Common Interest

Brittany Danna
Lei Lani Michel
English 1001-110
October 16, 2007
Common Interest

When most people think of someone with significance in and around the Baton Rouge community, or even the Louisiana community, what would generally be the first thing to come to mind would be a popular place or person. Such as a politician, well known restaurant, or local celebrity. Every single person that lives within this community is important just by being a part of the culture and community. Though much of my family resides within this state, I am not from here. So to me in my opinion, even everyday ordinary citizens are important because they help those who are unfamiliar with a place learn the ways or culture.
It is for that reason that I decided to interview Samantha for my freshman English 1001 online interview paper. It being the first day of my geography class here at LSU, I wanted to be sure and leave plenty of time to make sure I would not be late. Although it is generally difficult to meet people in college, since in most cases there may easily be over three hundred students in one class, I was fortunate enough to meet Samantha, who also fortunately did not wish to be late to the first day of class. Upon meeting Samantha, she was very friendly, as are most students here on campus, and it was very easy to talk to her. Although I did not talk to her that much over the first few months of school, I decided to interview her for my paper because I wanted to make the point that even the average person is important.
As I began with the interview, I decided that a good place to start would be where she worked, for the simple fact of starting a conversation. “I have worked at several different restaurants, a Smoothie King, and I am currently working at a job where I am involved in PR (public relations).” This is important because it gives an example of how every job is important to the economy of an area. For example, in the food industry around LSU, most of the jobs are held by college students, and are therefore important to helping run this community.
As we continued the interview, the conversation leaned towards current problems within Louisiana. For example, she feels that, “One of the biggest problems right now is how the coastal wetlands are deteriorating but not much is being done to preserve them.” This is important, along with many other current issues, because as a citizen of Louisiana, or any state, it is always good to be aware of the issues and problems that are present. This being because any of these could and probably have an effect on everyone in the area.
When I asked her for her opinions on the culture in this area, she replied with the enthusiastic response of, “Well, for one thing, the LSU football games sure do bring everyone together!” LSU football is a large part of the community in this area. For many students, it is something to get them through the week. With many classes and hours of studying, it gives the students a break once every week or so during football season to spend time with friends, and watch their favorite team win game after game.
Before the interview ended, I needed to be sure and ask her the one question we were required to ask for our English interview papers. That is, how did hurricane Katrina impact the person you are interviewing? As Samantha had already told me that she was from New Orleans, I was almost hesitant to ask her this question, for the simple reason that I was not quite sure as to what kind of response I would get. When asked, however, she responded that she and her family evacuated before the hurricane hit. They left for the house of a cousin of hers who lives in a city not too far north of Houston. She and her family stayed there for several weeks. When she left, she had to leave her car which was lost in the flooding, and much damage was done to her house. I also asked her about her opinions on how she felt the government responded to the disaster. “FEMA didn’t handle it well at all,” she said, “FEMA also left many people without trailers, and took a long time for people to get their money.” It is important for people to know about the truth of what went on with the government, and how it was handled on a city, state, and national level, and in a community such as this, almost anyone you talk to has been impacted in one way or another.
As the interview came to an end, Samantha wished me luck on completing this interview paper for freshman English. Although she is not what would be generally called a person of importance, she is important because she represents many college students who are a vital part of the Baton Rouge community. So in other words, not only are politics, well known people, and well known places important, but each individual is important because each person can work towards a common interest, that is the well being and upholding of the city they live in and the state of Louisiana.