Ryan Ebberman
S. Furniture began as a small, independent furniture store sixty-one years ago located on scenic River Road on the side of the small town of Reserve in rural Louisiana. The small town is made up of middle class workers trying to make a decent, honest living. The small, slightly yellow building created work and brought more business to the small town. The success of the business grew phenomenally. With success, there was growth. The demand for the great prices on furniture warranted the seeking of a second store. The expansion lead about forty-five minutes northwest to Gonzalez, Louisiana, which has now became the main store for the business. The store’s popularity is continuously growing and the store owner, now the grandson of the original owner, is looking to create a new store in Laplace, Louisiana, replacing the Reserve store. All of this change is affecting the surrounding communities for the better. As I began my English 1001 student interview of the owner, Mr. S, I talked to him about a variety of subjects relating to his store.
On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck southeastern Louisiana with so much force that every business, home, and school seemed to be damaged in some way or another. This crushing effect went on for miles on end in the southeastern region of Louisiana. Right outside of the flood waters was the town of Reserve, Louisiana, and a little further down the interstate was Gonzalez. The two stores were up and running in no time caring to the needs of the people of New Orleans and surrounding cities. Deals were made and the S. Furniture stock went up. With the Baton Rouge community doubling overnight, the businesses around Baton Rouge prospered. With people hundreds of people needing furniture, the Gonzalez area, more specifically around the furniture store itself, thrived off the population. No other business had the great prices that S. Furniture had. The locations of the two stores provided easy access back to New Orleans with “water-less” furniture.
The Gonzalez store did have trouble with the storm however. In the midst of the storm part of the roof got damaged. Many pieces of furniture were damaged as well as the carpet the pieces sat on. The back of the store had to be roped off for two weeks before the carpet could be replaced. All the appliances had to be replaced along with the furniture that was water-logged.
The Gonzalez store received a lot of its income through FEMA, but not the way everyone would think. Located next door to the store was an empty warehouse that FEMA representatives occupied for its use after the storm. S. Furniture became a service to FEMA when the federal agency purchased hundreds of beds through S. Furniture to help those in need. Thousands of beds were shipped into the S. Furniture warehouse from out of the state. The beds were then transferred next door to the FEMA warehouse where they were distributed by FEMA. The store did not have to spend time distributing or selling the beds and could focus on the daily customers.
Still today, over two years after the storm, S. Furniture is getting paid for its decision of getting back quick to serve its local community. People still walk into the store looking for new furniture after the devastation of Katrina. The store is now looking to relocate the Reserve store to Laplace, Louisiana, so the store would be open to a much bigger market.
The store was always busy due the increased need in furniture and appliances. After the first few days, the refrigerators, sofas, and love seats quickly sold out. Mr. S. told me “everything had to go on backorder, the beds and appliances especially.” Box springs, mattresses, and headboards were the parts needed for the bed arrangements. Refrigerators, washers, and dryers consisted of the appliances on backorder.
With the back orders coming in to be sold, and the merchandise already sold, S. Furniture became one of the leading furniture store outlets in the southeastern sector of Louisiana. The Reserve store is looking to move to Laplace, Louisiana, with its stronger furniture market due to other furniture businesses falling from the ranks. S. Furniture, I believe, with the right form of leadership will prosper for years to come.
Showing posts with label English 1001-111. Show all posts
Showing posts with label English 1001-111. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Dancing to the Sound of Cash
English 1001
Joshua Pleming
Dancing to the speed of Cash
I recall her expression when I asked about participating in an online interview. She was shocked yet interested. I explained that it was for my English 1001 class. She was hesitant at first. She was worried about exposure of her double life. Being a stripper wasn’t something she wanted flaunted, mostly because of her flying in from Houston every weekend to strip. The purpose behind it being that she didn’t want anyone she knows knowing about it. I assured her that I would leave her name out of it. She said that would work out for her but if I needed a name I could refer to her by her stage name, “Yoshi”.
