When I had initially joined this course, I had no idea what the class was going to be like, to be honest, I don’t remember why I scheduled it. However, after learning about what the class was about and what its purpose/goal was, I knew I wanted to stay and complete the course in order to give back to my community.
Especially after hearing that we were partnered with an organization in the area I had grown up in, Chula Vista. Hearing that we had to interview someone, on my way to visit the Chula Vista site I found myself listing the kind of things I wanted from a narrator. However, once I got to the site, seeing the staff and the kids at BLCI working and laughing with each other, I forgot the list completely and just enjoyed being there. Seeing this further deepened my understanding of the importance of this class, at how recording and telling these stories that would have otherwise might never been heard. When I finally picked my narrator, I was ready to hear a lot about him and his story. When creating the questions for the interview, I kept them fairly general and broad. There were some questions tailored to his job but I kept those fairly basic as well. I wanted to make sure that these questions weren’t trying to extract or guide him towards a certain story. Hearing about the importance of BLCI and all the benefits that it provides for its students made me realize the significance of having knowledge about college is to apply for college. That goes to show how important these oral histories are. Some people don’t know that there are programs out there dedicated to paving the path to college and success like BLCI.