1.

Date of Interview: March 17th, 2016

2. Start Time of Interview: 8:00 am EST; End Time of Interview: 8:49 am EST
3. Vivian Ryals interviewed Pattie [PSEUDONYM] via FACE TO FACE |
SKYPE | PHONE
4. Paper-based/Voice recognition recording analyzed using qualitative
methods
5. =====================================================
6. Vivian Ryals: You have an immaculate home. Thank you for allowing me to
come and interview you today. Okay. We are getting ready to begin. Would
you like to go to the restroom or like to get you something to drink before we
begin?
7. Pattie: No thank you. I am fine! But thank you for asking! If I want
something, I will have one of them bring it to me.
8. Vivian Ryals: Alright; the first question. What college do you go to?
9. Pattie: N.C A&T Aggie Prideud!!! Yahhh!!! Bullddoggss!!
10. Vivian Ryals: Were you informed of whom you should contact if you were to
face problems when it comes to discrimination from younger students
attending that same university?
11. Pattie: Ever? When? Or do you mean while going through orientation?
12. Vivian Ryals: Yes, Im sorry.
13. Pattie: Um, I cant say during my orientation for undergraduate studies; um, I
can't remember being told about who I should contact if I had any problems
with younger students attending my college. No one ever said anything on that
subject. I can remember a lot of different people speaking during orientation.
No. Oh, and I can remember some stupid students making fun of me. Not all
of them were bad but some of them were dumb and plain stupid.
14. Vivian Ryals: Can you tell me more?
15. Pattie: While attending orientation I did have some students behind and
around me making fun of me being there and attending the same orientation.
Cause they were laughing and snickering and I heard one of them say why is
the parent of one of the students in here with us. She's too old to be in here.
When I turned and looked the students stopped laughing and looked away.

16. Vivian Ryals: How did this make you feel?

17. Pattie: It made me angry as hell and a little sad too.
18. Vivian Ryals: Why did it make you angry?
19. Pattie: It made me angry cause I had just as much a right to be there as they
did.
20. Vivian Ryals: Have you ever faced discrimination in the classroom as a
nontraditional student?
21. Pattie: What? So many times I can't even count them!
22. Vivian Ryals: If so, what did you do as a result of it?
23. Pattie: Most times I just ignored it.
24. Vivian Ryals: Why would you ignore it?
25. Pattie: Because it was stupid.
26. Vivian Ryals: Do you mean you ignored it because you having to go through
it was stupid?
27. Pattie: No, I dont mean that at all. On the real, only the ones putting me
through the problems were stupid. I ignored it cause; if I paid any attention to
it, I probably wouldnt be sitting with you right now. I would have hurt
someone.
28. Vivian Ryals: Have you ever had to go through the chain of protocol in order
to address discrimination; if so, were you satisfied or dissatisfied with how the
discrimination was handled.
29. Pattie: Yes, I have. Oh man, I can remember this one time I've got so angry;
oh, I really wanted to fight.
30. Vivian Ryals: Do you mind telling me a little bit more about that?
31. Pattie: I can remember I was in class during a lecture and teacher was
teaching us. I forget what class it was but I needed to ask the teacher
something about what she was saying. I think it was a history class and one of
the students who had made it painfully obvious that she disliked me turned
and look at me. She said, she just said that and now you want her to repeat
it. Then she said, she always asking stupid questions. Then, what did she
do this for? She turned and looked at me and said, why are you even here? I
hate you, with your old ass. A girl maybe about 25 years old in age.