We were sitting in our friend Paris’s living room of his apartment. Where we had first met about a month ago. She stays with Paris on the weekends and since I’m always over there hanging out, we got to know each other and it didn’t take long for us to form a friendship The room consisted of two glass tables with high leather chairs and also two red and white suede couches. We sat comfortably on the couches going over the interview. She’s a cute little Vietnamese with black hair with a blonde strip for bangs. She’s very light skinned with a well toned body. She was wearing sweat pants and a t-shirt. It was mid-day afternoon. She had gotten off work at four o’clock in the morning, so she was just waking up. She seemed tired and worn out and her face seemed to still contain small amounts of eye make-up. She snuggled up with a blanket from LSU, while I interviewed her.
I asked her small questions first, things like, “where are you from?” and “Why be a stripper?” Her answers were straight forward and to the point. She said she was from Vietnam and she had come over with her family when she was very young. From the serious lack of money, she had developed a fondness for money. That was her purpose in occupying a position as a stripper. Her need for money supplied her with the drive and courage to attempt stripping. Granted, she’s not proud with her choice of work but she knows where the money is. I asked her she came about to stripping. She said that she attended school in Texas but she had friends here in Louisiana. They were constantly calling her asking her to come down and visit. One particular friend, Paris, who she had met in high school, had even told her that his place was always open for her. “Yoshi” began thinking about the possibilities of coming down to New Orleans. She decided that it would be financially beneficial to spend the weekends in New Orleans working.
She knew there was money in being a stripper from once working as a bartender and seeing how the dancers racked up a large sum of money. So, she packed her things and made her way to New Orleans. She stepped into the bar, which I will remain nameless for the sake of the interviewee, and was disgusted at the very sight. It was a cheap and tacky décor for a club. There was red velvet everywhere. The booths, chairs, curtains, even the table cloths were tacky red velvet. She spoke with the owner of the bar and she was soon all set to strip. The owner was surprisingly nice guy. “Yoshi” had been expecting some sleazy, balding guy with a beer belly. The owner was dressed sharp in a button down and black dress pants. He appeared to be in very good shape. He spoke professionally and only took one glance to asses “Yoshi’s” physical traits. They set up payment and set her up for work that Friday.
The physical pain in her legs from the first night of dancing subsided and she settled into the job with ease, while still maintaining another life in Houston. She averages at least one thousand dollars a night. “Yoshi’s” facial expression changed at that moment. It seemed like she was taking a five second breather before starting up again.
She began again by saying that the money is great but it didn’t take her long after starting work to realize that there was more to strippers than she realized. Not just she but the other strippers working at the bar seemed to each hold a different story. “Yoshi” had held a skewed glimpse of New Orleans as being a sleazy town that she had never thought to consider the possibility that there might have been more to being a stripper than wanting some quick cash.
I asked her if the money came easy or were there more obscure things she had to do. She laughed and said there was one particular event that had provided her a lot of cash. She said one night when she was dancing, a customer asked her to go with him to a club. At first she was reluctant. The man was overweight and looked like he had that tired look on his face, as if he had spent too much time on the internet looking at porn. He said he would pay her a thousand dollars. “Yoshi” knew better than to pass up an opportunity like this one. She accepted his offer. The evening went fine. She got her money and just dropped her back off at the strip joint where her car was. I asked her if any of the other strippers did things like that. She said they get asked a lot but most of them more important things going on in their life, so they usually just want to dance and then go home.
“Yoshi” started to tell me how a few of these girls were mothers doing the best they could to support their families. They sacrificed their dignity and morals to feed and clothe their children. Some strippers were actual runaways that had no way of surviving without a means of income. They barely lived off the money they worked for. “Yoshi” gained a new perspective of her surroundings. She didn’t see strippers. She saw women, survivors and fighters. These women do something that many feel they are above. “Yoshi” interrupted herself for a moment to say that not all of these women are all that selfless; that there were a few trashy women that were in it for sick reasons, but the bulk of strippers wanted nothing more than to provide a life for their families or even just survive.
