Interview Preperation and Proccess

Preparations

How I approached people

I wasn't really sure how to find people to interview. I eventually went to Lawrence Hall as suggested, to try and find people and figure out where I might find people. After looking around a bit, I ended up talking with some of the staff there and they suggested that I post an ad in their weekly bulletin for International Students. When I submitted the ad, they also added it as an activity to help International Students earn scholarships. Eventually, someone contact me through the ad and I arranged a time and place to meet with them.

When, where, and how I conducted and recorded the interview

I conducted my first interview on Friday at 2 PM in the Miller Center. After I met up with my interviewee, we found a table near the back of the first floor of the library where it was relatively quiet. I thanked her for coming and introduced myself and gave her the list of questions. I then asked for permission to record the interview. After I obtained permission, I set my phone down between us at the table and had it record. I started out by asking about how my interviewee was connected to St. Cloud State.


Who I interviewed

My first interviewee was with Amina Joshi Sears. She is a graduate student in the Twin Cities who originally graduated from St. Cloud State University. When she first came to America, she had started at a university in Alabama, but moved to Minnesota because her friends and cousins told her it was good quality education and lower tuition.

Interview Report

Describe the interview

I think the interview went well. I was nervous, but luckily Amina had been in interviews before and seemed very friendly and willing to tell me about Nepal. I started out with the first question on the list, and built off of that. I asked questions to clarify certain things she was saying, and also asked questions that followed up on some of the things she was talking about. The tone of the interview was more conversational rather than just question and answer, and I think this helped me be less nervous and stay interested in the interview and what Amina was saying. Although the interview was more conversational, we spent a lot of time talking about Nepal and the culture there, and were able to cover most of the questions. Amina was very talkative in the interview and I had little trouble talking to her and learning about her and Nepal once we got started.

Describe anything that surprised you

One of the things that surprised me was how long I took to get through the Interview. The Interview lasted about an hour and twenty minutes, when I expected it would take at most an hour. Another thing that surprised me was how much Nepal had changed in the last ten years. There was little discussion of individualism and few indications of modern technology being commonplace in Nepal. Based on what I learned from Amina, in the urban areas, most families have things such as cell phones and computers with internet access in their homes, and frequently use sites such as facebook just like Americans do. I also learned that people in Nepal were becoming more likely to live in nuclear families in the cities instead of in extended families, which is common in the countryside still. Although most people still live in the countryside, urbanization is increasing and Amina grew up in the capital city. I wasn't surprised by the fact that these things were happening, but by how quickly they seemed to be happening.