Group 6

Community Conversations
GROUP 6

Insert image here The Wise
Clockmaker

A conversation
with Grandma

By Sravani Tadaka

My grandmother when she was in
India.

As I sat down with my grandmother, I quickly went One topic I was really interested in was how she took
over in my mind what I would have to do and started the care of her children mostly, because I thought it must be hard
interview. I asked a few questions at first and took a to take care of 4 little kids at once. So I sat down with my
break for a while. grandmother and started my interview.

I was so excited to interview my grandmother, The first question I asked was, “What is one way you took
and I couldn’t wait to get to know more about her! I chose care of your kids?”
my grandmother, Renuka Devi Swargam, for the
interview because I really didn't know anything about A: And then she answered, “I used to keep them at home until
her at first, and I really wanted to get closer to her, and they finished their work, and I would tell them to be careful
she is very kind to me. when they went outside. I would make them do all their
chores before they did what they wanted to, and I told them
For the interview, I decided to focus on many other things as well.”
motherhood, and how she did her job, and all that good
stuff. My grandmother had a job as a clock operator Q: How did your kids act towards you?
when she was still in her motherhood, or you could
say…when she was younger, and I wanted to learn more A: “My children were very helpful, like when I came back work,
about this experience because it might help me in the all their chores would be done, and they all would work
future and others too. I thought the experience of her job together to complete one task.’’
would be interesting because I thought it was a really
cool job, and I wanted to learn more about it. Q: Who was the obedient, and who was the most troublesome
child?
A: “My youngest child was very troublesome actually. He
would usually go outside and come back home late. But I
loved all my children the most. I can’t choose who is the most
obedient child.”

During the interview, I wanted to know more Going Back
about her job as a clockmaker because I thought it In Time
was a cool job, and I wanted to learn more about
it. I thought it would help me learn how she Insert image here
balanced being a clock operator with having four
children to take care of at the same time.

My grandmother worked in a wrist-watch
factory in India because she studied things
related to that in her college. She also had four
children to go along with that, so I thought it may
be difficult to handle all of that at the same time.
So, I asked her a few more questions about her
job.

Q: Do you have any stories about your job;
something interesting that happened?

A: “I once had a lockdown for my job, so the whole
factory shut down, so I couldn’t earn money for
some time. Everyone was very disappointed in
what happened to all the people who worked
there.”

Q: What was the hardest thing about your job? This is how olden-time watches
A: “There wasn’t really anything hard about my job, were like in India
everyone was very nice and no one ever treated me
badly, and assembling watches wasn’t very hard for After the whole interview was done, it
me either.” left me thinking of what her job was like as
well as how those other moments when pretty
Q: What was the easiest thing about your job? big moments kicked in when her job was
A; “Whatever I really did was very easy for me. And I going.
did what had to be done.”
I thought that when she had that
Q: Did anyone not treat you well during your job? lockdown and everyone was disappointed
A: “No, everyone treated me very well throughout my and all the other things, they definitely left me
job. Everyone was very nice and supportive.” thinking for a while

Q: How did your day usually go at work? But overall, I think the interview was
A: “Everything went very well actually. Everyone was AMAZING, and I am looking forward to asking
very interested in what they were doing, and the her more questions. I would really give my
manager would always be supportive. grandmother an award for being really
patient with me and the the others with her!

Early Events with
Early Jim
Goodwin

A conversation with
Jim Goodwin

This is a picture of my grandfather, A picture of the company that was his
Jim Goodwin, currently. favorite job.

Right now it’s called the center for
human development

Have you ever wondered what life was like in the One of the first things that I wanted to learn was
1950s or 60s? Well, I decided to interview Jim what my grandfather had for some of his first jobs or
Goodwin, my Grandfather, about him growing up what his favorite jobs were so I asked him, “What
during the 1950s and 1960s because I wanted to were your favorite jobs to have?”
talk about the jobs he had as both a kid and a
teenager. I also wanted to talk about what he did in His answer was, “Probably my favorite job was
school such as what his favorite subject was or if he being the president or CEO of this big social
was popular in school. The last thing that I planned security service agency. So basically what we did
to talk to him about was his daily life like the cool here was to help people with mental problems and
things he did or what he liked to do with his friends, just other people in need. Like old people who are
what he liked to do, or when he learned the things sick, or people who are homeless, or don’t have
that he would need most in his early life. enough money, or food, or kids who lost their
parents. I started doing this job when I was about
21 right after I finished college. I have a masters in
business administration and psychology.”

After we finished that question, I asked him what
his first job was, and he answered, “Well, my first job
was when I was 10 or 12. I would get on my bike,
and I would deliver newspapers to houses. That
kept me busy because I had a really long route that
I had to ride. But my first real job that I had was
when I was probably right around 16. I was the
manager of the maintenance at a Holiday Inn. I
would take care of the trees, trim the bushes, water
the plants, cut the grass, and clean the pool.”

School

After we finished that subject, the second thing This is my grandfather as a
that I wanted to ask about what his school was like teenager
growing up so I asked, “What was your favorite
subject that you had in school?” Just so that everyone
knows he grew up in Springfield

My grandfather said, “Well, for most of
elementary school through high school, I really liked
the idea of solving math problems and math was
probably my favorite for a while. But when I got into
college, I probably liked psychology the most.”

After we finished that question, I wondered if
he was popular in school so I asked, “Would you
consider yourself popular in school?”

He responded, “Well, you know, a little bit
‘cause I played a lot of sports and I was on a lot of
sports teams, so I knew a lot of people. So actually
probably a little bit more above average.”

After that I wondered, “Did you like school?”
My grandfather said, “As a kid I didn’t really like
it much. Well, actually I didn’t really like it at all. It just
wasn’t the same as Elementary School was at all. It
had about no freedom at all and it was very strict, and
we basically did the same thing every day. But we did
have some good teachers, you know. But now that I
think about it I really appreciate everything that we
learned.”

This is Cathedral High School. It
blew down in a tornado in 2011, and

it is where my grandfather spent
most of his high school career.

So the next topic that I wanted to ask about is his daily life. Daily Life
The first question that I asked about his daily life was, “What was
the most expensive or cool gift that you would say you received as a kid?”
He replied, “Well, the best gift that I think that I ever received was
this Roger Maris baseball glove that I really wanted, and I was saving up
my money for it but I just didn’t have enough, but then unexpectedly my
dad bought it for me for Christmas I was really thankful.”
After that question I asked, “Did you like to go downtown or do
anything else with your friends after school?”
He explained, “Not really, I had sports practice and I had to deliver
newspapers in the afternoon. But every once in a while we would just hang
out, play a few games and talk.”
Then I asked him, “How would you get around town and to all the
places that you wanted to get to?”
He answered, “So I would just walk, for miles, and miles, and miles,
nonstop, ‘cause if I ever brought my bike somewhere, people would steal it
because I didn’t live in the best neighborhood.”
After that I asked him, “Did you like to play any board games as a
kid, and if you did what were they?”
My grandpa replied, “I once had a friend who had a game that I
liked the most called easy money, but it was basically Monopoly. I also
liked playing chess and the other thing we liked were some card games
like poker with chips. We also played blackjack and war. Oh, we also
flipped baseball cards and played with them and won a lot of cards. Five
cards for a nickel one time a kid that was older than me probably won 80
or 90 out of I don’t know 105 cards.”
After that I asked Jim, “What time did you go to bed?”
He answered, “I used to go to bed around 10:00 at most but then I
get up early and walk a lot of miles.”
Then I asked him, “How old were you when you learned to ride a
bike?” I decided to ask this question so that I could compare it to my life.
He said, “I started riding at maybe 5 or 6 because I used it a lot and
my grandfather bought me a full size bike that I used for a while.”

This is the board game my
Grandfather loved called Easy
Money and what his first bike

looked similar to

Daily Life

After that I asked him, “What was your favorite candy as a kid?” I
was wondering this question to compare his answer to what I like

He answered, “There was a type of candy I used to love when
riding the newspaper. I think it was called Payday. I also liked the Milky
Way.”

After that question I wondered, “What do you think is the coolest or
unpopular thing you ever did with your friends?”

He replied, “Well, there was this one time that I got to see
Muhammed Ali training before he would beat Sonny Liston in the
heavyweight world championship, and we got to talk to him.”

After that I asked him “What was your favorite snack to have after
school as a kid?” This is his answer, “They used to be this thing called
marshmallow fluff, I’m pretty sure they still make it though, But I would
make cracker sandwiches with the marshmallow fluff graham crackers and
chocolate, it was very unhealthy but at the time I loved it so much.”

“What was your favorite TV show to watch?” This is what he
answered “I loved western and cowboy shows I liked and they were like
half an hour with gun fights. I think it was called “Gunsmoke”. I also like
Wyatt Earp. And he was the marshall of Dodge city.”

These are my grandfather’s
favorite candies.

The next question that I asked was, “What Daily Life
did you like to do in your free time?”

He said, “Well, I would play basketball,
baseball, and football and I was really just
obsessed with sports. But as I got older I started to
like running and lifting weights more.”