“Yoshi’s” voice got stronger as she said the final part of her interview. She said these women aren’t strippers. They are entertainers, using what they have left to live. In the beginning of her work there, she went in half heartedly, but soon after started going in knowing that she chose to work there and she knew what she was getting into. She stopped looking at it as a job and began seeing it as an artistic expression where she provides stimulating entertainment to the bars clientele. It’s not a job to her. It’s her second life. Sure, she may hide her identity but when she steps out onto that stage, she knows that the audience is there to see her and she gives her all every single time.
Joshua Pleming
Dancing to the speed of Cash
I recall her expression when I asked about participating in an online interview. She was shocked yet interested. I explained that it was for my English 1001 class. She was hesitant at first. She was worried about exposure of her double life. Being a stripper wasn’t something she wanted flaunted, mostly because of her flying in from Houston every weekend to strip. The purpose behind it being that she didn’t want anyone she knows knowing about it. I assured her that I would leave her name out of it. She said that would work out for her but if I needed a name I could refer to her by her stage name, “Yoshi”.
We were sitting in our friend Paris’s living room of his apartment. Where we had first met about a month ago. She stays with Paris on the weekends and since I’m always over there hanging out, we got to know each other and it didn’t take long for us to form a friendship The room consisted of two glass tables with high leather chairs and also two red and white suede couches. We sat comfortably on the couches going over the interview. She’s a cute little Vietnamese with black hair with a blonde strip for bangs. She’s very light skinned with a well toned body. She was wearing sweat pants and a t-shirt. It was mid-day afternoon. She had gotten off work at four o’clock in the morning, so she was just waking up. She seemed tired and worn out and her face seemed to still contain small amounts of eye make-up. She snuggled up with a blanket from LSU, while I interviewed her.
I asked her small questions first, things like, “where are you from?” and “Why be a stripper?” Her answers were straight forward and to the point. She said she was from Vietnam and she had come over with her family when she was very young. From the serious lack of money, she had developed a fondness for money. That was her purpose in occupying a position as a stripper. Her need for money supplied her with the drive and courage to attempt stripping. Granted, she’s not proud with her choice of work but she knows where the money is. I asked her she came about to stripping. She said that she attended school in Texas but she had friends here in Louisiana. They were constantly calling her asking her to come down and visit. One particular friend, Paris, who she had met in high school, had even told her that his place was always open for her. “Yoshi” began thinking about the possibilities of coming down to New Orleans. She decided that it would be financially beneficial to spend the weekends in New Orleans working.
She knew there was money in being a stripper from once working as a bartender and seeing how the dancers racked up a large sum of money. So, she packed her things and made her way to New Orleans. She stepped into the bar, which I will remain nameless for the sake of the interviewee, and was disgusted at the very sight. It was a cheap and tacky décor for a club. There was red velvet everywhere. The booths, chairs, curtains, even the table cloths were tacky red velvet. She spoke with the owner of the bar and she was soon all set to strip. The owner was surprisingly nice guy. “Yoshi” had been expecting some sleazy, balding guy with a beer belly. The owner was dressed sharp in a button down and black dress pants. He appeared to be in very good shape. He spoke professionally and only took one glance to asses “Yoshi’s” physical traits. They set up payment and set her up for work that Friday.
The physical pain in her legs from the first night of dancing subsided and she settled into the job with ease, while still maintaining another life in Houston. She averages at least one thousand dollars a night. “Yoshi’s” facial expression changed at that moment. It seemed like she was taking a five second breather before starting up again.
She began again by saying that the money is great but it didn’t take her long after starting work to realize that there was more to strippers than she realized. Not just she but the other strippers working at the bar seemed to each hold a different story. “Yoshi” had held a skewed glimpse of New Orleans as being a sleazy town that she had never thought to consider the possibility that there might have been more to being a stripper than wanting some quick cash.
