Generations Interview

Due date: Friday, May 26th

Directions: For this project you will interview one individual from four different age brackets: a teenager (15-19), a young adult (20-
39), a middle-aged person (40-59) and an elderly person (over 60). You may interview only one member of the BC staff (with their
permission and at their convenience). First names are perfectly fine for identifying your interviewees. Do not put last names. We don’t
need to get too personal (or political) here.

You will ask them a total of ten (10) questions AND write a reflection on each interview. See below for the interview questions and the
reflection questions.

Format: You have ten questions for each age bracket. You may use the same created questions for any category as long as they are
appropriate. The questions must elicit a response that helps you develop your perspective for each age group. The questions and
answers must be included along with a one paragraph summary for each interview that reflects on the interview for
each age group. Guidance on the next pages for the reflection.

Grade: The project is both formative and summative.

Formative scores are ten points for each record of questions answered during the interview. The total formative points are 40.
Summative points come from the reflection. There must be a reflection for each interview. The total summative points are 60.

Interview Questions Reflection

Teenager ___/10 ___/15

Young Adult____/10 ___/15

Middle-Aged____/10 ___/15

Elderly____/10 ___/15
 Name of person interviewed:

Age Group: Teenager, 15-19 years old

Prompt Response
1. Could you explain what has been your My success in school and athletics
greatest accomplishment?
2. Could you explain what has been your Getting a B in regular Algebra
greatest failure?
3. Could you explain your happiest Getting surprised with my car when I turned 16
memory?
4. What is the most important goal you Going to college and succeeding in my academics and job
plan to achieve in the next five years
and how do you plan on doing it?
5. If you were an animal, which would I think I would be a sea turtle because I love the ocean and the outdoors
you be and why?
6. What is your plan after high school? College
(Straight to work, college, gap year,
travel, etc.)
7. Talk about something you understand Time management and setting attainable goals for myself to motivate me
now that you wish you would have
understood when you were a freshman.
8. What is something you have now My family-oriented personality/ my value for family
(goal, personal philosophy, family,
friends, etc.) that you never want to
lose/forget as you get older. Why is it so
important to you?
9. What is something you are looking Having a family of my own and being a mom
forward to being able to do when you
are about 25 years old? Why is that
important to you?
10. What do you think is the greatest I am good at reading people when something is wrong and can address
quality about you and why? situations to improve a relationship
 Name of person interviewed:

Age Group: young Adult, 20-39 years old

Prompt Response
1. Could you explain what has been your My greatest accomplishment is being a great mom and teacher. I feel
greatest accomplishment? accomplished when my daughter and students achieve new things and feel
comfortable and successful.

2. Could you explain what has been your I don’t think of many things as failures. More learning experiences to improve
greatest failure? in perspective or approach for next time.

3. Could you explain your happiest
memory?
4. What is the most important goal you
plan to achieve in the next five years
and how do you plan on doing it?
Having my daughter and marrying my husband
Establishing a side business helping students with personal statements and
college admissions essays. I plan to start small by word of mouth and
eventually develop a website and larger reach.

5. Describe something you thought was
going to be amazing after high school
that hasn’t lived up to your expectations.
6. Can you describe a specific moment
of personal growth and what you
learned from it?
Making your own money... I am a teacher. My paychecks are small.
After moving to Naples, it took a lot of reaching out and challenging my
comfort zone to make new friends and establish the feeling of Naples being
“home”. I learned that it takes courage and different approaches throughout
life to create lasting friendships no matter where you go.

7. Describe the hardest decision you’ve
had to make so far in your life.
8. Could you describe a time in your life
you felt extremely accomplished?
Moving to Naples away from our close friends and family in Chicago
I felt extremely accomplished when I was promoted at my old school in
Chicago from teacher to assistant principal of academics. I was proud of my
hard work and ability to lead successfully in that role.