After I finished that question, I also
wondered ,“When you were playing sports would
you just play one sport for hours or switch games
every hour or so?”

He said, “Well, every other day we would
bike to a baseball field and then later bike over to a
basketball court, play a little bit and then just, hang
out there.”

Then I asked him this, “What were all the
sports that you competitively played?” This is what
he said “Well competitively I played football,
baseball, and basketball?”

That was the last question in my interview.
So that is all of the questions that I asked my
grandfather during the interview. Similarities and
differences between you and him?

These are my grandfather’s favorite
sports.

A Convivial
Cryptographer

This is my grandmother, Laura A conversation with
Colvin. She just had her 90th Grammy
birthday!
By: Leah Colvin

It is 1953, and she is surrounded by machines. The click
clacks of the keys are driving her crazy. She has messages
piling up next to her, ready for her to code them. Grammy is
wanting to see her family more than anything, but she sticks
with it for her education. How would you feel if you were in
this situation?

The other day, I interviewed my 90 year old Grandmother,
Laura Colvin, who lives in Ohio. I chose to interview my
Grandmother for this project because I never get to see her,
and I don't know alot about her. I thought this would be a
perfect opportunity to get to learn more about her and her
past. In this interview, I focused on her being a
cryptographer in the military. From this interview, I realized
how much she sacrificed to help her family and future.

Laura grew up poor, on a farm with nothing to do, and nowhere to go. The farm was out in the middle of
nowhere, and it wasn’t the nicest house.
The farm house had no heat, so it was super cold in the winter. Grammy also had to share a bedroom. She
had 3 sisters, so she never got a room to herself.
Another thing she had to do was work out in the fields and around the house. She would wake up, go to
school, and when she came home, she had to help out for hours.
She explained, “I absolutely hated living on a farm because I had to do a lot of work.. I had to bail hay, help
cook, and much more. If I had the chance, I would play outside after I finished my work."
Throughout her years of school, she had a rough time making friends. She lived super far away from
everyone in town, so she wasn't able to hang out with anyone often.
Because she lived super far away from everything, she also had to walk very far to get to places.
She stated, “My least favorite part of school was that I had to walk two miles to get to and from there.”

It all started when Laura had just graduated high school, After training in Virginia, she got sent to Georgia,
where she would learn to be a cryptographer
and was looking for an education. She mentioned, “I had to take two 8 hour long
Since her family didn’t have a lot of money, she needed a classes each day for two weeks to train. One was
college that would be pretty inexpensive.. At the time, there about typing where I had to type for the entire
weren’t many options that her family could afford. When day. The other class taught us how to use a
she came across the idea to join the military for college, she coding machine.”
thought it would be perfect considering it was free. Once she learned how to use the technology, she
Grammy didn't think twice, and decided to apply. When had to work in a small little room.
she told her parents about her decision, they were relieved “The room felt like a jail cell. There were no
to not have to worry about money. windows except for a narrow sliding window
At the time, Grammy didn't think much about what it built into the door. The room seemed so dark,
would be like in the military. She didn't consider how hard and I felt like I was being devoured into a black
it would be living away from family, the training and effort hole,” she explained. There are so many messages
she would have to put in, and more. Once she got there, she sitting next to her. One after another, she
realized how hard it might be to stay away from her loved corrects all of the things her teammates have to
ones for so long. say.
When she arrived, Laura was hoping to become a nurse. When someone knocked on the door to the
Unfortunately, they already had enough nurses, and they room, she had to slide open the small window to
decided to have her to become a cryptographer in the make sure the person wasn't German. She had to
Navy, someone who has to translate and transmit morse do this because they could not let the Germans,
code messages. who they were at war with, figure out any secret
She was shipped to Portley, Virginia, where she had to learn messages about money, or their battle strategy.
basic military training, such as shooting, and other things a During our interview, I also asked Grammy if
soldier would learn. there was anything that was hard for her to deal
with while being a cryptographer.
This is a cryptography machine. To decode She said, “There was always this one woman that
messages, you would move each letter to the next would turn on the iron, but would never iron her
clothes. She would leave it on for hours only to
letter in the alphabet. move her clothes in the closet without ironing
them. This bugged me and I never understood
why she did that.”
Grammy stayed in the military for three years.
Once she was done with college, she rushed
home like there were a million dollars waiting for
her there. She just had to fill out a form, and go
to the exit doors.
Grammy was super excited to go home because
she hadn't seen her family in 3 years. The only
way she was able to communicate with her
family was through letters.

During this interview, I also decided to ask her some As I wrapped up our interview, I asked her one last
questions about her life after the military. question. I asked her how the military has helped her
While she was in the military, she met her husband, throughout her life. She said, “My life might have been
(my grandfather). She was eating at the cafeteria, hard when I was growing up, but the military helped
when she saw him walk in on crutches. Laura being me learn new life skills and help me later on in life. I
her curious self, decided to go ask him what happened. approve very much of people going to the service. It
Apparently, a big guy had fallen on his leg, and he teaches you responsibility, dedication to your job, and
broke his foot. They eventually got closer, and started you learn how to get along with people even if you
dating. don't like them.”
My grandfather was in the navy, while my Not only did this interview help me learn more about
grandmother was a cryptographer. It actually worked her, but it helped me learn an important lesson: you
out perfectly, because she would see him when he should always stay dedicated to something even if you
went to drop off morse code messages for her to don’t love it. You should do this because you never
translate. know how it will end, it may help you overall.
After they both got out of college, they got married in
Germany. They got married there because that is
where they met, when they were both in college.
Later on, they had 4, successful, hard working boys,
Billy, Bobby, Rick
, and David (my Dad).
From the military, she was always hard working. She
always had at least 1 or 2 job. She also became very
active. She would exercise every day and played
competitive tennis. In her free time, she played golf
with my grandpa for fun.

This is a photo my grandmother and my
grandfather together before they had kids.

This is from m when Grammy and Papa had a After our interview, I was reflecting on what we
photoshoot! talked about. I thought about how I viewed my
grandmother. I decided to come up with one word to
describe her as a person. If I could describe my
grandmother in one word, I would most likely say
she is convivial. I would describe her as this because
she is welcoming and kind, One way she is kind is
because she likes to help people. One example of
how she is welcoming is she is very friendly and
funny. Everytime I visit her I have an amazing
experience. For example. Once when I was about 5
years old, I went to visit her. Despite how weary I
was after the long 12 hour drive, when she opened
the door to greet us, I lit up when her smile and
energy flew out the door.

My

Canadian

Aunt

A conversation with Nancy
Morton by Veronica Priefer

This is a picture of my aunt Nancy This is the Canadian Flag, this
Morton represents my aunt because she is
canadian.

Have you ever woken up and you hear two dogs Nancy Morton lives in Canada with her dad,

barking waiting for you to take them outside? Well that’s husband, and her two dogs. A typical day in her house is
what Nancy Morton has to wake up to every morning.
getting up, feeding her dogs, then taking her dogs out,
Nancy Morton is my aunt and my mom's sister. I chose then getting ready, next having her breakfast, then she
her for this project because she is a really nice person,
starts her work from home, after she has lunch, next she
and she spoils me a lot. She lives with her dad, her
plays with her dogs, then goes back to work. After she is
husband, and her two dogs, Dottie and Digby. She lives in done she has dinner with her family, then she gets the
Nova Scotia, and she has one sister, one nephew, and
dogs ready for bed, then last she goes to bed. The next
one niece.
day it starts all over again. I think that her routine is
If I had to describe my aunt in one word it would be interesting because of how she has to take care of a
“tough.” I would say that because she has always been family while taking care of her dad too.
able to pick herself up after she’s fallen. She might need
I asked her how it feels to live with her dad. She said
some help, but she can always get back up and start
that she enjoys it and she is more calm. “If Papa is here
again. She is always there for people and helps them. For with me then I don't have to worry about him,” she said. I
example, she helps her dad and takes care of him. She
also asked her why she chose to live in Canada. She
also has to take care of two crazy puppies, so I think that said that she grew up here, and she has always loved it.
she is really strong and tough.
She decided to stay in Canada because she likes the
If I could give my aunt an award it would be “The most place and found a good job there. The places that she
determined.” Even when her day isn't going so well, she like to go to is Cape Breton Island and the Cabot Trail.
finds a way to pick herself up. She always tries again if
Some other ones are The Cedar House Restaurant,
she fails and she doesn't give up. Currently, she is going Bakery in Seal Island, Bayside Drive-In, and the Fortress
through the adoption process, and it has not always gone Louisbourg, if you like military history.
her way, but she won’t give up.