I asked her if the money came easy or were there more obscure things she had to do. She laughed and said there was one particular event that had provided her a lot of cash. She said one night when she was dancing, a customer asked her to go with him to a club. At first she was reluctant. The man was overweight and looked like he had that tired look on his face, as if he had spent too much time on the internet looking at porn. He said he would pay her a thousand dollars. “Yoshi” knew better than to pass up an opportunity like this one. She accepted his offer. The evening went fine. She got her money and just dropped her back off at the strip joint where her car was. I asked her if any of the other strippers did things like that. She said they get asked a lot but most of them more important things going on in their life, so they usually just want to dance and then go home.
“Yoshi” started to tell me how a few of these girls were mothers doing the best they could to support their families. They sacrificed their dignity and morals to feed and clothe their children. Some strippers were actual runaways that had no way of surviving without a means of income. They barely lived off the money they worked for. “Yoshi” gained a new perspective of her surroundings. She didn’t see strippers. She saw women, survivors and fighters. These women do something that many feel they are above. “Yoshi” interrupted herself for a moment to say that not all of these women are all that selfless; that there were a few trashy women that were in it for sick reasons, but the bulk of strippers wanted nothing more than to provide a life for their families or even just survive.
“Yoshi’s” voice got stronger as she said the final part of her interview. She said these women aren’t strippers. They are entertainers, using what they have left to live. In the beginning of her work there, she went in half heartedly, but soon after started going in knowing that she chose to work there and she knew what she was getting into. She stopped looking at it as a job and began seeing it as an artistic expression where she provides stimulating entertainment to the bars clientele. It’s not a job to her. It’s her second life. Sure, she may hide her identity but when she steps out onto that stage, she knows that the audience is there to see her and she gives her all every single time.
Rebel With a Cause
Alexandra Collier
9 October 2007
English 1001 – 111
Rebel With a Cause
Christina Stein, known to most as Chris, is the mother of my best friend. When I was younger, Chris was always the “cool” mom. She was the mom who got to travel the world as a flight attendant and bring us back gifts from exotic places; the mom who did art projects with us, allowed us to color on the walls, and let us play in the rain. As I grew older she became the mother who practiced Rakii (healing with one’s hands); the mother who gave me advice when I couldn’t turn to my own; the mother who went to night school at Tulane University in order to receive her PhD in psychology. Now, as I am continuing to learn, I have realized that Chris is much more than the “cool” mom. She is a woman raising three children by herself, an extremely spiritual woman who has more faith than anyone I have ever known, and a woman in her late thirties living out her dream to become a psychologist.
Chris and I decided that the best place to conduct my LSU English interview with her would to be at her modest Midcity apartment in New Orleans. “If I’m going to tell you about my life, it might as well be in the place where most of my memories are.” On the day of the interview, Chris was dressed in what she usually wore; faded jeans cut off just above the knee, a tank top that exposed her bellybutton which was adorned with a tiny silver stud, white Converse tennis shoes, about twelve bangle bracelets on each wrist, and an assortment of silver rings on about eight of her ten fingers. Her hair, midnight black with the occasional silver strand, was wavy and unbrushed, like always, making her look almost electric. Her smile revealed her braces, a “cosmetic” procedure she had decided to get in her early thirties. Because of the stereotypes that are made about what doctors should look and dress like, most people never believe Chris when she tells them she is one. “I like it better that way. Being a rebel is in my blood. I’m not a doctor because I want people to know I’m one. I love my jobs, and I love that they are all different. It keeps me young!”
Chris was born into a southern, devout Christian family. Her father was a minister and against his wishes she married a Jewish man from Conneticut at the young age of 21. Later, she would come to realize that the only reason she married him was because she knew her family would disapprove. “The only reason I would not trade my marriage to my ex-husband for anything in the world is the three amazing children he gave me.” Right after she got married she chose a career as a flight attendant for Delta Airlines. I asked her why she chose this to be her job, since it didn’t allow her to express her creativity in anyway. She replied, “I didn’t care. I wanted to see the world. And now I get to fly on the weekends and come home to my children during the week.” She went on to explain how being a flight attendant was something that she started because she thought it would be exciting and adventurous to travel to places around the world and learn about customs and the lives of people living in other countries. This was how she picked up the art of Rakii and decided to practice every different religion she learned about.
