Karla Interview Research Paper

Karla For my interview, I chose to have a very close family member tell part of her life story, For the purpose of this interview, we will call her Karla. She came to the United States with her parents when she was a little girl. She grew up in the middle of two cultures, exposed to two different ways of life. She always manages to be in a great mood and I can always count on her opinion on many subjects, with the certainty she always tries to approach every subject with a non-bias opinion. She grew up knowing the good and bad about being a bilingual child, raised with parents that did not speak Spanish. She is always telling us stories on “when she was growing up.” She managed to put herself through college with no family financial assistance.
I’ve talked to her hundreds of times; however this time i felt pressured as it was an assignment. I was the ones asking her questions, and pushing to know her personal thoughts. Our conversations in the past were shared by her, and not necessarily me asking for information. Overall I had fun talking to her, and I believe it was because I know her personally. It this was a stranger, I think it would have been different. I took this project and I decided to ask the questions as an outsider, not a person that knows the interviewee. I felt if I detached from the personal relationship I had with Karla, it would be easier to conduct the interview. While asking the questions and listening to the responses, I watched myself commenting on the answers. I tried to allow Karla time to answer. If she would interrupt, I would keep quiet to allow her to tell her response. I feel this approach made the interview a little uncomfortable at times as Karla is a familiar person. It she was a stranger, I think this strategy would have worked, as I would not have the background of personally knowing the person. It would have been easier to “detached” of the story as an outsider if there was no previous