Blog Post #6: Parent Interview

The hardest interview i have done has been the one with my own mother, Ann Holdahl. Knowing her so well already made it difficult to ask interesting questions. I also think it was hard to keep the interview professional because it was in such a comfortable setting.

When I first started the interview, I got pretty general answers. I would expect that from a stranger, but not from my own mom. She gave answers that seemed similar to the strangers I interviewed, like that family and friends matter but once we started going more into depth and got into the core of the interview it got more personal. She told me stories about growing up with 5 brothers, and I learned that her biggest dream she wants to accomplish in her lifetime is the same as mine, to travel.

Something that was great to learn is that my mom really loves and takes pride in her job. She is a Public Defender for Hennepin County, which is a lawyer for people who cannot afford to get their own lawyers. Her favorite part about her job is she gets to help other everyday. She got into talking about working with homeless, addicted and mentally ill criminals. It gets very hard, but she wouldn't change her job in a second because she is able to help people who would otherwise be hopeless. It was great to hear that my mom loves to do her job for other people, not for herself.

When i asked people "how does who you are differ from how you are perceived?" everyone had different answers but this one was the most unique one i have heard. When i asked my mom this question her answer was just "It doesn't." I was very thrown back and surprised by this answer. Most people thing everyone sees them differently than they truly are but my mom believes she shows everyone who she truly is and was very happy about it to.

Something that really sums up who Ann Holdahl is is "dog lover." She loves dogs and really showed me this in our interview.

When she told me she wanted to have our family dog, Rory, in her picture she decided to write "dogs are people too!" or her board i thought it was perfect in describing who she it. At home my mom talks to Rory almost as much as she does to me. She treats her like a human. She also told me that something she loves to do and is really relaxing and stress relieving for her is going on walks with our dog. Their will never be a time in her life when she doesn't own a dog.

Another thing this interview did was bring out a very goofy and silly side of my mom. She would laugh at all her responses and think of funny stories and answers to give me. She told me "to add in there that I dance JUST like Beyonce" and proceeded to dance and laugh very hard. She even made me ask my dog the questions while she responded, pretending my dog could talk.

This interview was great, but still challenging. It was hard to ask new questions to someone who was already so familiar to me. It was nice to talk to my mom in a professional setting because she told me things that I wouldn't normally hear. My mom is a very goofy, hard working person who loves to help other. Most of all, she is a family and dog lover and always will be.