It was not until Chris’s early thirties, when she was finally free of a marriage that had been crumbling for years, that she decided she was going to pursue her dream of becoming a psychologist. Sitting with her, a cat and a cup of hot tea with herbs and spices that she had grown herself on the table in front of me, I asked her, “why psychology?” She explained to me how from a very young age, she had always found herself helping people with their problems and analyzing people’s behaviors. “I always found it interesting to observe people. As a child I was kind of a loner. I would sit and just watch, making notes in my head about them. Sooner or later I was ready to learn as much as I could about the human mind and to actually be able to talk to people, not just sit back and watch.” She started attending night classes at Tulane University in New Orleans, and took off four years of flying in order to receive her degree in psychology. While studying, Chris decided to specialize in people with serious mental disorders such as schizophrenia.
“So what is a normal day like for you, as a psychologist?” I asked her. She explained how she mostly visits with people who have mild cases of schizophrenia. “I just talk to them, like I would with any other person. I don’t put myself above them or try to create any sort of authority. I think that calms them down and doesn’t make them feel intimidated.” She went on to explain how she gives them tests, and then has therapy sessions with each of them. I asked her what the hardest part of her job is has she told me that working with patients with paranoid schizophrenia was the most difficult. “I try so hard to make them believe that I am not trying to hurt them in anyway, but sometimes they just won’t believe you. It gets frustrating, but I just have to deal with it. Also, seeing families in so much pain that have a loved one with disorder really ways down on my heart. Other than those things, the only aspect of my job that I don’t like is having to wear that long, blinding white jacket.”
My last question for Chris was, “is becoming a psychologist worth everything that you had to give up, like flying and time with your kids and the money?” She got up and left the room. She returned with a large shoebox and set it down on the table. Inside was an assortment of letters, cards, drawings, and other pieces of paper, most of which looked as if they were made by young children. She removed them and spread them out over the table. “What are these?” I asked her. “These are the reason why I look back on everything that I had to give up and don’t regret even one second of it. They are all thank you letters from my patients.” Many of them were illegible, or rambled on about nothing relevant (Chris noted that it is because the mind of a schizophrenic person bounces from one thought to another), yet it was completely apparent that each of them was written to thank her for helping them.
9 October 2007
English 1001 – 111
Rebel With a Cause
Christina Stein, known to most as Chris, is the mother of my best friend. When I was younger, Chris was always the “cool” mom. She was the mom who got to travel the world as a flight attendant and bring us back gifts from exotic places; the mom who did art projects with us, allowed us to color on the walls, and let us play in the rain. As I grew older she became the mother who practiced Rakii (healing with one’s hands); the mother who gave me advice when I couldn’t turn to my own; the mother who went to night school at Tulane University in order to receive her PhD in psychology. Now, as I am continuing to learn, I have realized that Chris is much more than the “cool” mom. She is a woman raising three children by herself, an extremely spiritual woman who has more faith than anyone I have ever known, and a woman in her late thirties living out her dream to become a psychologist.
Chris and I decided that the best place to conduct my LSU English interview with her would to be at her modest Midcity apartment in New Orleans. “If I’m going to tell you about my life, it might as well be in the place where most of my memories are.” On the day of the interview, Chris was dressed in what she usually wore; faded jeans cut off just above the knee, a tank top that exposed her bellybutton which was adorned with a tiny silver stud, white Converse tennis shoes, about twelve bangle bracelets on each wrist, and an assortment of silver rings on about eight of her ten fingers. Her hair, midnight black with the occasional silver strand, was wavy and unbrushed, like always, making her look almost electric. Her smile revealed her braces, a “cosmetic” procedure she had decided to get in her early thirties. Because of the stereotypes that are made about what doctors should look and dress like, most people never believe Chris when she tells them she is one. “I like it better that way. Being a rebel is in my blood. I’m not a doctor because I want people to know I’m one. I love my jobs, and I love that they are all different. It keeps me young!”