32. Vivian Ryals: Is that when you wanted to fight?

33. Pattie: I wanted to. I wanted to throw her ass back and forth around that
room as if she were a rag doll. Excuse my language. I would have lite her ass
up like a rocket if I were given the chance. I would have been the last one she
opened her mouth up to that way. I can promise you that. But I thought about
it and quickly knew that if I did that I would get in trouble. I looked at her and
I told her that she was disrespectful and somebody needed to hit her in her
mouth. How about I can promise you that she didnt bother me anymore after
that day. She knew when I looked at her ass and said what I said that I meant
it. I think because I had never said anything to her she thought that I was a
wuss and I wouldnt do anything. When I said something she knew quite the
contrary. I would have taken her ass down through there.
34. Vivian Ryals: Was the teacher there?
35. Pattie: Yes, she was there. She didn't do much. She looked at the girl and told
her to be quiet. Not to say that. I figured she only said it cause she was older
than me and somewhat offended by the statement. I knew it wasn't to come to
my defense.
36. Vivian Ryals: How can you say that?
37. Pattie: I say that cause when I went to report it the chain of command, the
teacher had already told the chain of command and made it seem like it was
all my fault. Like the girl wasn't even the instigator of it all; when she started
the whole thing. If anybody should have got in trouble it should have been her.
She started it.
38. Vivian Ryals: What happened after that?
39. Pattie: We were told if anything happens like that again we would both be
um, I think suspended from class or something. I could not believe how they
did not at least; be harsher with her, being that she started it all.
40. Vivian Ryals: Have you ever as a nontraditional student heard the leaders
during orientation address discrimination as it pertains to the nontraditional
student? Because I have already asked this question, I wont ask you to
answer it again.
41. Vivian Ryals: Next question. Have you ever witnessed another case of
discrimination regarding a nontraditional student?
42. Pattie: Huh, let me think about that one a little bit.

43. Vivian Ryals: Okay.

44. Vivian Ryals: We'll have to come back to this one too then. If so, what did
you do or say as a result of it? Its a follow-up to the one you have to think
about.
45. Pattie: Would you like for me to think harder about it now then?
46. Vivian Ryals: Oh no, take your time we can come back to it, its fine.
47. Pattie: Oh, okay.
48. Pattie: Ooh, ooh, yes I have. There was a student and he had problems with
his speech. You want me to tell you his na no, I shouldnt do that. Anyway,
he would stutter soooo bad, a lot. He always got picked on by other students
and most of them claimed to be his friend. They would pick on him in a
deceptive, deceitful, kind of way.
49. Vivian Ryals: What do you mean? What does this pertain to?
50. Pattie: That other student. You asked me if I knew any other student that had
been discriminated against by others. They would make him think they were
laughing with him and not at him.
51. Vivian Ryals: Oh, okay, you remembered an incident. I thought we were
coming back to this question a little later. Im sorry. I was not sure what you
were speaking in reference too.
52. Vivian Ryals: What did you say or do pertaining to this matter?
53. Pattie: I only did what I knew to do, be the best friend that I could be to him
and hope the others would start treating him differently.
54. Vivian Ryals: Have you ever experienced discrimination on campus? Patti
because I have already asked this question, I wont ask it again. It was worded
a little different with the word classroom above.
55. Pattie: Okay
56. Vivian Ryals: If so, what do you attribute to the reason as to why you
experienced it? Patti this too is a follow-up to the question above.
57. Pattie: Alright, that is fine.

58. Vivian Ryals: What were your reasons for returning to school after so many
years?
59. Pattie: I was out of work and tired of working the same dead end jobs. I
wanted change; so I went back to school. I wanted to change my career path.
61.Vivian Ryals: If you could change anything about your experience as a
nontraditional student, what would that be?
62. Pattie: If I could change anything about it; I would say I would change having
to endure the cruelty from students cause it was stupid; they were young and
dumb.
62. Vivian Ryals: Has returning to college interfered with your personal / home
life?
63. Pattie: Who's life, my life. Oh noo!!!
64.Vivian Ryals: My goodness!
65. Vivian Ryals: Okay, ready!
65. Pattie: Yes, Im ready.
66. Vivian Ryals: If so, what are you doing to rectify these issues so that it does
not persist? Patti this one is not applicable.
67. Pattie: Can I answer that question just a little more?
68.Vivian Ryals: Sure, go ahead.
69. Pattie: I wont let it. But if I had a choice to stay home or to go to school and
deal with those children, those wannabes, those so called adults; I would stay
home. Im sorry, but one thing I cannot stand is a disrespectful child, I hate it; we
were not raised that way back in the day. These times we are living in right now
are so different than when I came up.
70. Vivian Ryals: O.K. next question. Is your commitment level as a nontraditional student where it needs to be; so that, if you do experience
discrimination on campus, quitting is not an option?
71. Pattie: What! Girl who? Huh! You better get cha life. I'm not a quitter.
Anyway, what others; especially those childish, want to be grown assed children,

