply think. Live out your days and find your true self, before its too late.