Chris was born into a southern, devout Christian family. Her father was a minister and against his wishes she married a Jewish man from Conneticut at the young age of 21. Later, she would come to realize that the only reason she married him was because she knew her family would disapprove. “The only reason I would not trade my marriage to my ex-husband for anything in the world is the three amazing children he gave me.” Right after she got married she chose a career as a flight attendant for Delta Airlines. I asked her why she chose this to be her job, since it didn’t allow her to express her creativity in anyway. She replied, “I didn’t care. I wanted to see the world. And now I get to fly on the weekends and come home to my children during the week.” She went on to explain how being a flight attendant was something that she started because she thought it would be exciting and adventurous to travel to places around the world and learn about customs and the lives of people living in other countries. This was how she picked up the art of Rakii and decided to practice every different religion she learned about.
It was not until Chris’s early thirties, when she was finally free of a marriage that had been crumbling for years, that she decided she was going to pursue her dream of becoming a psychologist. Sitting with her, a cat and a cup of hot tea with herbs and spices that she had grown herself on the table in front of me, I asked her, “why psychology?” She explained to me how from a very young age, she had always found herself helping people with their problems and analyzing people’s behaviors. “I always found it interesting to observe people. As a child I was kind of a loner. I would sit and just watch, making notes in my head about them. Sooner or later I was ready to learn as much as I could about the human mind and to actually be able to talk to people, not just sit back and watch.” She started attending night classes at Tulane University in New Orleans, and took off four years of flying in order to receive her degree in psychology. While studying, Chris decided to specialize in people with serious mental disorders such as schizophrenia.
“So what is a normal day like for you, as a psychologist?” I asked her. She explained how she mostly visits with people who have mild cases of schizophrenia. “I just talk to them, like I would with any other person. I don’t put myself above them or try to create any sort of authority. I think that calms them down and doesn’t make them feel intimidated.” She went on to explain how she gives them tests, and then has therapy sessions with each of them. I asked her what the hardest part of her job is has she told me that working with patients with paranoid schizophrenia was the most difficult. “I try so hard to make them believe that I am not trying to hurt them in anyway, but sometimes they just won’t believe you. It gets frustrating, but I just have to deal with it. Also, seeing families in so much pain that have a loved one with disorder really ways down on my heart. Other than those things, the only aspect of my job that I don’t like is having to wear that long, blinding white jacket.”
My last question for Chris was, “is becoming a psychologist worth everything that you had to give up, like flying and time with your kids and the money?” She got up and left the room. She returned with a large shoebox and set it down on the table. Inside was an assortment of letters, cards, drawings, and other pieces of paper, most of which looked as if they were made by young children. She removed them and spread them out over the table. “What are these?” I asked her. “These are the reason why I look back on everything that I had to give up and don’t regret even one second of it. They are all thank you letters from my patients.” Many of them were illegible, or rambled on about nothing relevant (Chris noted that it is because the mind of a schizophrenic person bounces from one thought to another), yet it was completely apparent that each of them was written to thank her for helping them.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Father To Many
Brad Esta
English 1001-111
Lei Lani Michele
Profile
Father to Many
For my student interview I chose to write about Joey Schweitzer, I have known him since my junior year in high school, when he was a religion teacher. He is a happily married man with four children and fifth on the way. Many times when walking around school I have seen him on his cell phone talking to his making sure she was okay, and that everything was alright at home. With all of those children, especially at a young age and another on the way, I use to think that he never had time for anything else except for his job, taking care of his kids, and helping his wife the best he could while she was pregnant. On the contrary, just this past year he had taken another job at my local church.
