interview with a student

Amber Chun

Interview with a Student

*This interview was done using facebook chat

Amber: so what kind of classes are you taking?

and like which ones ur favorite and why?

Sarah: um. the classes i'm taking are... calc ab, latin vergil, creative writing, meas, drama, and physics right now. I think my favorites are drama and creative because there's not a lot of stress being in those environments compared to my other classes

Sarah is a senior at Iolani High School, my old high school, in Hawaii. It is a very academically challenging school. Sarah’s course schedule is challenging. To interpret what classes she is taking: AP Calculus AB, AP Latin: Vergil, Creative Writing, Modern East Asian Studies, Theater, and Physics. She balanced out her two difficult AP classes with easier classes like Creative Writing, Asian Studies, and Theater. She focused on her strengths and took classes she would enjoy. She likes Creative Writing because it “is a good outlet for” her. She admits, “i find that a lot of myself creeps into my writing”.

Amber: do u sense any like boy/girl favoritism or discrimination in ur classes?

Sarah: i'll have to say that i find a really STRANGE favoritism going on in my latin class.

strange because my teacher seems to favor students who really don't work at all for the class.

Amber: why do you think that is?

Sarah: no, but it seems like they've got strong characters and maybe he likes that.

Amber: like their loud with big personalities?

Sarah: yeah

Many teachers seem to like students who interact in class. Loud students’ names and faces stick in the teachers’ minds. Quiet students, maybe smarter sometimes, but don’t contribute to the class. Teachers’ like students who have strong personalities because they bring energy to the classroom that brightens the teachers’ day. Students discourage learning when they don’t contribute their ideas and thoughts. Students, who come excited to learn, though they may not be the smartest or hardest working, promote the flow of ideas. Just today my Professor was saying how he liked my class better than his other class because we freely discussed our thoughts and bonded with one another. We weren’t afraid to challenge a classmate’s theory or agree with another’s statement. If the class is silent, learning and trying to prompt discussion is painful and discourages teachers. The teacher isn’t necessarily favoring those students who have strong characteristics, but the teacher feels valued and forms a different connection with those types of students. If students are shy and quiet, it is hard to form relationships with them and they are often forgotten.

Amber: Do you notice any differences between how boys and girls behave in school?

Sarah: hmm

i think the older we get, it seems the less noticable the differences are.

i can definitely see it with the younger kids that hang out in duval's room.

Amber: what do u mean?

Amber: the girls are really still have their romantic views about love and life in general.

they talk about things as if it's all still so big and new.

the guys, it seems, keep to themselves a bit more.

they observe.

Amber: not really integrated?

like 7th and 8th graders?

Sarah: yeah.

the boys stay with their boys.

and you can see that they're trying to find that "cool" vibe.

Seventh and Eighth graders are entering a whole new world because at Iolani there is no Middle School, so seven through twelfth grades all interact on the same part of campus. Seventh and Eighth graders are often awkward and still not used to their growing body. Girls and boys tend to cling to their own sex because they feel more comfortable. Girls are scary to boys and vice versa. Boys try to act tough like the senior boys even though they have not fully developed. At this stage, boys still tend to be shorter than girls and haven’t fully developed their muscles. Girls feel awkward and gangly. Many girls have self-esteem issues, those of which are magnified when they see senior girls who are confident and “perfect”. All the gossip and drama is new to Seventh and Eighth graders who are eager to be “in the know”. They focus on trivial gossip like how “so-and-so” has been going out for two weeks and how serious it looks.