A Look Into
Nancy’s Life

This is where my aunt works at the Next we talked about her wedding. On July
Nova Scotia Teachers Union. 16th, 2014 at Digby Pines Golf and Spa resort,
Nancy Burke and Derrick Morton became
Another thing that interested me was her Nancy Morton and Derrick Morton. I was the
job. My aunt is a human resources officer for flower girl at the wedding, and I looked
the Nova Scotia teachers union. She has been fabulous if I do say so myself! She looked
working there for 7 years, and she really loves AMAZING too! The color theme of her wedding
it. A human resources officer looks after all of was dark purple. I wore a dark purple dress
the employees and helps them get along. That and I got my hair all done. The wedding was
means she gets all of the juicy gossip! She really fun. She met Derrick on a dating website
loves her job, but it can be hard sometimes. and didn't think she would end up marrying
“My job is exciting but it can be stressful,” she him, but she fell in love and married him. They
explained. Her work is stressful because she started a life in Halifax.
has to fill out a lot of paperwork and she has to
talk to a lot of people. She has recently started
working from home since the beginning of the
pandemic. She has wanted to keep her family
safe from Covid. It is also helpful because she
just got a new puppy so it can help working
from home. She decided to go into human
resources because both of her parents worked
at union jobs and were not treated fairly. That
influenced the job she picked because she
wanted all employees to be treated equally.
She has always worked really hard at her job
while supporting a family, which I think is
pretty impressive.

This is me, my mom, my aunt, and
my uncle's sister at my aunts
wedding.

Nancy as a mom

This is Dottie, my aunt’s newest Something that I was really excited to talk about
dog. was her new puppy! My aunt recently got a new
puppy named Dottie. This is now her second dog.
When I asked her what having two dogs is like
she said, “Scary!” It can be really hard taking care
of one dog let alone two. She has two American
Cocker Spaniels. Her dogs are really cute and
fluffy. Dottie will grow up to be pretty big, but right
now, she is really small. Her other dog is much
bigger, and his name is Digby. She named him
after where she got married. When I first met
Digby I was really scared of him, but now we are
BFF’s. He loves going on walks and playing with
toys. When she first got Digby, she had no clue
what to do. She told me that she had to Google a
lot of stuff and call people she knew who had
dogs. She takes care of Digby and Dottie so well.

I am excited to talk about adoption with my
aunt because if she adopts a kid I will have a new
cousin! My aunt is now looking into adoption. The
process can be really hard and take a long long
time. She has applied for 3 kids, but they have all
found other matches. I think my aunt would be a
great mom. When my brother and I visit her, she
has always taken great care of us. She takes us
out shopping, she takes us out for ice cream, she
buys us candy and more. She also is a great dog
mom, and she cares about her dogs so much and
I think that she will be great at being a real mom
one day. I am really excited to meet my new
cousin one day. Overall my aunt is a really great
person.

My aunt’s favorite quote is by Ralph Waldo
Emerson, in which he says, “Be still for what you
are stands over you and speak so loudly I cannot
hear what you say,”- This is one of her favorite
quotes and it means actions speak louder than
words. This is why I am doing this project on her.
She has been through so much and she deserves
all of the love. I can just say that I love her but
doing this project because I want to show her
how much I really love her.

This is Digby, my aunts first dog.

PRESENT DAY Super Susan's
SUSAN guide to

volunteering

A conversation with
Susan

By: Siya Bonala

Susan and I during our second interview. In the beginning of our interview, we decided
to talk about why she wanted to start developing the
John Rockefeller once said, “Think of giving not town and schools. Her response was about how her
only as a duty but as a privilege.” This quote reminds kids were going to school and she started noticing
me of my community member and how kind and some problems in the school, “I thought of some
giving she is towards others. My community member's improvement and I thought I could help.” Later, she
name is Susan Condon. I know her because she is a explained to me that it also worked, so it was helping
family friend, and I’ve known her since I was around both her and her kids, everybody was learning better
four or five. I thought her involvement in philanthropy and her kids were having a better time in school.
would be an interesting topic because she talks about
what she knows about the town a lot. I am excited to Later in the interview, I asked her about what
learn about what she does know that she is retired and she had accomplished when she was so focused on
why she enjoys this. developing the town. She told me, “I have helped the
high school built and all the school additions.” I asked
If I had to choose one word to describe Susan, I her why we needed those improvements as a
would say she is “intelligent.” She knows a lot of stuff follow-up, and she said, “ I showed people why we
and is interested in a lot of complicated topics like needed the money for these schools because our
voting candidates or the metaverse. She demonstrated town was, and is, growing rapidly.”
this trait when explaining to my mom information
about each and every person running for an office, My next questions were directed in the
what she liked or disliked about them, and why they interest of learning more about her experiences and
were the right or wrong choice. asked her about some interesting events that had
happened. She described a time when a candidate
If I could give her an award for something was running for something, but his party was very
specific, I would give her an award for “The Best different from what she was used to. “He was an
Hospitality” because she always makes me feel independent, not a Democrat or Republican, and he
welcome and always happy. She demonstrates this had to get support from both sides and still did a
whenever I come to her house and I always get a hug really good job,” she said. She also supported him and
and she always asks me if I would like anything. told me that he did get elected.

Family and
Friend

inspiration

After my last questions, I was wondering if HER+ FRIENDS
she made any friends while volunteering, and she Susan with all of her grandchildren
told me that she knew some of them because their
kids are friends with their kids. She explained to
me, “You bond with people that have kids the same
age as your kids. I used to teach people how to get
elected, and I got really close with some of them.”
She also told me that sometimes she made friends
with her kids in the same way.

Family and HER Susan is also inspired by her family. Her family has
Susan and one of her best friends. helped her on this journey as well. Her mother
influenced her, and she told me, “In the 50-60s, I had a
mother who worked. This was quite rare, and I was
so, so proud of her, and people assumed things about
financial situations about our family and she just kept
going.” Her kids also got her started because they
showed her what was wrong in their schools, and she
went and changed the town.

She was focused on supporting the schools as well,
and Susan makes sure to only vote for candidates who
support helping the school system.

How to change
,,,,,the world

Susan and her husband, Richard Her with her one of her bestfriends Barbara

To wrap up the interview, I asked her two last questions.

Q: Do you have any advice to give people on how to change their stereotypes about other people?

A: I find that the best way to change my mindset is to respect other people’s experiences and circumstances.

Q: How do you resolve conflicts?

A: I think the first thing to remember is that it is not our job to change the minds of people who are set on a
cause.

And with that as our final thought, I wrapped up the interview, said thank you, and left promptly.
Looking back over our interviews, I realized that she was a really impotent person in town development.
And I am so, so grateful that I have her as a role model.

Facts about fantastic Priti Patel

By Armaan
Priti’s early years

Albert Einstein once said, “Life is like riding a My mom at Tower Bridge.
bicycle,to keep your balance you must keep
moving.” My community member is my mom. She My mom at Latrobe
is my mom and she helped me learn how to ride a University.
bike. She also helped me get good grades at math
and took care of me when I was small.I chose my
mom because there is a lot of stuff that I don't
know about her. I wanted to know more about the
house we used to live in and more about my
grandpa who died when I was five years old.

One thing that I would like to learn about my
community members is what it was like when she
was in middle school. One thing she said was,”It
was the beginning of me being serious at my
studies, I made good friends and started becoming
more social.” I also asked her what her favorite
subject was, and she said it was English, and she
had a favorite teacher.

Next I asked her what college she went to.
What college did you go to?”

A: I went to La Trobe University.
Q: What did you learn there?
A: I received a master’s degree in
professional accounting.
Q: Do you ever apply what you studied to
your daily life today?
A: I am doing back office work for my family
business. It is also useful in preparing my
household budgets.
Another topic I want to discuss is about her
family and her brother and sister. I asked her, what
stories does she have when growing up.
She explained, “I have many stories growing
up with a brother and a sister. I feel very blessed to
have one brother and one sister. With my sister, we
used to fight a lot about clothes and things we
share. She is very particular and well organized
person while I am completely opposite and because
of that she used to get annoyed by me all the time.
My brother used to get very low grades in school so
whenever school called my parents for the
meeting,I have to go discuss reason why he is not
doing well in class. I used to get good grades in my
class so it sucked when I have to go attend his
parent meetings.”

Priti today One of the topics I wanted to know more
about was our old home in India. We moved as a
My mom and dad family from India to New Hampshire before we
today. moved to Hopkinton.

My Mom at Disney Q:When did we move to America? What
World. year?

A: We moved here in the year 2015.
Q: What made us move as a family to
America?
A: To get back with the family that lived there
with my family.
Q: Where was our old apartment? What city?
A: I used to live in Ahmedabad, India.
Q: What was the layout like. It was an
apartment with a multi/storey building.
Q: It seems like you liked our old house
more? Why?
A: Because of the memory that we had
created.What is your favorite memory or favorite
story from that house? (TV with grandpa) It was my
first house which I owned with my husband.
Q: What is your dad's full name?
A: Hargovan Choksi.
Q: What did dad used to do for work?
A: He was into the jewelry business
Q: When did he pass away?
A: He passed away in 2017.
Q: What was your relationship like with him?
What was your relationship like with your dad?
A: I was his favorite child among my siblings.
He used to fulfill all my desires and tried his very
best to help me reach my goals. He used to share
life lessons with us. He has always shown a lot of
faith in me, and I am extremely grateful for
everything he did for me.
Q: Follow up question is: is there any other
place that you might like to visit.
A: I would like to visit a spiritual organization
called Isha Foundation, Coimbatore, India.
“To top it all of what advice do you have for
people who want to travel.”They should google a
place to travel learn about the place then go there.”
After the interview, I looked back over my
notes. I learned more about which university she
went to and what she studied as well as where she
traveled to. This interview helped me appreciate her
in a different way. While I appreciate that she cooks
for the family, gets me my favorite cereal, and takes
me out for Chick-fil-A, this interview helped me to
see all the things she does for us.