I have no idea how it does it, but now he had another job besides being a teacher. He took over as the leader of the adults (CORE) of my youth group in my hometown church parish. Even though he also had a teaching job, a wife, and four children at home to attend to it always amazed me how he always had time to talk to the teens in the parish if they were having any trouble and needed someone to talk to. It is a job that I have come to believe fits him perfectly. Whenever someone is talking to him, he always gives you the sense of protection that no matter what is wrong you can always go to him to talk about it. He has shown me that no matter how busy he is he will always be there for the teens to turn to.
Joey is the youth minister at my church parish, Our Lady of Divine Providence, (O.L.D.P). Joey told me that this job consisted of many different parts, "We have to constantly keep up with new events to register for, keep up with the budget, have CORE team meetings, and prepare the information we give to the teens." The CORE team is a group of adults that help the youth leader carry out the massage they hope to get across to the teens. Besides all of this Joey told me that he feels that the most important job is to lead the teens closer to Christ. When asked if he had one message that he would want every teen to know he told me, "I think it is important that every teen know that God loves them and they need Christ." Joey has always been insightful to me, and being a youth minister is something that I have considered being later in my life.
Now with his fifth child on the way he has to do even more, especially around the house to help out his wife. But yet he still has time for the young teens in the parish. He is a person that always seems worried about everyone else, doing his best to make them feel as comfortable as possible. He would always thank me for when I would play with his kids, and always tell me, " I hope they grow up to be as caring and helpful as you." I always thank him for the complement, but I believe that they already have a great role model in their dad.
No matter what time it is he is always willing to help, even if he does have other things he needs to be doing. I believe that he puts the teens before every other aspect of his job. He has been a very important role model in my life, he has showed me no matter what’s going on in my personal life I should always try to help others that need help. He is very giving and expects nothing in return, always willing to help in anyway he can just to make the teens lives a little easier, even if it means taking time out of his day. I wish there could be more people like Joey in the Louisiana community.
Even through all of this he still finds time to play guitar in the church band every once in a while. Thinking of all the things he does I am more impressed everyday. He is also always very cheery person; I can not recall a time that I have seen him angry or upset. He might not be happy with things he sees or hears from teens, but he does not judge them he just does his best to help them out so that they can live a better life.
Joey told me that the damage that Hurricane Katrina did to his was downed fences. Other than that he evacuated all the way up to Ohio, when I asked him why he decided to go so far up he told me that he went up there to reunite with old friends that he went to college with but have moved away. Although the hurricane did not damage his house, Joey told how it was emotionally difficult to be away from home for two months without knowing anything about his house. Now that he is back home, and the hurricane past him, he does his best to help out all those teens that seek his help.
English 1001-111
Lei Lani Michele
Profile
Father to Many
For my student interview I chose to write about Joey Schweitzer, I have known him since my junior year in high school, when he was a religion teacher. He is a happily married man with four children and fifth on the way. Many times when walking around school I have seen him on his cell phone talking to his making sure she was okay, and that everything was alright at home. With all of those children, especially at a young age and another on the way, I use to think that he never had time for anything else except for his job, taking care of his kids, and helping his wife the best he could while she was pregnant. On the contrary, just this past year he had taken another job at my local church.
I have no idea how it does it, but now he had another job besides being a teacher. He took over as the leader of the adults (CORE) of my youth group in my hometown church parish. Even though he also had a teaching job, a wife, and four children at home to attend to it always amazed me how he always had time to talk to the teens in the parish if they were having any trouble and needed someone to talk to. It is a job that I have come to believe fits him perfectly. Whenever someone is talking to him, he always gives you the sense of protection that no matter what is wrong you can always go to him to talk about it. He has shown me that no matter how busy he is he will always be there for the teens to turn to.
Joey is the youth minister at my church parish, Our Lady of Divine Providence, (O.L.D.P). Joey told me that this job consisted of many different parts, "We have to constantly keep up with new events to register for, keep up with the budget, have CORE team meetings, and prepare the information we give to the teens." The CORE team is a group of adults that help the youth leader carry out the massage they hope to get across to the teens. Besides all of this Joey told me that he feels that the most important job is to lead the teens closer to Christ. When asked if he had one message that he would want every teen to know he told me, "I think it is important that every teen know that God loves them and they need Christ." Joey has always been insightful to me, and being a youth minister is something that I have considered being later in my life.