9. If you had all the money in the world, I would buy houses in my neighborhood for all of my friends and family to
what would be the first thing you move near us. That way we could have the people we love close by in the city
purchase and why? we love.
10. How do you find motivation when
you are feeling completely unmotivated?
Name of person interviewed: Avary (ACT and SAT tutor)
Age Group: Middle-Aged, 40-59 years old
Prompt
1. Could you explain what has been
your greatest accomplishment?
2. Could you explain what has been your
greatest failure?
3. Could you explain your happiest
memory?
4. What is the most important goal you
plan to achieve in the next five years
and how do you plan on doing it?
5. How was your life being a teen in
your day most similar with teen life
today?
6. How was your life being a teen in
your day most different from teen life
today?
I reach out to my friends or my sister for advice, or I try to make lists of all the
positive things happening in my life rather than focusing on the negatives
Response
Maintaining a stable, yet happy relationship with my children
My greatest failure is not proceeding with my passion of being an actor
My happiest memory is having my first child.
The most important goal I plan to achieve is challenging myself to run a 5k.
The hard parts about being a teen have remained. Just like girls nowadays, I
faced body image issues as well as drama amongst friends.
Life was different as everyone’s business was not easily shared and accessible.
Phones have created a new world in which teens know about others and can
easily say things behind a screen.
7. What is one goal you have yet to One goal I have yet to accomplish since high school is finding a life partner. I
accomplish in your life since you was married, however the relationship ended abruptly after my first child. I
graduated high school? (Could be still long for a happy, stable husband.
career, personal, other)
8. If you could offer one piece of adviceOne piece of advice would be to focus on yourself and not worry about the
for a teenager, what would it be? materialistic things in life. At the end of the day, happiness comes from the
positive impact you leave on others and how satisfied you are within yourself.
9. How do you think your teenage self My teenage self would be satisfied with who I am today. I have grown within
would view your life today? Would it be myself and found comfort in where I am in life. I have found success within my
a success? A failure? Both? And why? son, career, and devotion to creating a safe environment. There are things I
wish to improve in my life; however, I would not consider a failure as it is
something to learn from.
10. What has been the greatest regret in My greatest regret in life is not finishing college.
your life so far?

Name of person interviewed: Meghan Joyce (U.S. History Teacher)

Age Group: Elderly, 59+ years old

Prompt Response
1. Could you explain what has been your Raising my 2 children
greatest accomplishment?
2. Could you explain what has been your I also wish I got a phd in history when getting my masters degree
greatest failure?
3. Could you explain your happiest My wedding and the birth of my children
memory?
4. What is the most important goal you Retire in next 5-8 years. I plan on saving to buy insurance until I’m 65
plan to achieve in the next five years
and how do you plan on doing it?
5. How was your life being a teen in Hanging out with friends
your day most similar with teen life
 today?
6. How was your life being a teen in We did not have any social medias, and the pressure of taking on so many exams in school
your day most different from teen life
today?
7. What is one goal you have yet to I originally wanted to get a phd in history, but have not got to that goal yet
accomplish in your life since you
graduated high school? (Could be
career, personal, other)
8. If you could offer one piece of advice Filter out the noise of social media. Focus on yourself by setting personal goals and working to
for a teenager, what would it be? achieve them
9. How do you think your teenage self I would view it as a success. I am fortunate with my family and health. I have always loved history
would view your life today? Would it be and knew I’d wanted to pursue a career in that field
a success? A failure? Both? And why?
10. What has the greatest regret in your I love living in Naples for the last 28 years, but a part of me regrets not living closer to my family in
life so far? new England; especially my children not living close to some grandparents and cousins when they
were growing up

The reflection:
You need to think back on the interview and evaluate it based on how it relates to you. Your reflection should be
one paragraph minimum. You need to submit a reflection for each interview.

Answer each question below for each interview.

1.Now that it's over, what are my first thoughts about this interview? Are they mostly positive or
negative? Provide a specific example.
2. What were some of the most interesting discoveries I made while working on this interview? (This
would include my own personal thoughts/feelings and the interviewees)
3. What were some of my most challenging moments during this interview and what made them so?
(Emotional, situational, logistics of the interview, etc.)
4. What is the most important thing I learned personally?
5. How will I use what I've learned in the future to help guide my thinking and actions?
Response 1:
1. My first thoughts are that many people tend to be satisfied with their current situation in life but tend to look
back on how they could’ve improved their current situation. This led me to think to how many people wish
they could go back in time to fix a certain relationship with someone or simply further their education.
2. An interesting discovery I made was the different perspectives that the older generation of interviewees had
compared to the younger generation. The younger generation seemed more optimistic when answering
questions, as well as motivated to either work on past decisions that they may have regretted or wish they
could change.
3. ) Some challenging moments that I experienced during this interview were listening to the sad, yet
motivating, stories that these people had to offer. Hearing these stories made me recall similar mistakes that I
had made in the past, but when interviewing, I realized that every person has a different perspective on some
of the same topics.
4. The most important thing that I personally learned through this interviewing process was to prioritize not only
yourself, but the things that make YOU happy...
5. I will use the knowledge that I gained from this interview to not take for granted all the positive things in my
life. Not only will I learn to not take anything for granted, but to take advantage of all the opportunities that
life gives me.