Insert image here A family of
Military Men

By Arnav Bhide

A conversation

with Denise

Insert image here

Military troops in their tours of duty

Me and Denise

“America without her soldiers would be like God A topic that I want to learn about is what her uncle
without His angels,” Claudia Pemberton once said. This did in his job. In the interview, I asked her if he ever told
quote reminded me of my community member because her if he liked his job and she told me, “Yes, he did like
she has a family of Army men. Denise has family his job in the CIA” and the CIA is shrouded by secrecy
members in all branches and in the CIA. Denisse is a and mystery, and there is a lot of speculation so we can
66 year old woman who lives in Hopkinton. She has a never be truly sure what he did in his job in the office
family of men who served in the military, and she is part but all off our CIA information comes from leaked
French. Denise shared with me that her family has documents.” Denise told me that her uncle would run
been in the US Army for 3 generations which is live bomb drills with the presidents. She joked that her
amazing. Her grandpa was in WWI, and her father was uncle could have killed president Nixon 26 times. They
in WWII. She shares that they have served the US Army run these drills to test if the special services was up to
for a very long time. date and could save the president.

Denise is my neighbor and I really want to learn Next I want to know what her nephew does in the
more about her family in the army because she is a very Navy. I asked her what he does in the Navy and she
kind person, and I really enjoy talking to her. Today I told me he is the commanding officer on a nuclear
want to talk to you about her family and what they did in submarine and that he has been in the Navy for 43
their job. years. Denise explained to me that she is supportive of
anyone's career paths, and she supported his career
path to go into the Navy. Denise said that he is a hard
worker and has worked through the ranks and that he
joined because he liked the job.

The Secret
Services;
the CIA

Next, she told me that her uncle had kids while Insert image here
being in the CIA which at first confused me because I
thought CIA agents could not have families or have kids Caption
because of government security, but I guess they can
have families. So when he was in Germany as a spy for Another thing she told me was that she was
the US, he had a newborn son with his wife, and he still never interested in joining the Army or Navy or any
got the citizenship, which, at first, is weird but he is a other branch, and I wanted to know why that was.
US agent and he was doing a spy operation in
Germany and he had a kid there. Denisse explained
that the US agents do live hard lives overseas because
they can be killed by the other government's spies and
that can’t be taken as a declaration of war or even
sanctioned because it was in their country and couldn’t
have been taken overseas. This is very difficult for the
people that are spies, and some of them don’t ever
return home.

Insert image here Q Did you ever consider joining the Army or any other
branch?

A: No, never.

Q Why did you never consider joining?

The CIA emblem A: When people came back from war in my family, we
never talked about it ,and we kept it as silent
memories and we never talked about it. My brother
never talked about his tour in Vietnam, and he kept it
with him to his grave, and everything he witnessed
made him a changed person. I never wanted to
experience that so I just never joined any branch.
I hated war and war is bad for everyone that
participates and I really hate people like Putin who are
spreading war to get more influence while in reality
they create suffering.

Insert image here Fighting in
the trees;
Caption the Vietnam
Insert image here
War
US troops walking through a river
during the Vietnam War Something else I wanted to learn
about was the people in the Army and had
kids did they choose the path their parents
took or take a new path. Denise’s nephew is a
part of the US Navy currently, and he is in
command of a nuclear submarine and he has
taken a career in the Navy. She explained
that the Navy is a risky place to go because if
your ship gets sunk, there is no guarantee
you can get back up to the surface, and her
nephew is going down the path of his
parents in the US Army.

Next I wanted to talk to her about her
brother's tour in the Army in Vietnam. Her
brother had fought in Vietnam during the
entire intervention for 8 years. Denise says, “
My brother was drafted and did not have a
choice because the draftees are just sent into
the war and don’t get expert training.” The
American Intervention in the Vietnam War
was a conflict from 1967-1975. The war was
brutal for the conscripts because they had no
training in the area Vietnam was fought in
and they fought a relentless enemy for 8
years, which would always have the
advantage on them. Her brother recounts
stories of surprise attacks and decimations of
his comrades which scarred him forever.
Denise explains, “ He never wanted to talk
about his time in the army and he always is
quiet about it but one time I talked to him
about it and he said that he fought an enemy
who were in trees and would fight non-stop
against us, it was devastating.”

Insert image here Denise’s
Opinions on
Caption the armed
Insert image here
forces
Caption
Lastly, I wanted to ask what her
opinions were of the Armed Forces and the
government as a whole.

Q :How did you feel when you nephew joined
the Navy?

A: I was proud.

Q Do you still support his career path?

A: He always wanted to be astronaut but he
couldn’t because of his eyes. That's why he
joined the navy.I do support his career path.

When I finished the interview, I
reflected on her answers. The purpose of the
interview was to highlight the important
people in her life who made the sacrifice to
serve their country. It is also to show how
proud she is of her family when they showed
the determination to fight as hard as they
could.

Denise Williams family fought in the
military and they brought pride not to just
themselves, but their country and family.
These people are heroes. People need to
understand that war is destructive, but in that
chaos, you gain pride because you fight with
all your strength and give everything you
have for your country and give people
freedom. Her brother had lost a lot in war, but
he gained pride of what he did. War is a
sacrifice, but the end result is worth the
struggle.

It was a Wednesday night when I called my Back in time
grandmother to talk to her about childhood and career. with Betsy
My grandma is Elizabeth Tardf. I chose her because I
love her, and I wanted to learn more about her life. I A conversation
want to know about my grandma's life when she was with Betsy
younger. And how she lived as a kid in the 1940s and
1950s.

First, I started by asking my grandma a few
questions about her background. It turns out she has 7
grandkids, one of them being me. She also has 3 kids,
including my mom, my uncle, and my aunt. I wanted to
interview my grandma because i think she has a really
interesting life and I was excited to learn stuff about
it. She lives in Ocean Park, Maine, and her house is
right on the beach! My cousins and I call her Nanny.
Some things she likes to do now include walking on
the beach and playing golf.

Pic of me
and her

Pic of her This is a picture of me and her
from when I was a baby
This is a picture of her
Then, we moved on to discuss her family
life. “I was born in 1941 in Newton,
Massachusetts,” she said. “I had one brother and
4 pets.” Her brother, Jack, was three years older
than her, but he died in a car crash when he was
19. She continued on and explained, “The 4 pets I
had were a cat named Tabby and three dogs
named Ginger, Buttons, and Snowball. I was a
teacher from kindergarten to 6th grade, and I
taught social studies.” She explained that she
taught at a few schools in Gardiner, ME, and a few
schools in Augusta, Maine, and she also ran a
nursery school out of her own home.

Written by Peyton Knutson

Early Life Her in a sports
uniform or the
With Betsy
holidays
Later, I asked her to tell me more about her
interests as a young girl. “I used to do girl scouts and it
was some of my favorite memories ever,” my grandmother
said. She also loved going to Girl Scout overnight camp
each summer.

This is her as a kid getting the highest This is my grandma skiing with one of her friends. Fun fact:
ranked Girl Scout award. they didn’t wear helmets when this picture was taken!

Eventually we talked about her summers as a child
and her holidays. “My summers were mostly filled with
camping, playing in the woods in the neighborhood, biking,
playing sports like field hockey and softball , swimming and
playing in the barn,” said Nanny. Her holiday traditions
were waiting for Santa to ring the bells before she could go
down the stairs to see what she got for Christmas. She also
enjoyed having big family gatherings with her cousins and
grandparents for Easter and Thanksgiving.

Then, we discussed sports and clubs she
participated in. My grandma was a super athletic little girl
doing softball, field hockey and skiing every year. She also
was in some clubs. Some of them were normal like Girl
Scouts, ski club and singing club. But some of them were
really weird clubs like tuna fish club where you bring a tuna
fish sandwich to someone's house and eat it there. I thought
this was really weird, but I didn’t say anything about it.

Career

With Betsy

This is her graduation picture when When I asked her about her favorite college
she graduated from Endicott. experience, she said she was in music groups and
played field hockey. But her favorite experience was
This is her as a high school graduate. meeting her husband in college. She went to the
University of Maine and Endicott.

The final topic I wanted to talk to her about was
her teaching career. She explained that she wanted to be
a teacher because her aunt and mom were teachers, and
she loved kids. She taught kindergarten through 6th
grade. In 6th grade, she taught social studies. I asked
her about her favorite unit to teach, and she explained
that she enjoyed teaching ancient history to 6th grade.
She then explained that she didn’t have a least favorite
unit. I also asked her what the most difficult grade to
teach was and she said that it was 1st graders because
she had a big responsibility in teaching them to read.
Lastly, when I asked her for some advice she would give
to others looking to get into teaching, she said, “You must
enjoy children. I found giving personal attention to all the
students and a sense of humor was key.”

