Rachel Tapia
Professor Reema Rao
ENGL 21002
March 04, 2025
Reflection
Interviewing Edgar was an intriguing experience. I have always had experiences with people unlike me but I wondered what made them so different from me. Understanding the demographic differences between me and Edgar is vital in understanding why he thinks so differently from me. Despite us being similar in terms of us both being Latino-American college students we had many differences, for instance, he was a male whilst I’m a female. He is Mexican while I am Ecuadorian, I believe he is also wealthier than I am by an amount I am not sure about. These differences probably had a profound effect on how we view the world. After all, my understanding based on our interview was that we had completely different values. I did not try to erase the differences or close a gap between us rather I amplified the contrast between me and him by discussing both our perspectives. I was successful to a large extent because it was clear as day and night that we were not alike in terms of ideologies. His values had more of a go-with-the-flow type of charm while mine were more success-driven.
Me and Edgar’s conversation did not change much over the time of the interview. If anything it became more formal for I didn’t want to influence his ideas or perspectives on anything. Most of his answers were straightforward and did not involve deeper thinking; maybe it was because my questions did not resonate with his interests. Or perhaps I just didn’t ask enough questions for our conversation to evolve. While completing the assignment Edgar and I had a few problems; we were confused about how well we had to get to know each other prior to the interview. And I wondered if I could ask him separate questions during the interview. This was confusing because I did not know if asking him separate questions or making comments would interfere with the results of his answers. For example, if I commented that I found his answer bad would he then change his answer? Also getting to know him prior to the interview would require me to ask questions about him before the interview so why would I have to ask them during the interview? The process of getting to know him and then interviewing him was ambiguous in terms of how well I should get to know him. I feel as though 10 questions were not enough for me to know Edgar well enough to make a paper on him. Overall, I was able to understand Edgar better than I ever could if I didn’t complete this assignment and i’m glad to have a new friend in class.