Noah Sergent

Oral History Interview Reflection:

I really enjoyed doing this interview and the processes it entailed for many different reasons. One of the biggest reasons I think it was a success was because it allowed me to develop stronger questioning skills, but I think it also helped me develop other stronger qualities that I was not expecting. I did not expect that this would allow to me grow stronger confidence. One of my biggest worries in doing this interview was not being confident that I would connect with the interview and help my interviewee tell her story. I think I gave Rachel a platform to tell her experience with the virus and that makes me happy in doing this interview. The overall technical process I think proved to be successful and it also had some challenges. When talking about success, I gained useful and helpful knowledge on how to conduct, upload and publish. The most challenging part of this particular process was trying not to sound scripted. When I came up with my questions I should have remembered and asked them from memory, I think to me it sounded scripted a little on my part when I was reading them. That is something I wish I did different, so I gave Rachel a stronger advantage in telling her story and letting her get her experiences across to our audience. The part that I most enjoyed was being in the moment and hearing her respond to what I was asking. That was a cool and interesting experience to be a part of. I learned many different things about the content of pandemics during the research part. I learned that it greatly affects our minority groups across the country, when researching the coronavirus. That was something that really made me think about what we should actually be doing compared to what we have done to help these people. The overall experience like I said was very rewarding and definitely knowledgeable and useful for the future. It was a unique experience to be a part of when asking the questions and being in the moment and hearing her respond to me. When referring to suggestions for improvement, I really enjoyed how this was set up for us. My only thing that I can think of that might be more interesting to see when looking at the outcomes of the projects is a larger group of topics to choose from. I do think that the topics that we had though were very interesting and of course appropriate given the current situation of the country and world, but I think a larger selection may provide for more unique outcomes from the projects that are presented by future students. A couple of pieces of advice that I would like to add for any future students that are completing these projects would to be in the moment with your interview, don’t try to sound to scripted, and have fun with it. It definitely provided a surreal experience.

Oral History Interview StoryCorps URL: https://archive.storycorps.org/?post_type=interviews&p=2331486