While she spent 33 years as a teacher, she also
ran a nursery out of her home for 4 years. She explained
that she had 10 children each year. When I asked her for
advice for someone looking to open their own business
working with kids, she said, “In running a nursery school
you need to have lots of activities at the ready because
little children don't have a read long attention span. Seek
good advice from other professionals as to what makes
for a successful business. I also researched state
regulations as to what is legally required.”

While I knew she was a teacher, it was a surprise
to find out that she taught for so long and for a range of
grades. I also didn’t know anything about her nursery
school, so that was also a surprise.

When I finished my interview with my grandma, I thought about something that
inspired me about her life: you have to learn to live your life, no one else's, and she
certainly did.

World’s Hardest
Working Papa

A conversation
with Papa

By Brendan
Tedstone

This is my papa with some of the people
he worked with at his job.

“A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; It comes through hard work.” -Colin
Powell.

The community member I chose for my Community Conversation project was Caesar
Favaloro. Caesar, who is my Papa, has had a very interesting life and has accomplished
many very super cool things. Before starting the project, I was most excited about learning
about what he worked on and why he worked on what he worked on. He used to be an
electrical engineer for Raytheon and worked on cool things like making a receiver that went
on the lunar rover.

His Career at
Raytheon

Q: Did the college you went to help you get a
job at Raytheon?

A: “I graduated from Northeastern University
as a electrical engineer and I interviewed at
Raytheon and they thought I would make a
good engineer, so yes it did.”

This is an article about the multiplexer that he worked on Q: What school did you go to when you were
that is SUPER important. younger? Did you like it or not?

A: “I went to Saint John School in the North
End, Boston. I liked it very much.”(Grade 1-8)

Q: What high school did you go to?
A: “I went to Christopher Columbus High
School.”(Grade 9-12)

Q: What was Raytheon like?
A:“It was a good place for engineering work. I
started there as a graduate engineer and I
was employed there for 36 years.”
Q:What was your favorite thing to work on at
Raytheon? Why?
A: “I worked on communication equipment. I
started out designing a multiplexer and it is
used for the internet and I worked on satellite
communication and most of this work was
for the government.”

Working on the
Lunar Rover

This is my Papa getting his award for making and After talking about his career we talked about what he
working on a multiplexer that is really helpful in life worked on. He worked on the lunar rover.
today.
Q: What was it like working on the part of the Lunar
Rover?
A: “It was very exciting to be able to work on something
that would be put on the moon. I was excited about that
and the fact I was able to design something they could
use.”
Q: What did YOU do to help create a receiver for the
Lunar Rover?
A: “I worked on the design of a receiver that would
receive a signal transmitted off the surface of the moon
so that they could figure out whether there was ice on
the surface or not.”
Q: Were you interested in mechanical engineering OR
space?
A:”I was a electrical engineer. I worked on all sorts of
communication equipment like satellites.”

Q: What kind of advice would you give someone in the
engineering field?
A: “They better get good grades in college. The thing is
you have to learn is that when you are designing
something 90% of the design is straightforward and the
last 10% you might come into a problem. The last 10%
absorbs most of the time.”

This is an image of the lunar rover he made
the receiver for.

What was his Insert image here
childhood like
This is my Papa when he was done
First, I decided to ask him some questions about with college.
what it was like at his job. He worked at Raytheon
and he worked on some very cool and important
things.
Q: Where did you grow up when you were a kid?
A: “I grew up in Boston's North End.”
Q: Was it nice where you grew up?
A: “Yes, there was no crime at all, and the families
would all treat you like you were part of their
family.”
Q: What did your parents do when you grew up?
A: “My father was a fisherman, and my mother was
a housewife.”

Ending

After wrapping up my interview I thanked him
for his time. I took away a bunch of lessons from him.
One lesson in life that I have learned from my papa is
that if you want to make money in life and be
successful you have to work for it. I learned this because
of how hard he worked and that he tried his best no
matter what he did. He explained, “I worked hard
because I liked what I was doing and I wanted to be
sure that what I was doing would be done right and that
the people I worked for were getting their money's
worth.”

This is my Papa when he was
younger.

Back in the past

A conversation with Barj my
mom

By Surina Darbhanga

Barj and I at Disney World

My mom present day

I walked downstairs with my chromebook in First, I asked my mom what her favorite hobby
my hands ready to prepare for an interview was she responded saying she really liked
and there was my mom sitting in my living reading comic books. She was introduced by
room. I asked her question by question. As I her friend. Her friend gave a book to her for
heard the answers she gave me I knew this was her birthday. She read Nancy Drew and the
gonna be a good project. My community Hardy Boys. She still likes reading to this day.
member is my mom, Barj Darbhanga. When I My mom also really liked picking fruits. She
heard of a project where you can pick any liked picking tropical fruits mostly. She told
person I immediately thought of my mom. I me she picked fruits like guavas, mangoes, and
chose my mom because she is so kind and all sorts of fruits. Then she told me that she
sweet and caring. She's the best person I know. used to watch many birds and their sounds.
If I had to describe my mom I would start with She used to see many birds like parrots,
how hardworking she is. An example is how peacocks, woodpeckers and more of them.
she goes to work every single day and comes
back and does more work for us. Another way i Then I asked her, “What kind of hobbies
could describe her is how kind she is because did you do when you were younger and still do
every day she takes care of me and my brother
and doesn’t complain about it. I connect to her now?” She responded by saying she likes
because she and I both have a lot of things in
common like we were born in the same month planting flowers. It’s her therapy just smelling
and we both love plants. I chose her for my the flowers. She likes hot summer mornings
project because she has many interesting and going to see her flowers and bees buzzing
stories in India and her doctor stories . I'm all around them. It satisfies her. She told me
excited to share about her interesting stories. she used to see a rose garden every year and
She makes a positive impact in my life. My that her favorite flower is a rose.
mom currently works at franklin primary care
clinic. She meets lots of new patients everyday
and comes back home to see me

Picture of childhood Childhood memories

My mom when she was a little kid with her One of the topics I was really interested in was
brother her childhood and what it was like. She grew up in
India, moved to Canada and came to USA. I told
Childhood picture her “Tell me all about what you remember in your
My moms graduation. childhood.”

She responded with, “My childhood was so
beautiful. We would come home from school and
do homework and then I go outside and play with
my friends, they used to come and we used to play
on the mango trees plucking mangoes and
guavas. We played badminton too.”

I learned a lot about her childhood through
this project and what the differences of my
childhood and her childhood were like. I asked
her what sports she did when she was younger
and I learned she did many sports I have never
heard of. “I liked playing badminton, kho kho ,
marbles, and flying kites. I enjoyed badminton
the most. This sport was easy to play since you
only needed 2 players . Badminton helped me
make lots of new friends. I joined for fun and a
new experience. I used to play before I joined. I
also did high jumping,” she explained. I did some
research and figured out kho kho is like the game
tag except a little different.

Then I asked her who her best friend was and
what was a memorable experience you had with
them she responded, “When I was in elementary
school, I had a friend named Shabnam. In high
school, my friends were Harpeet and Harmeet.
Harmeet, Harpeet, and I used to go to volleyball
together and school trips together.”

I was interested in learning more so I asked
her, “What was an experience with her that you
will never forget?”

She said that one time they were playing
outside in the schoolyard and school was over,
but they didn't know because they were too busy.
She and my mom were so scared and started to
cry because they realized that they were stuck in
the school. They found a bus and quickly went on
and got home.

Doctor’s life A picture of her in medical school

As I said before, my mom is a doctor. But I wanted her to
share more of the experiences in her job as a doctor. I
asked her which doctor job was the most memorable and
why. She responded saying that Milford Regional was her
favorite job because one time a patient gave her a thank
you card while they were visiting Portugal. This made her
feel happy and proud because the patient took their time
and effort to make a card for her. She also liked the people
there and the environment.

I asked her what made her want to become a doctor and
she responded, “I was inspired by my father because he
used to take the elderly in my town to the hospital when
they were really sick. I was also always interested in
science and medical stuff. During 11th-12th grade, I started
realizing that I definitely wanted to be a doctor. I
remember when I first started as a doctor, I had the
stethoscope on my neck, and I said to a patient, ‘Breathe,
sir’ because I couldn't hear his heartbeat. Then the man
told me, ‘Ma’am, your stethoscope isn't in your ears.'’ I
found it embarrassing on my first day to forget to put my
stethoscope in my ears.” I found this story silly to forget to
put on your stethoscope on your first day at work!

Then, I moved on and I asked my mom
about her university life, and she told me that
“University was a medical school. It was an all girl
campus. We used to have fun parties like dancing,
eating, and all that fun stuff. I used to ride in a
scooter to go to medical college from my dorm. It
was a 45-50 minute drive.”

Then I asked her, “What is something you
will never forget from medical school?”