Response 2:
1. Conducting these interviews showed me to live life with no regrets and to make every decision based on not
your success, but YOUR overall happiness. A specific example of this is how my AP English teacher wished
that she had pursued her passion for her family. She holds her family close to her and considers it a very
important part of her life
2. This response showed me the importance of remembering. My teacher showed me how important it was to remember the
blessings in your life, as well as to work on past mistakes you’ve made. She mentioned this in order to show me that everything
has a reason, whether you see it at first glance or not.
3. . During this response, I experienced a handful of emotional, yet important emotional responses.An example
that stood out to me was when interviewing my AP English teacher. She stated that in order to get her mind
off of something negative, she instead focused on the minor, yet significant, positive things that she has in
her life. This gave me an entirely different perspective and showed me that the world does not have to be
negative all the time.
 4. This response furthered my belief that people tend to want to impress others with their accomplishments.
While it is nice to have some friendly competition, people tend to lose sight of their personal wants and
needs. This specific example may be due to her outstanding competition she’s had with her sister through her
childhood.
5. Many people tell of the unspoken dreams and unfulfilled wishes they had earlier and life, which end up
becoming regrets. However, these interviews showed me that life provides a handful of great memories,
whether it be as simple as being successful in school or experiencing a long-lasting relationship with a loved
one. It is important to cherish these memories and to appreciate them in the few moments you have.

Response 3:
1. This responser motivated me to pursue what’s important to me, instead of prioritizing what’s expected of me
from others. As she grew up, my tutor felt her parents having unrealistic expectations which caused her stress
into her young adulthood.
2. Younger interviewee's had a more positive attitude towards their mistakes. This may be due to their limited
experience and wisdom compared to those who have lived a much longer life than them. The older
interviewees seemed more regretful and negative. This is most likely due to them believing that there is no
way to work, or ‘fix’ the situation they’ve established. This is most likely due to their limited time left to make
a change, or lack of ability to change
3. This response made me realize how many things people may take for granted, and to appreciate the little and
major people, objects, or relationships we have in our life. My SAT and ACT tutor mentioned how she wished
she had spent more time with her mother and father before their passing. Hearing this encouraged me to
establish a stronger relationship with my mother due to her limited time with me.
4. One of the many things I learned from this response was to love yourself, because you are the only person
who will be in your life guaranteed. Not doing this results in others wasting time and effort on things that
don’t improve their own personal prosperity. Another factor contributing to this is the limited time we have as
people, and to never waste time on things that don’t prioritize your happiness and wellbeing.
5. One wise piece of information my tutor mentioned was that “Although obstacles and failures are bound to
happen, it is important not to forget them, and reflect on how to make yourself the best version you can
possibly be.”. Hearing this motivated me to reflect on mistakes that I've made and how to approach them
differently.
Response 4:
1. My first thought was that many people continue to hold onto traditional interests and values even into their
elderly years. An example of this within this interview is how Mrs. Joyce still continues onto enjoying going out
with her friends on the weekends to the Blue Martini. This is something she's been doing for over 10 years
and continues to look forward to it.
2. An interesting discovery I made during this interview is how the elderly continue to look how they can make
an impact on the current generation. Mrs. Joyce aspired to teach history to elementary schoolers in order to
fulfill her aspiration of guiding the youth.
3. A challenging moment in this interview was listening to how Mrs. Joyce described her mentality as a high
schooler. This was challenging because her perspective was very similar to mine which made me realize that
something needed to change regarding the amount of effort, I put into not only my assignments, but even
outside of school.
4. One thing that I learned in this interview was to always try to look for ways to better yourself. No matter
where you are in life, it is always possible to improve whether it be mentally through therapists or even just
looking at things differently, or physically through working out and eating healthier.
5. I will use this information that I've learned to always look for things that I can improve about myself. After conducting this
interview, I learned that in order for people to understand what I'm saying, I must try to see their point of view instead of being
stubborn and only believing that the only right opinion is my own.