"It's a Journey."

"Wow."

That was the one thing I could say to myself after my interview with the Flint Hills Job Corps student. I went in there not really knowing what to expect, but I came out with a girl's life's story. I'll tell you about the interview in a minute but I just want to make note of something real quick: isn't it fascinating the different stories/lives people have. This interview and my visit to Job Corps made me realize just how much, or I guess how less, I deal with diversity in my life. So, this was a nice way of showing me that I need to put myself out there more often, even if I am uncomfortable at first.

After that quick thought, let me tell you how the interview went. I met with this 17 year-old girl who is a culinary student at the Flint Hills Job Corps. We first started talking about her background, like why she is at Job Corps, why she chose culinary, etc. Then, I asked the simple question, "What has been your best experience at Job Corps?" She excitedly responded by saying, "The state test for the G.E.D." This was the kind of success story I was looking for, but she quickly went on to say, "Well... the journey to taking the state test." Now, I don't want to give away the journey she went on to tell me about, you'll have to wait and read my sidebar for that, but let me tell you, it's going to be worth waiting and reading it. It's really powerful and I was so thankful for her to opening up with me about one of the worst experiences in her life.

After the interview, she asked if I'd send her the final piece and a copy of the video (I recorded the entire interview), and I gladly said, "yes." If she could open up to me about a horrible thing that happened to her, the least I could do was send her the finished piece.

I did finish a first draft of my sidebar and am still waiting to hear what my teacher thought of it. It was so hard to write, which hopefully you all will see when you read it in the future, but after I was done, I felt proud of myself for handling an issue this big.

P.s. Incase you didn't know... Life's a Journey.