She responded, “We were doing biology and
we had to practice examining a dead person.
When I was alone, I thought I saw the body move
and I was terrified! I called my professor, and he
just thought that I was just going crazy. I still don’t
think it actually moved, but it scared me.”

A picture of mom in her scrubs.

From country to
another

After talking about my mom’s life as
a doctor and her childhood, I wanted to
learn more about her thoughts about
moving to several countries over the
course of her life.

Moving to a new country All the countries my mom lived in

Here are some of the major differences from Lastly, I asked her, “Who is a person who inspired
you through this journey?”
growing up in India to moving to USA and
She answered, “My father and my uncle inspired
Canada: me to where I am now. When I was younger my father
used to help people in the middle of the night if they were
Differences sick or in the hospital. He was also very selfless because
● India had more people close together, they he helped others and ruined his sleep to help people in
looked after each other, and they helped you. need in the middle of the night. My uncle helped me
● People celebrate festivals in India that you financially, and he supported me through hard times. My
don't celebrate in USA. uncle and aunt were just like my second parents.” I found
● Sunshine and nice weather is all year round this really sweet because it makes me realize the
was sunshine, so there are more outdoor relationship with her and her uncle and aunt are very
activities. close.
● In Canada, it was more developed and more
modern . Then I asked her, “What was a moment that really
● There are big streets in Canada and USA. changed your life?” She told me it was marrying my dad,
● They were many rules in the US and Canada. Bobby Darbhanga, and moving to Canada with him as
● Canada has a lot more snow. well as later on moving to the USA with him. That's how
● There are new holidays in Canada and USA. Ryan, my brother, and I were born here.
● There are different foods from all the
countries . After wrapping up the interview, I asked my mom,
● There are different cultures. “What would you tell the people who want to go to
● She didn't have to struggle with French in medical school and become a doctor?” She told me that
USA because in Montreal, there was a lot of you need to be a kind person that can handle patients and
French people, so it was difficult to speak you need to be completely sure to help people in this job.
English.
● In Canada, she used to go to a library in I learned a lot through this project and will cherish
McGill University and made many new it for a long time. Thank you mom for being such a nice
friends. caring awesome mom!
● She grew up with an extended family that
changed in Canada and the US.

The busy
life of a mom

Insert image here

A conversation
with my mom,
Sara Davis

By: Danielle Davis

Sara Davis

I sat down with my mom on the couch ready with my computer to begin the interview. I was really nervous
that I would not get enough information. But once we began, I started to realize there were a lot of interesting
things that happened in her life that I did not know about! When we first introduced the project, I decided to
interview my mom, Sara Davis. I chose my mom because she is really hard working and caring. For example, she
goes to work every day and comes home and does more work around the house. I am so lucky that I have such a
great mom that really cares about me. You will always hold a special place in my heart.

Now let’s learn more about my mom, Sara Davis.

Did you know that it takes 16 months to 4
years in college in order to become a registered
nurse? That's a lot of time, perseverance, and hard
work. Not only did my mom show hard work when
she was in college, but she shows hard work to this
day. An example is when she goes to work all day
even when she is tired or doesn't feel like it so that
our family can have the lifestyle that we have. My
mom and I are not only related but best friends.
Sara says, “Danielle is not only my daughter, but my
best friend,” and this shows in the way we watch
and do things together.

Sara and me

Insert image here Sara’s
Childhood
This is a picture of Sara with Gigi,
her grandmother. First i wanted to talk about Sara Davis as a
kid. When she was a kid she did ballet, tap and
Insert image here jazz for about five years. She also liked horseback
riding and going swimming growing up. When I
This is a picture of Sara with her asked her about how her life is different from when
friend, Sara Eliot, and me. she was a child she said, “Life is different from
when I was a child because I have more
responsibilities like taking care of my household
and family. It also was different because it is more
rewarding to sit down at the end of the day and
look at everything I have accomplished and to
have the love of my daughter and dog.”

Growing up, one of her favorite vacation
spots was Martha's Vineyard because she loved
walking on the beach and admiring the
gingerbread houses. As she grew up she took her
dog walking to earn extra money. Some of her
favorite shows were the Gilmore Girls and The
Challenge. Some of her favorite music creators
were Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, and NSYNC,
which was also her first concert. In school, she
explained that science and history were her
favorite subjects because she liked learning about
the stars, astronomy, and space for science. She
enjoyed learning about World War II and the
American Revolutionary War history in history
class.

Then we moved on, and I asked my mom,
“What was a quote you lived by during your
childhood?”

She responded with, “Treat others the way
you want to be treated.” During the interview she
also told me that she had a friend that she met in
the eighth grade and their friendship is still going
today. In Sara's own words she says, “She is my
longest friend even though we live far away.” They
see each other about once a month. Some things
that they are both into are watching movies
together and trying new restaurants.

The Heart
Of A Nurse

Next we talked about how my mom and I live in
Hopkinton and the first question i asked her was
“What made you want to live in Hopkinton?”

She responded with, “The school systems are
great, and the crime rates are low, so I feel safe being
here as a single mom. The Hopkinton community has
been very friendly to us as we established ourselves
here.”

We enjoy some of the local spots such as
Snappy Dogs, Hop Yo, The Muffin House, and Hillers
Pizza. My mom has established herself as a working
member of the Hopkinton community as a nurse.

When we first moved to Hopkinton we couldn’t
afford to buy yet, so we rented at Legacy Farms for
awhile then we purchased in 2017.

This is a picture of Sara at work This is a photo of Sara walking her
dog in Hopkinton WhiteHall

For the next question, I asked, “What made you want
to become a nurse?” Sara Davis has been a nurse for about
11 years. During the time she was in college, she became a
caregiver to earn extra money, and she says, “I realized I
enjoyed helping out and taking care of people, so I started
by getting my certified nursing assistant license. I enjoyed
being a CNA that I decided to stop my track to become a
social worker. Then I became a nurse instead. I have been
working in family practice for the last five years and I have
been enjoying it.'' My mom explained that, “I got pregnant
so that was a big deal for my nursing career, and I didn’t
know if I was going to be able to care for a newborn and
complete the nursing program. How I got through it was
knowing that the only way to provide for my baby was
getting through it.”

This shows how strong she is because she
persevered through nursing school because she knew it was
important even though she had some setbacks.

She also gave some advice to those who are looking
to work in the medical field as well. She said, “It’s rewarding
to be able to take care of others, which should be an
inspiration for others to work in the medical field.”

A True
Animal
Lover

As reader, you have read about some of This is a picture of Sara walking
Sara’s hobbies from when she was a kid, but now her dog America in Hopkinton’s
let's look at some of her hobbies now in the present
day. For the next question I asked her, “What Whitehall Conservation Park.
hobbies do you have?”

She responded, “I like to walk my dog
through Whitehall, travel to different places with my
friends, listen to music, and swim in the pool.” This
quote shows some of the things that Sara likes to
do in her free time.

Insert image here Sara Davis also loves animals; she currently has
a bearded dragon and a dog. But how did this love for
This is a picture of Sara’s bearded animals start? For our next interview question, I asked
dragon named Kiwi. her, “What made you start liking animals?”

She responded with, “I’ve just naturally been
drawn to animals. First it started with wild animals, then
pets, well, other people’s pets, then my adopted parents
had a dog, which I loved very much. Then I got a dog as
an adoption present. From there, it went to small animals
volunteer at a cat shelter, and I volunteered to walk dogs.
I ended up going to Norfolk Aggie High School, which is a
high school dedicated to animals and plants. I was on
the quiet side, and I moved a lot so it was hard for me to
make friends too. I tended to stick to myself and
gravitated towards animals. They seemed to understand
me more than humans and always brought a smile to my
face.” This shows how Sara’s love for animals started.

After going through this interview process, I
learned a lot about my mom’s childhood and what she
did as a kid. Sara Davis is a kind, Loving, and
hardworking person and I'm glad that I was able to do
this project with her.

Living that
nurse life:

A conversation
with Keri Pardise

By Alexia Facendola

Picture of Keri Picture of Keri and me

Someone once said, “The nurses call all the First, I decided to ask her a little bit more
shots.” My community conversation member is about how she became interested in becoming
named Keri, and I have known her since I was a a nurse in the ER. She said that she really likes
tiny baby. My mom has known her since high human biology, and she took a lot of human
school, and she’s one of my mom's closest biology classes.Her grandma was also a nurse
friends. She also has a daughter that is 2 years so her grandma encouraged her to become a
younger than me. I chose her for this project nurse too. When she became a nurse, she
because her life is pretty interesting for the really enjoyed it. Something I was also
most part and she has been an important part wondering was what did she have to do to
of my life. She has always been there for me become a nurse? She went to Framingham
and she cares a lot about me too. She’s a nurse State College, and that's where she got her
and works really hard. bachelor's degree in nursing. Now its call
Framingham State University. I also asked her
I wanted to know more about her life as a if they gave her any advice when she first
nurse, and I was most excited to learn why she started working, and other nurses said that she
wanted to be a nurse. I was also curious how needs an open mind and going to have a
her working as a nurse in the hospital has challenging but rewarding career.
affected her throughout her career. I've also
never talked to her much about her job and
what it’s like working in the hospital, but I
thought that It would be a good topic, so she
was the first one to come to mind for my
interview.

