Capstone Blog Post #2

Posted on by

The purpose of the interview was just to gain some more information and maybe get more perspectives. The information should be something you couldn’t get by searching for it and it’s good to get some opinions as well. I was worried about not being able to get an interview or the interviewee giving me bad information, and also nervous about what he would think of me. It was still really exciting to interview an expert, though.

I decided to search for experts on Cold War espionage, but all I found was experts on the History of the Cold War or other things. I wanted to interview an expert called Ian Johnson, but when I looked through his website I found that he was more focused on China than the Cold War. I also thought of another possible interviewee, but found that she was mostly talking about film. Because no one was an expert on Cold War espionage, the thought of interviewing an expert on the Cold War and then an expert on espionage crossed my mind. However, I looked through the expert website again and found someone who was an expert on the Cold War and espionage – they’d probably know at least a bit about Cold War espionage, right? Writing the questions was a little hard because I couldn’t think of anything that may be good to ask, but eventually I figured out 12 questions.

First, I emailed my interviewee, Arne Kislenko. He responded quickly, and then we arranged the date. We were going to go for 12:00 p.m. on Sunday, but he was busy at the time and we instead arranged for 5:00 p.m. on Monday. After that, he said he was too busy for 5:00 p.m. so we decided on 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. I wanted to make a phone call but after some research, found out that calls from the US to Canada cost a dollar a minute. We decided to do a Zoom meeting instead. At first, when he didn’t come on (I think this was because I sent the Zoom link at 6:07), I thought that maybe we’d need to schedule another date. But luckily, it didn’t turn out that way and he came on at around 6:10. It went even better than expected, and lasted over 40 minutes. He was able to give me a lot of information and I started to understand some spy cases better. For instance, I’d only heard the name “Robert Hanssen” before, but Mr. Kislenko told me a lot more about how much information he gave to the Soviets.

While interviewing a complete stranger was really nerve-wracking, I got through it after some challenges and mishaps. I guess that in life, you just have to get through it as best as you can and then, maybe that’ll help. I did enjoy talking with Mr. Kislenko and it was pretty exciting. Maybe this Capstone unit won’t turn out too bad after all!

Immigrant Interview Blog Post #2

Posted on by

For our video assignment, we had to have a two to four minute video with photos or videos that were two to six seconds, but they could be longer if you were narrating and needed to wait one second at the end and the beginning. Also, we had to have two seconds of black at the beginning and end. Because Adobe didn’t allow for that, we had to find a picture. I chose a zoomed in picture of a girl staring out of a window with lots of shadow. Also, we had to make it clear in the video about:

  • Where they’re from
  • Why they left
  • How they got here
  • Their Life today
  • Thoughts, feelings and sentiments about it all

Absolutely no “welcome to my video” or  “thank you for watching”

Finally, no videos allowed. Of course, my mom didn’t have any videos anyway.

Making the video was actually really fun, because I got to change themes, try out music, and search through photos. My mom had a lot of photo albums, but I didn’t use any of them. All my photos were from her iPad and iPhone. For my script, I copied some of the narrative into the script and then made it sound coordinated with the rest of the script. I took a long time choosing photos. Some I had to get from the internet, because the Stock images didn’t always work. There is one picture I’m still not pleased about, and that’s one with some people eating. I wish I had a photo of the family I was talking about, but my mom didn’t know where it was. I tried doing the voice-over in school, but there was way too much background noise. I ended up doing it all in my house. Something challenging was choosing which photo to use and finding them. For instance, I wanted a baby photo of my brother, Zongbo/Bob, but my mom only had a three year old photo.

I learned all about my mom, including her childhood, immigration journey, and reasons for her actions. I also learned how to conduct an interview, get more and better answers, and also come up with followup questions. Finally, I learned about making Adobe videos. I learned more about the features of Adobe, changing themes, searching through music and finding the best photos I could use.

I think this unit was actually really fun! I would want to do this again but with different people, subjects, and more! I got to learn a lot about my mom and was able to connect more with her. I was able to see my mother as a teenager, with friends and her husband, my father. She had the biggest, blackest eyes I’ve ever seen. While she looked a lot different as a younger person, my father looked like himself right now except with less wrinkles and completely black hair. Anyway, I really enjoyed this unit and would want to do it again. It really is fun.

 

Immigrant Interview Blog Post #1

Posted on by

This Immigrant Interview starts with writing questions. Originally, my questions were open, but didn’t allow for much information. Then, I used starters like “give details” and “tell me” or “describe”. That provoked more answers from my mom during the interview, which was the next step. For my interview, I recorded the whole thing using my mom’s phone. She didn’t give as much information as I expected, but coming up with follow up questions was a lot easier than I originally thought. After the interview, I transcribed the recording into the interview questions document. At first, I actually tried the “Voice Typing” feature but my mom’s voice in the recording was too soft for the feature to catch.

I considered my mom’s life, from birth to now. Also, I asked some reflective questions that would give me some insight on what my mom thought. I focused a lot on the journey and the immigration process, as well. I think that “Sample Immigrant Interview Questions” and “What Kids Can Do, ‘How to Conduct a Strong Interview’ Fact Sheet”. They really helped me think of new questions and inspired me to revise some questions as well.

Me and my mom sat in the living room during the interview. She sat on the couch and I pulled a chair over. Like I said, the responses were shorter than expected, even with the extra “give details” and “tell me”. However, I did get enough answers. Also, I was able to really easily make follow-up questions as my mom’s answers raised more confusion about her experience. I think I learned that during an interview, you should keep eye contact and also pay close attention. I learned that my grandmother (mom’s mom) was a librarian and so my mom was able to read a lot. She told me that she loved reading and also loved spending time at the library.

In conclusion, I really enjoyed interviewing my mom and just talking about her life. My grandfather recently died and my mom was really sad about it. I think that talking about her childhood and life spent with her dad made her feel better and more alive. My mom also taught me a lesson. She came to America to study in a program, and even though she had a baby (my brother) and family at home, she still went. She studied hard and worked hard, and now she’s happier and has accomplished her goal.