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Social Network Interview Analysis:

Those who motivate you
Eric S. Francis
University of Kentucky

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Abstract
In this paper I seek to inform you about some of the very important people that have influenced my life in some way. Now not only have these people influenced me in a positive way
but with most of them I also one day hope to be to look back and see that I have carried on
many of the important qualities they had that stood out so much to me. For the two people in my
life Ill be interviewing it will be one of my high school teachers and my father. I credit both of
these people with helping me to achieve all that I have until this point in my life. I also credit
them with inflicting me and making me into the person that I am today.

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Interview 1
For my first interview I chose to do it over one of my high school teachers who was very
influential on me growing up. Her name is Judy Collins or as I know her Mrs.Collins. The reason
i chose her to do my first interview over her is that she was the first and really only teacher that I
can remember having who really believed in all of her students and always seemed to see the
best in them. It was encouragement from her that really helped me through some tough times in
high school. in essence she is just the kind of person that i want to grow up to be like.
Questions
1. What made you want to become a teacher in the first place?
-When I was about your age (20) and needed to start really thinking of what I wanted to
go into i just started to think about what I'm good at and what i like. the first thing that really
came to mind was how i had always enjoyed helping others and just always seemed to get joy
out of the happiness others got when i lended a helping hand. then i also thought back to my
time in school and how i was always fascinated by the thought of teachers and the important
role and imprint that the can have on a young persons life. at that point i just put two and two
together and decided that teaching was the thing for me!
2. How do you deal with times of extreme pressure or stress?
-Well i will admit that teaching isn't without its hard times and there has been plenty of
occasions in my career where i really questioned if i had made the right choice in my job. But as
corny as this may sound i just look back at my old students and where they are today. many of
them are highly successful yet still make time to come back and visit me from time to time. i like
to see that as something that i had a hand in doing. i helped them get to that point and achieve
their dreams. its that thought of helping future students do the same that helps me with stress
and drives me forward.
3. How would you describe yourself?

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-Well the number one thing is that i like to think that I'm a very happy and outgoing person. i try to always act like this as ti inspire my students to be the same! having happy students
who are willing to work makes it easier on them in their future work as well as makes it easier on
me right now.
4. What accomplishment are you particularly proud of?
-My son is without a doubt my favorite accomplishment. while he may not be perfect i
have raised him to the best of my abilities and am extremely proud of the way he turned out
which was of course due to my expert parenting skills!
5. What things are most important to you in your job?
-In my job the most important thing is of course the success and happiness of my students. as a teacher you don't want to be that one who students are always talking about and
just dread going to their class. so making sure that i have a good relationship with my students
is very important in my job as it makes teaching a lot easier.
6. What is the biggest obstacle you have overcome?
-I think that the biggest obstacle that i had to overcome was college itself. Coming from
the small town we live in (Middlesboro, Ky) the education system admittedly isn't the greatest
and back when i went here 200 years ago it was even worse. not in the sense of it was just a
bad school but it didn't do a very good job of challenging me so when i went off to college it was
a real eye opener when i couldn't sleep for half the semester and then show up for the test and
ace it. so needless to say the obstacle was self motivation and making myself work hard to
achieve what i was working toward.
7. What do you think is your greatest strength?
-I think my greatest strength is my perseverance . its something that i have always been
really proud of myself for in the sense that i don't give up very easily.
8. What do you think is your greatest weakness?

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-My greatest weakness is without a doubt the fact that i am so easy to go to self sacrifice. now by that i mean i go out of my way to help people and while that may sound like a good
thing sometimes it can get me in some really bad situations where i stuck my nose where it
doesn't belong.
9. What was your dream job when you were growing up?
-Astronaut. original right? yea me just like every other kid wanted to be an astronaut and
fly to the moon!
10. What do you love most about your job?
-I love most about my job seeing the effects of what i have done for students. Just seeing one of my students walk across the stage at graduation gives me pride in knowing that I
helped them to get there.
Interview 2
My second interview was actually over my dad. the reason that i chose my dad is that he
has been the one person in my life that has had the most impact on the person that i am today.
he was the one who taught me that i needed to be a kind person yet always stand up for what i
believe in. Many of the values that i hold dearest today came from lessons that i learned from
my father growing up.
questions
1. What was the hardest thing you had to do when growing up?
-well let me set the scene. i was in my second year of college and was in the pre-med
program in college which was something that my parents had always pushed me and wanted
me to do. but the problem was that it wasn't something that i enjoyed doing. So i finally said
enough and had to sit down with my parents to tell them that the career they had pushed me
towards so hardly wasn't the one i wanted to go into. you see this was hard for me because in
my mind i pictured them basally disowning me for not going the way the wanted but it turns out

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that the completely understood and the one thing that was the hardest for me to build up the
courage to do turned out to be extremely simple when lookng back at it.
2. Who was your hero growing up?
-My dad was without a doubt my hero growing up. he worked 2 jobs to support our family
and still made time for me and your uncle when he got home. can you imagine working two jobs
and still having the energy to come home and play with two five year olds? thats not something
that i could ever do and certainly not for as long as he did it.
3. what is your greatest strength?
- i think my greatest strength is my wits. you see when your in the sales market like i am
one of the most important things to have to be successful is to be quick when put on the spot.
4. What is your greatest weakness?
-thats going to have to be my inability to put myself first. sounds selfish right? well while
it is good most of the time to try and put others first and to always be a good person there are
some times when you just need to step back and think whats best for me? which is something
that i just don't do enough.
5. What was your dream job when growing up?
-well when i was growing up i always wanted to be a pitcher in the pros. still to this day
I'm kicking myself for not riding baseball out to see where it would have gotten me. sure i wasn't
some complete prodigy super star but you never know how something will turn out if you don't
just take a chance and try it.
6. What led you to choose the career you have today?
-This goes back to the greatest strengths you asked me about. again my wittiness and
quick to adjust on the spot was just something that seemed to point right towards me going into
the selling of something. now i will admit that me working for Sherwin William (paint company)

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just came about as part time job while i was in college but i was just good at the sales and they
kept promoting me over the years so i just stayed.
7. how do you deal with times of stress?
-Well as I'm sure you know i love to pay golf. not very good at it but i love to play it. i
think its important for everyone to find that one thing in life that really calms them and can help
them to relax and for me that just happens to be golf!
8. If you had to describe yourself in one word what would it be and why?
-outgoing. This is a word that i like to think describes me and the kind of person that i
am. i like this word for me because its always a word that i want others to associate with me and
to think wow look at him go. does he ever stop?
9. what was the most important thing that you learned growing up?
-well this one is gonna go back to when i had to tell my parents that the job they wanted
for me wasn't the one i wanted for myself. so the most important thing that i learned is that you
just have to do what you want and to live your own life. don't let anyone tell you what path to
take because sometimes whats best for you is to just forge your own path separate from what
everyone else might think.
10. IF you could change one thing what would it be?
- I would definitely go back and get my masters degree. like how i said i was hired by
Sherwin Williams and just stayed with them while i have done very well for myself if i had chose
to stay and get a higher degree in college i do wonder if i would be in a different place today.
Analysis
After hearing the responses to the questions that were asked of the two its really clear to
me why they were the first to come to mind when thinking on who to interview. that epiphany
came because most of the answers that they gave would be very similar to answers i would give
if asked these questions. questions such as their greatest weakness which both pointed towards

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it being their lack of putting themselves first in many situations. this is honestly the exact thing
that i would have answered if given this question. so in essence these responses really show
the impact that these two have had on my life in effecting the person that i have turned into today. now as far as connecting these response to my goals i can also see