Work days This is a picture of her at work
at the when the pandemic was bad.
hospital
I was also interested in the benefits of
Another question I asked her about being a being a nurse. Keri told me that the benefits
nurse is, “Did it take long to adjust to being a of being a nurse are you get to make a
nurse?” When I asked her that, she told me that it difference in people's lives, and you are really
was kind of like getting your driver's license. You're helping the person out. If they don't have a
not very good at first, you need to take classes, voice, you can help them have a voice. And it
and you learn more and more as you go. When really affects the person. The downsides of
she told me that, it made a lot of sense, and I think being a nurse are that when there are family
that was a very good way to describe it. events and holidays, you can't always be
there because you’re working really late and
Something that would make me not want to you have to stay at work to help people.
become a nurse is how some of the emergencies
can be really scary, so I asked her, “Are any of the A question I asked was, “What are
emergencies you deal with scary?” some difficult things about working in the
hospital?” She said that it's been really hard
She answered, “Yes, very. There are times with Covid 19, and because of that, it's hard to
when you are not sure if you can help them. You provide the right care to each patient.
may not save their lives, especially with children
because they are much younger. Also it's hard to I also thought of asking her, “Do you
help people if they are mentally unstable.” enjoy your job or is it getting boring if so
what's boring about it?'' She answered that
Picture of the emergency she works in the emergency department at
department where Keri works in the hospital so it never gets boring, and your
working a lot, and sometimes she wishes that
Milford Hospital. she could have an easier job because of how
much she works. She explained it’s very
chaotic and you never can really have a
break because of how much work you’re
doing.

After I finished the Interview with her I asked My
her one last question what Is your favorite thing Connection
about being a nurse she explained that being a
nurse makes her very happy and her favorite thing with Keri
about being a nurse was being able to help people
and take care of people and she loves to make their
day better.

If I had to give them a special award it would probably be the
best gardener/ plant buyer in town. I would give them this award
because she and my mom always buy plants and one of them
always try to have the best plants. The other day I was at her house,
and I saw her plants and they looked very good. Then when she
dropped me off at my house she said, “Tell your mom my plants look
better than hers!” So that's why I would give her that award.
If I had to describe her in one word it would be “cool”
because she’s very nice to everyone. She has been very cool
throughout my life, and she's also a very cool mom too. When
her daughter and I were in the car with her, we wanted to go to
Starbucks really bad, and after a lot of pleading, she finally said
yes and we got cake pops and a drink!

A
Conversation
in Kadek’s Life

By Max Keller

A conversation with Kadek
Keller

Kadek Keller In traditional balinese clothes My moms whole family

Have you ever wondered about life in Bali The first thing I talked about with my community
and the process of coming to America? The member is her life in Bali as a kid. She was born on
community member I interviewed was Kadek June 29, 1975. She was born and raised in
Keller. My connection with her is that she is my Karangasem, Bali. Kadek claims that as a kid living
mom. I chose my mom as my community in Bali was so much fun. She said “When I was a
member for my project because not only do I kid, I lived near the beach so I would always go to
get to know more about my mom, but she has the beach, and it was so much fun.” She had many
had a very interesting life and it's worth telling. I siblings so she had lots of people to play with. Her
was very excited about learning about my family did not have much money so she was treated
community member because I knew it would with coconuts and snacks. To make money, she
strengthen our bond and relationship because I would trade items for money. She always went
will get to know my mom better. I was very swimming because of how close she was to the
excited about learning about her life when she beach, and she had many creeks and rivers to play
lived in Bali and the struggles of coming to in.“Me and my friends liked swimming in the river
America. I would give my community member more because it was more safe,” she explained
an award for being the best mom ever. As a when I asked her about the safety of the two.
bonus a jacuzzi comes with the reward
because who just wants a piece of metal with When I asked her about holidays she told me
writing on it when you can have a jacuzzi. I every year in Bali they celebrate a holiday related to
would give this reward to my community christmas called Galungan. My mom explained, “We
member because of how hard she works and had lots of food and hung out, here in Bali we really
all the things she does for me and my family. don't receive presents our parents just cook a lot
Even when she is very tired she will still cook a and we eat and hang out.”
meal for me if i'm hungry, this is why she
deserves a jacuzzi to relax in.

A Continental The last thing I wanted to talk to her about was
Transition how it was like coming to America and the differences
between the two. She came to America in 2009 to
When my mom first came to marry my father and create a new life. My dad came to
America bali for a vacation and that's when she met him. She
explained, “ He was handsome, kind, and very polite
Then I decided to ask her some questions about and we just went on from there and I fell in love with
when she grew up and what she did in Bali at this him enough to move to america with him.”
time of her life. She got her first job in high school,
and she said, “It was a small local store that I worked When she came to america she lived in St.
at for some money while at the same time I studied Louis, Missouri. She became a mother of 2 and had an
tourism and hotel.” She was very outgoing and would interesting life and new things for the future such as
hang out with her friends on the weekend almost every getting her drivers license. When she went to America,
time she could. During this time of her life, she did not she says the biggest thing she noticed when coming
make much money she had enough money to pay for here was the snow. “In Bali, we never had snow and it
her living but not much extra. Living in Bali did have its was always warm and now it's cold and there is snow,
ups and downs. She explained, “The security was It was just new to me.” When she traveled to America
never very good and the health care was so expensive and on the plane she claims she was very surprised
for so little benefit.” She told me the overall life of living because of how different it was from her country. Her
in Bali is the people, and she explained, “The people country was tropical and here there were so many
were so beautiful on the inside and outside. I would different climates. She explained, “ I loved tropical
say that the people really brought Bali together.” weather like when I lived in bali, but when I came to
America I lived in missouri and it was very snowy and
I did not like that.” The process she needed to do to be
able to come to America was nothing too much, she
just needed to apply for a visa.

I asked her some things she missed about Bali
whe she came to America. She explained, “ I missed
my village and the food and family .” Although when
she came to America, she talked about how she likes
that healthcare is very helpful. My community member
recently got American citizenship. I asked her how she
felt and this is what she had to say, “ The process was
hard and expensive but I worked hard so I could pass
and become an American citizen.” She had to give up
her Balines citizenship but she said she was sad but
she was willing to give that up to be an American
citizen. She claims that she likes the freedom her but
she doesn't like the gun privileges in america.

The final question I asked her was, “Which did
you like better, America, or Bali?”

She answered with, “ I love both of them
because of all the things your allowed to do in Bali and
the things you can do in America.”

After talking to Kadek, I realized that
things are a lot more different in other
countries and they have their own ups
and downs towards them fitting different
people. I also learned that there is still a
lot of stuff I don't know about my mom
and I desire to explore her life more.

“Out to sea the

jjjjjjjjworld.”

A conversation with
Chris Arnold

By Lucas Arnold

This is my dad and my family This is the US Navy flag
playing a game with a ball

launcher.

When I sat down with my dad on a Thursday afternoon we talked about his experiences in the Navy. My
community member is my dad, Chris Arnold. I chose him for this project because he went to the Navy and I
wanted to know more about his experience in it. I was excited to learn about my dad because he always told me
stories about his Navy experience and the good friends he made.

During the interview we started to talk about, getting into the Navy. When my dad was 18 years old and
graduated high school, he didn't feel that he was ready for college so he wanted to join the US Navy first. I asked
him if there were any hard tests that he had to take to get into the Navy. He replied and said yes one of them is
called “ASVAB,” which stands for the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery test. That test would tell him
which job he would be best suited for in the Navy. He explained that after the test, he would go to a school that
helps him train for the job that was chosen for him for 6 months, and then after that, he would go to boot camp for
9 weeks to train for the Navy in Great Lakes, Illinois.

Another question I asked my dad was, “Did you ever have to face your worst fears in the Navy?” He told
me, yes, in boot camp there was training where they put on a gas mask and walked into a gas chamber and then
took it off for two minutes and held their breath. I think that is very brave, in my opinion, because I will never be
able to do that because I would be too scared but my dad did it that’s courageous.

Then I asked my dad if the Navy helps pay for college. He told me the Navy helps pay for a small portion of
college, but he applied for a special program to become an officer so the Navy could pay for all of his school but
this meant he had to go back because he owed them.

I also asked him, why did you join the US Navy? He replied saying, “I wanted to take time off before
college and do something meaningful with my life. I wanted to get out of school and see the world.” And it helps
pay for college.

Exploring

the world

The next question I asked my dad was,
“What does the Navy stand for?”

He said, “The branch of a nation's armed
services that conducts military operations at sea.
But as a joke in the Navy, they call it ‘Never Again
Volunteer Yourself.’”

My dad and I first started to talk about the
places he went to in the Navy. When my father was
in the Navy, he traveled all around the world so I
asked him, “What were the places you went to?”

“I traveled to at least 30 places in Europe,
Southeast Asia, and South America,” he said.

