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William Fridy
Professor Sinclair
3/23/2020
LBST 2301
Interview on a Good Life
When I found out about this interview assignment, I had in my mind that I was going to

interview my dad. He is one of the best people in my life because of what he has done for our

family and gives great advice about anything. My dad is someone who I strive to be one day

because he truly cares about others. He is someone I know is living a great life.

My dad’s name is James Fridy Jr., but everyone calls him Jimmy. He was born on May

20th, 1961, and lived in a small house in Colombia, South Carolina. He has three siblings: one

older sister, one younger brother and younger sister who are twins. He lived there for the first

two years of his life but moved to Clemmons, North Carolina, where he lived for the rest of his

childhood. Jimmy considers Clemmons to be his hometown because he doesn’t remember

much about living in Colombia, and he met his first friends while growing up in Clemmons.

When growing up, he lived in a neighborhood with a bunch of kids his age and played baseball,

football, and basketball with them. He said his love of sports comes from playing sports with his

friends while growing up. In high school, my dad was a star athlete, playing baseball, wrestling,

and ran cross country for his high school. My dad was exceptionally good at baseball and

received an offer to play at Elon. However, because his parents were putting four kids through

college, going to a private school would be too expensive, and decided that it would be better

if he went to the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. Some of my dad’s best stories came

from college. His most memorable story is when he left chicken in an unplugged, open fridge at
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school during spring break. When he came back to school, the entire floor he lived on smelled

horrible, and his suitemates weren’t too happy about the smell. He tried to cover it with some

cheap cologne, but it didn’t even mask the smell. His neighbors weren’t too happy about the

smell either. Another memory from college was when he played intramural softball. One of my

dad’s friends needed an extra player for his softball team because someone quit. My dad, who

loved playing baseball, joined the team without hesitation. One of the players just happened to

be Michael Jordan, the greatest basketball player ever. Jimmy now lives in Lewisville, North

Carolina, which is about twenty minutes from Clemmons. He is married to Karen Fridy, and the

proud father two his two sons, John and William, . Both of his sons go to the University of North

Carolina at Charlotte, where John is a senior in the mechanical engineering program, and

William is a sophomore in the computer engineering program. At the moment, Jimmy is

working for an insurance company, but plans to retire at some point in the near future.

When asked about what makes a good life, Jimmy said a good life is composed of three

things: faith, family, and fun. He believes that these three things are vital for having a good life.

He believes that faith is necessary because once you learn how much God cares about you, you

can learn to care about yourself and others. Taking care of others and teaching are two of his

passions in life. My dad also believes that life should be filled with laughter, which explains why

he is always cracking cheesy jokes. Throughout his life, his idea of what fun is has changed.

While growing up, fun used to be hanging out and playing games with his friends. In college, he

had fun going to parties and going on trips during spring break. When he got married and had

kids, he found fun in just spending quality time with his family and close friends. Out of faith,

family, and fun, he values family the most. Jimmy hopes that him being a good dad and role
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model has led to his two sons being good people and eventually good fathers. He believes that

being a positive role model for us has helped create positive memories that everyone can look

back on fondly.

When asked about how to live a good life, my dad said the best way to live a good life is

to simply be happy and have patience. Not everything will be easy in life but being patient and

persistent will help you achieve a good life. Being happy just makes things mentally easier. If

you are having a tough time dealing with what you are either currently working on or going

through, having a terrible attitude will just make your experience work. Having an open mind is

also important. If you don’t want to expand your view on the world and just live in a box your

whole life, you won’t be living the best life that you could be living.

When I asked my dad what the most important aspect of life is, he responded with: “To

find your purpose in life, and not just doing what other people want you to do.” He realized this

when he enrolled in college. At first, Jimmy majored in computer science, but realized after a

few semesters that computer science just wasn’t for him. He switched to business and

graduated with a business degree. However, after a few years of working at different

companies, Jimmy realized that his passion was teaching and helping others succeed. He

discovered this when he worked as a corporate trainer for Wells Fargo. He loved teaching

others how to be successful at the company. Throughout my life, my dad has always been a

fantastic mentor, teaching us how to be thoughtful and treat others with respect. He believes

that helping others makes you humble, and in turns helps you understand God’s love.
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Out of everything he has experienced throughout his life, my dad values family

experiences the most. To him, life is really about being together with those you love and having

meaningful experiences together. Life is about creating lifelong relationships that help create

memories that last a lifetime. My dad also values being outside and enjoys being in God’s

creation. Some of his favorite memories come from going on hikes and going fishing with his

family.

My dad said if he could add anything to his life right now, he wouldn’t add a single thing.

He truly thinks he is living his best life and he agrees. He is happy doing what he is doing in his

career and loves his family dearly. He loves how his sons have strived for excellence throughout

their lives and couldn’t prouder of us.

When asked about any regrets in his life, he didn’t have any particular examples, but

one regret he has is unknowingly or unintentionally hurting others. Whether emotional or

physical, my dad regrets accidentally hurting someone. I think that is why my dad has taught

me and my brother to be peaceful and try to not get into fights. Another regret he had in life

was being unsure about what he was passionate about in life. At first, he was passionate about

sports, but then he was unable to play baseball when offered a spot on a college team. While

in college, he was unsure about what he should major in and wasted time in a major he was

unhappy with. Later in life, he found he was passionate about teaching and helping others.

My dad believes that as humans, we need to address how we treat people who are of a

different ethnicity other than our own. Being intolerant and disrespectful towards others does
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not lead to a good life. It just leads to more hate from both sides and a bad attitude towards

yourself and others.

I asked my dad what some good advice would be about anything really. He responded

by telling me to just do what makes me happy in life. He said if I wanted to switch majors or

change my career path, he would respect my decision. He also said that life isn’t about making

the most money or being the most successful. It’s about making relationships with people that

you connect with, that make you happy when you are around them, and are genuinely good

people.

Throughout this course, we have discussed what makes us happy and what we do to

make others around us feel happy. My dad says helping others is extremely important in living a

good, happy life, and I would agree. What we have talked about in class goes along with what

my dad has said so far. Being patient, having an open mind, being persistent, and being happy

makes a huge difference in your life. The best thing to do is to strive and work towards a better

life if you think you aren’t living your best life. If you think you are already living your best life,

then continue to do what you are currently doing and just know that you are happy. If you are

mentally struggling, talk to others who you think can help you such as a close friend or a

therapist.

Word Count : 1553

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