The interview is a big part of the capstone project. It is almost like the core of the project.  It provides a lot of information and it also teaches the interviewer about the topic. The interview also can dispose of extra information and ideas for the presentation. Doing the interview was exciting and also very helpful. I was able to ask questions but also learn more.

The process of figuring out who I was going to interview was difficult because it was hard to find someone who knew my topic and who could actually dispose of the information. My topic was the secret service. At first, I had to search for some things and talk to my parents. I found a museum, but they were very busy. A few days later, my dad remembered that he did know someone who lead the secret service at one point. John Snow. I contacted him and he quickly responded with his detail leader ( Tom Greenaway) and all of the information to contact him. We had scheduled the interview for the 18th. We had 5 days to come up with questions. I started with some background questions and then I put in parts that related to my subquestions. I finished writing my questions and then I reviewed them with my teachers. I made some revisions and then I contacted the agent to discuss the details and also we sent the questions so he could prepare. Since he was very busy, we had him answer some questions over email and I would ask the rest and some additional questions (both mine and my dad’s) on the phone. It was easy to write the questions because there was so much practice involved. One thing that was hard was finding people to contact for the interview.

Conducting the interview was hard but it became easier with my dad. My dad helped me since it is harder for me to understand what Tom was saying so he broke it down for me in an easier way for me to understand.  At the start of the interview, I started by talking a little bit about how he was doing and etc. Then, my dad talked to Tom and then I went into my questions. Since I didn’t have that many questions, I and my dad thought of a few interesting ones that could add to my project. My interview exceeded expectations because not only did I get extra information, I was able to now know how I could do my script and the order of my presentation. Some of the new things I learned were: The Secret Service Runs simulations to learn how they can improve but it actually feels harder to do because you will be judged on your response unlike in real-time when you have to just save the protectee. Another thing I learned is that when walking near the military, they make sure they have no ammo or bayonets so nothing happens to the president. One more thing is that when countries come to the United States of America, they have to know how much ammo, serial numbers, and the guns and if the countries say something else it could result in something chaotic such as them being forced out of the country or something else.

All in all, both preparing for the interview and conducting the interview took a lot of effort and steps to complete. Special thanks to my dad, John Snow, and of course my interviewee Tom Greenaway.