think and do; would never stop me from accomplishing what I have to accomplish
in life or in anything else for that matter.
72.Vivian Ryals: If you dont mind my asking how old are you?
73. Pattie: Try to guess. How old do you think I am?
74.Vivian Ryals: If I had to guess about 47 - 48 years old.
75. Pattie: I am 67 years old?
76. Vivian Ryals: My goodness, really! I would never have thought that. You
dont look a day over 46 - 47 years old. Wow, that is great.
77. Pattie: Yes, God has been good to me and I try to take care of myself all the
time.
78.Vivian Ryals: How do you do it, what do you do; if you dont mind my
asking?
79. Pattie: I exercise and eat right and put my trust in the one above. He has been
good to me and I thank him for it.
80.Vivian Ryals: Wow, that is great! Well alright, that was the last question.Thank
you so much; unless you can think of anything else we are done. It has really been
a pleasure speaking to you today.
81. Pattie: Anytime. If you ever have a need you can always ask. I dont mind
speaking to you; if I can help in any way.
82.Vivian Ryals: Thank you. I appreciate that and I hope that you have a
phenomenal rest of your day!
83. Pattie: You too. Thanks.

Memos:
Note: She smiles and holds her head down while breathing deeply preparing
herself to start the interview.

Note to self: I noticed during the interview Pattie looking down and to the
left. This is a reflection showing someone is trying to remember; trying to
recall an experience. I cant remember exactly what it is called; however, I
will look it up when I get home.
Note to self: After I told Pattie no we could come back to this question about
another nontraditional student; if she had ever witnessed anyone being
discriminated against I think it was question 47 Pattie grabs her head and
holds mouth open sighing aloud. I think something is wrong with her.
Note to self: She scared the mess out of me.
Note: She yells for someone to check the food.
Note to self: After she said who's life, my life, oh no she started laughing.
She is laughing and can hardly stop.
Note to self: Stay focused; keep control of the interview and dont agree,
remain unbiased.
Note: Pertaining to question 15 and the note to self, I learned this years ago
and researched it again to refresh my memory when I got home.

Note: The Eyes: How to read eye direction: Body Language Signs:
Pertaining to the eye movement research shows that when a person is:
Looking to their right or up and to their right:
>They are using their imagination you should watch out for exaggeration
of the truth or for complete lies.
Looking down and to their right, or to their left, or up and to their left:
>Using their memory they are being honest and truthful.
Looking down and to their left:
>Deep in thought.

Note: Pattie looked down and to the left almost the entire interview. I could
tell that based on what I was taught she was trying to remember and more than
likely being honest with me pertaining to the details of what she had gone

through. Also, she was deep in thought. I could not; for the life of me,
remember what it was called though while I was there with her.
Note: For words like Aggie Pride and Dogs I went back and spelled it the way
she said it due to the fact that the voice recognition recording did not know
what she had said. When she said not the word because (but cause) for the
word because, voice recognition would think she was saying calls so I had to
input the word cause several times for her where it was stated. I also input
periods, exclamation marks and question marks where sentences ended and as
I thought they were needed. Unless you say period and/or the punctuation
mark; it will not input it at the appropriate time. Other than that, I had to go
back and where my sentences started and her would begin; I had to press enter
and put our names because the voice recognition recording just keep recording
as we both spoke. I could tell from what was stated who said what and when.
If she instead of saying so said sooooo; then I spelled it the way she said it as
well. Which is to say if she put emphasis on or accentuated words then I
spelled them the way she said them.

Summery

My data collection process started immediately after my professor; Dr.