Second, I asked him what his favorite place This is my dad and his Navy uniform.
he traveled to when he was in the Navy.
He explained, “My favorite place ever was First, I decided to ask him, “Where were you
Cartagena, Colombia because the culture was nice stationed in the Navy?”
and I thought the place was just interesting.”
He explained he had been in Great Lakes, Illinois
And third, I asked him what his favorite for boot camp. Then in San Diego, CA for school. Then he
place he traveled to when he was in the Navy. was stationed in Norfolk, Virginia, which was his first
He explained, “My favorite place ever was navy ship he was on. Then he was on a destroyer in San
Cartagena, Colombia because the culture was nice Diego, CA. And the last place he went to school in
and I thought the place was just interesting.” Newport, RI for college.

Next, we started talking about what was like to be
on the boat. When you are in the Navy you go all around
the world in one boat for a few months. One of the boats
my dad was on was a destroyer when he was in the Navy.
I asked him, “Did you make any friends on the ship with
people in the Navy?”

He responded, “Yes, lots of friends. I had 3 friends
from the boat who got an apartment off sea together.”

This is my dad in uniform Then, I asked my dad, “Have you ever driven the
boat you rode on in the Navy?”
with his friends in the Navy.
He answered, “ Yes, I have. My most exciting time
was driving during a refueling at sea because I was next
to another ship with hoses to give gas but I had to keep
the boat steady.”

On the Boat

This is a destroyer; this is the Next, I asked my dad about his sleeping
type of boat my dad was one in conditions on the boat and if he had to wake up early.
He explained, “I was in a little bunk stacked 3 high with
the Navy. a lot of people surrounding me. I was on the top bunk
which is bad because the boat rocked you at night so
This is what the inside of a you fell off sometimes.”
Navy ship can look like.
“What was it like waking up early?” I asked him.
He responded, “It was tough. They played a loud
annoying song in the morning, and everyone woke up,
it was loud. I had to do chores and stuff at 6:30 but got
a nice breakfast with fresh donuts delivered every
morning.”

Then, I asked my dad, “Did you ever get yelled at
by someone?”

“Yes, A lot. I was in Germany and there for one
night and got to explore the place but the ship was
leaving early in the morning and my friend and I were 5
miles away from the boat and had to catch it somehow.
Before it left them there. But we made it after all. Also, I
was on a ship off the coast of South America and had to
board drug ships and arrest everyone, while working
with the coast guard The DEA (Drug enforcement
agency).”

One of the last questions I asked my dad was,
“Have you ever flown on a plane?”

“No,” he answered, but he had ridden in one. He
rode in an SH60, took off on the back of the ship, and
got to fly around with a pilot and look for drug ships.

The very last question I asked my dad was, “Do
you recommend someone else enlist in the Navy? If so,
why? ''

He answered, “Yes, because, it helps you
become mature and gives you purpose, and it sets you
on the right path for the coming life.”

My dad says that after the Navy most people
don’t leave and stay there for a while because they’re
afraid it will be hard to get a job, but if you believe you
can get a job and be successful. Because my dad tried
that, he is successful now and provides for me and my
family, and I'm very grateful for my dad.

Looking back over the interview, I realized how
hard-working he has always been, and I was grateful to
learn more about his experience.

Amusement

Parks

A conversation with
Mike Sheldon

Written by Owen M.

Picture of him on a trail.

This is a recreation of an iconic photo of El
Toro and Kingda Ka.

When I got home from school I grabbed my phone and called my grandpa to interview him about roller coasters. First
we talked about who got him into amusement parks, next we talked about the rides and what he liked better thrill or casual
rides. Finally we ended the interview with if he thinks other people should go on rides there scared of.

My community is my grandpa, my mom’s dad. My connection to him is that he is my family and that he is my grandpa. I
chose him for this project because we go to a lot of amusement parks together, but I don't know what he likes about them.
I was most excited to see if he actually liked the thrill or he just went on because of me. After the interview, I realized he
does like the thrill and it wasn't just because of me.

If I had to choose one word to describe my grandfather, I would choose “excited” because he is 73 and likes to go on
roller coasters and is always excited to go on them to see if they're good. This would be the best word because excited
means showing excitement or having energy and he is excited to try new rides that he has never gone on. There was one
ride that was the tallest and second fastest in the world. It is 465 feet tall and goes from 0 to 128 Mph in 3.5 seconds and
completes the 3118 ft track in 25 seconds. I was a bit scared to go on it, but he said, “You are here so you mine as well do it
because you will later regret not going.”

If I could give an award to him for something specific, I would give him the award for “Most daring Grandpa” because
he has gone on the scariest rides in the world. This would be the best award because in order to go on those rides you
have to be really daring. For example, he wanted to go on Kingda Ka, a roller coaster in New Jersey, even if I didn't go on
it. We ended up going on it together. I would consider him to be daring because he loves the excitement of the rides. He
also used to drag race as well.

His Favorite
Park

The first topics we discussed was his favorite My grandfather and me on his
amusement parks and rides. favorite ride, which is the Steel
Vengeance in Sandusky, Ohio
Q :What is your favorite amusement park and why?
Cedar Point.
A: My favorite is Cedar Point which is in Sandusky Ohio,
because “of the variety and quality of the roller coasters” Then I asked, “What amusement park would
It's set out on a peninsula which is part of the attraction you want to go to that you haven't gone to yet?”
because you are surrounded by water almost 360 degrees
so the views are spectacular when you are up high. A: I would like to go to Six Flags in Japan. But this
park closed in 2006. I would like to see more of
I think he chose this park because there is only one Japan so this would be a great reason to go.
of them, and it is a very unique park unlike a Six Flags
because most of the Six Flags are similar. Cedar Point is I think he chose the one in japan because Japan is
surrounded by Lake Eerie and was built in 1870 and was a very cool country with more than just cool parks
recently bought by Seaworld. It is also on a peninsula that you can go to.
is very thin.
Finally, I asked, “Do you like thrill rides the best?”
Next, I asked him, “What is the scariest ride you have been
on? A: Out of any amusement park ride, I like the
coasters, mainly the ones that go up, down and
A: The spinning one in 6 flags NE, the Joker. The cart that with loops. But I don’t like the one where the cars
you are sitting in goes upside down and on one of the spin (like the Joker). I mainly like the speed the best.
drops feels like you're off the tracks.
I also like to ride thrill rides the best, and it
And also the one in Cedar Point where the initial hill goes connects to the award of being “The Most Daring
way up and then it pauses for a couple of seconds after you Grandpa!”
go over the top so you are facing the ground. You were
facing the ground for a few seconds and didn't know when
it would drop. That was scary because you were basically
hanging in mid-air or that is what it felt like. It was called
Valravn and in Cedar Point, Ohio.

I think he chose the Joker as one of the scariest
because it is a one-of-a-kind ride. What makes it so special
is that the carts spin upside down when you are going up.
The person facing forwards goes backward across, and
then the person facing backward goes forward across.

Some of the
Coasters He
Wants to Go

On.

Picture of the Top of Thrill Dragster This next question is difficult because we
in Cedar point, Ohio. had been on most rides we wanted to. Still, I
asked, “Are there any roller coasters that you still
This is a picture of Six Flags Great want to go on that you haven’t yet?”
Adventures in Jackson Township.
We are on a a ride that is like a A: “Well, you are my roller coaster guide so the
chair lift that takes you across the ones that you come up with. None that come to my
mind. There is one at 6 flags NE that I want to try
park. called FireBall. It is one big loop that only goes
upside down but starts off rocking back and
forth.”

I also would like to try this ride but rides
like this can make you feel sick other than that I
would like to try it as well.

To end, I asked him, “What kind of advice
would you give someone who might be scared to
take a risk and go on a wild ride?”

He replied, “That even if you are scared
you should go on because you might never get
the chance to do again. The worst that can
happen is you wont like it.

In conclusion, my grandpa and I really
like going on roller coasters together. I appreciate
that he is willing to take me on really fun road
trips every year .

This is Kristen getting ready for The Nurse
work during the pandemic. Practitioners
Call All of
the Shots

A conversation
with Kristen
Harpish

By: Charlotte Mazzeo

Someone once said, “The nurses call all of the shots” but I think that the nurse practitioners call all of the
shots. My community member is my family friend and her name is Kristen Harpish. My connection to her is that I
have known her since I moved to Hopkinton, which was in 2015. I chose her for my interview project because
what she does is really cool and interesting, and I was excited about learning about that she is a nurse
practitioner for many different reasons.

First, we decided to talk about the early years of her life and what she did before she became a
nurse practitioner. Kristen first finished nursing school in 2004 and finished her master’s degree in 2007.
Then she received her degree at Simmons College in Boston. Next, she explained was originally put behind
a desk and absolutely HATED it, and she wanted to do so much more. She also realized that her
fascination was with medicine and quickly changed back to that field. I asked her, “What did you think that
the nurse practitioner job was the job for you?”

She explained, “I was just interested in the human body and wanted to work with people not at a
desk and my fascination was medicine and wanted to change so I did.”