Alston approved my interview guide. I questioned people who fit the age
demographics and criteria I needed in order to proceed with my qualitative
interview process. Some individuals I knew and some I did not know; having
just met them for the first time. I would ask if they were in college currently
or in times past; probing, to see if I should even address the subject of the
interview at all. During the first week and a half; I was getting nowhere, or so
it seemed. Everyone was telling me that they had a wonderful college
experience. I started to think that either they weren't being honest or they were
telling me what they thought I wanted to hear. I also used the networking
technique; asking many of them if they knew of anyone that fit the criteria.
They said if they could think of anyone they would let me know. However,
there were time constraints that I had to consider; so instead of waiting for
someone to lead me to someone else, I continued to search.
On the fifteenth of March; I was out running errands and while in Belk
department store, I happened to strike up a conversation with another
customer. Not even thinking about my qualitative interview assignment, I
asked her what she did for a living and found out that she was a current
student at N.C. Agricultural &Technical University. I thought wow, this is
great. Assuming she would say what everyone else had, I hesitated to ask her
how it was going. She continued telling me that she had an assignment due
later that evening and had to hurry home. She also stated that she would be
glad when it was all over. I asked, why do you say that and she said due to
challenges she faced. Then she just proceeded to tell me all about what she
was going through at school. There it was; my open door to ask her if I could
indeed interview her for this assignment. She asked me if I could come to see
her at her home and of course, I agreed. I observe Ms. Patty within her home
with her family there also; although; they were otherwise engaged in other
activities so that she could proceed with the interview process. We were alone
and had very little to no distractions; so there were no other observations to
record other than she has a very gorgeous, very immaculate home. Lastly, she
was also cooking something that smelled great. Someone else watched it for
her while we interviewed.

Observation
1. Physical Setting: My observation took place in a classroom setting in which
I observed Ms. Cassidys class at NC A&T university. There were about 20 to

25 desks and a computer at the front of the class. The shades were drawn up
about halfway where the sunlight was able to beam through the windows. It
was a very beautiful day out, and this also enabled them to have the lighting
inside the classroom set on dim. It was a very relaxing feel to the atmosphere.
The trash can overflowed with trash; maybe from that day, and possibly from
the day before. There are six large envelopes sitting on the desk located in the
front of the class with pictures mounted on them. They might be for a planned
activity of some sort.

2. The participates were between the ages of about 23-60 years of age. There
was a total of twelve students; Most African American male and females.
There was one white male an older gentleman.The class was supposed to
begin at 6:00 pm. It was an adult education class. They were all dressed very
casually. A person who I thought was the teacher positioned herself at the
computer and stayed there talking to others about five minutes. She then
positioned herself at one of the desk leading me now to believe that she was a
student. Id kept looking around trying to locate the teacher but saw no one
who appeared to be the professor. An older woman enters the classroom and
positions her items at one of the desks and walks back out of class. This lead
me to believe she was an older nontraditional student. Only she comes back
in; leaves her things at the desk but walks up to the computer; greets me lets
me know she is the instructor and tells me they will get started in just a
moment. Students are engaged in conversation and being very kind to me and
to one another. One student had lots of candy and chocolate and was very
giving towards the other students in class. Several; however, are engaged in
phone activity whether it be surfing the web or texting etc
3. The instructor states that she is having difficulty starting the computer and
accessing the internet for class and ask if others can come to assist her in
trying to get it to work. Two students come to assist her. The teacher then
walks out of class and goes somewhere for a few minutes then returns with
her own personal computer in hand. They continue to try to get it up and
running, however, were unsuccessful for a long period of time. The instructors
arrival time was about 5;50pm and they were still trying to get it up and
running when I left at 6:17pm. I consider this a very typical; although, unusual
activity being that we can never imagine when we will experience technical
difficulty. Howbeit; I would have thought that class would have started on
time at 6:00pm.
4. Conversations were such that, some people were talking about what has
taken place during their day and over the weekend as well. There are about
five individuals engaged in a conversation while others are engaged in
individual activities. Being that class has not begun as of yet, there is no
structure pertaining to the students activity. The instructor and the two
students are stilled engaged in the technical processes, trying to get the
computer to work so that the instructor could begin class. The two students
who assisted in helping the instructor with the computer had a conversation
about the envelopes that were located on the desk located in front of the class.
They were trying to figure out what they could possibly be.
5. I observed and felt that due to the technical difficulties they experienced; I
wasnt able to fully engage in the process that I was there to actually

complete. While I observed I answered one student question of whether I was

there for an observation; telling her yes, I was. Other than that, I spoke to the
instructor when she greeted to me and at the close of my observation, I
thanked the instructor for allowing me to observe her class.
Summery:
My observation of Ms. Cassidys class was such that I was able to see a
certain comradery between the teacher and students. One that seemed to be
genuine in nature. She did not talk to her students as though they were
younger or less than, but I perceived she viewed them as adults and when
there was a situation that the teacher could not handle she called on others
who could possibly assist her with the situation. It showed me that she thought
them to be capable and knowledgeable of assisting her with her need; having
one goal in mind and that was to get things up and running so that they could
move forward with class.