Now with his fifth child on the way he has to do even more, especially around the house to help out his wife. But yet he still has time for the young teens in the parish. He is a person that always seems worried about everyone else, doing his best to make them feel as comfortable as possible. He would always thank me for when I would play with his kids, and always tell me, " I hope they grow up to be as caring and helpful as you." I always thank him for the complement, but I believe that they already have a great role model in their dad.
No matter what time it is he is always willing to help, even if he does have other things he needs to be doing. I believe that he puts the teens before every other aspect of his job. He has been a very important role model in my life, he has showed me no matter what’s going on in my personal life I should always try to help others that need help. He is very giving and expects nothing in return, always willing to help in anyway he can just to make the teens lives a little easier, even if it means taking time out of his day. I wish there could be more people like Joey in the Louisiana community.
Even through all of this he still finds time to play guitar in the church band every once in a while. Thinking of all the things he does I am more impressed everyday. He is also always very cheery person; I can not recall a time that I have seen him angry or upset. He might not be happy with things he sees or hears from teens, but he does not judge them he just does his best to help them out so that they can live a better life.
Joey told me that the damage that Hurricane Katrina did to his was downed fences. Other than that he evacuated all the way up to Ohio, when I asked him why he decided to go so far up he told me that he went up there to reunite with old friends that he went to college with but have moved away. Although the hurricane did not damage his house, Joey told how it was emotionally difficult to be away from home for two months without knowing anything about his house. Now that he is back home, and the hurricane past him, he does his best to help out all those teens that seek his help.
Average Joe
When I first met Joe, he was surrounded by a group of high school teens, laughing and joking as if he was one of them. I acknowledged his sense of friendship, especially with his students, which he claimed to be his key to success. Joe was the director of bands at a well-established high school. He made sure to emphasize how much he loved his job and enjoyed his students’ love and passion for music. He was a middle-aged man, balding (but managed to keep the shine) with hair located mainly on his chin for a goatee. He smelled immensely of cologne, and dressed as if he were going out to eat at a nice restaurant or to a formal party, with his button-down, collared royal blue shirt that brought out his baby blue eyes and went perfectly with his blonde hair, or what was left of it. He was a friendly man and very easy to talk to, and I’m glad I chose to interview Joe for my LSU English 1001 student interview.
He was the leader of one of the finest bands in the state. In the fall his days were booked with two wind ensemble classes, two percussion classes, and two music appreciation classes. In his limited spare time, he had to organize and Xerox music and drill charts, which were lists of field locations of individual musicians for the halftime marching show, paint yard lines on the practice field, organize after school band rehearsals, schedule the marching festivals for the band to participate in and arrange for busses to bring them to and from the event, prepare lessons and homework for his music appreciation classes, and keep up with over 180 students as his own children. Even when Hurricane Katrina hit, the new band members from New Orleans, and surrounding areas, were like his own. He took great pride in his relationship with his students. He treated each of them as his own, loved them all equally, respected them as musicians, and treated them like adults. “The absolute best part of what I do is the chance to work with future adults.” His job wasn’t the easiest, claiming that he hardly had breaks for himself. He was constantly organizing and preparing itineraries for rehearsals, trips, football games, and pep rallies. He would get to school around 6:30 a.m. to teach the fifth through seventh grade students from the high school’s elementary feeder schools and wouldn’t leave the band hall some nights until 8:00 p.m. after marching rehearsals in the fall. He would never complain, however, because he loved every minute of it.
He has played the trumpet his entire life and loves to play it for himself and for others. Joe loves teaching music, “The reason I chose to do what I do is because I thought I could do a good job at it. I can't say it's because I had a life long desire to do it, but I thought I could do it, and do it well. I wasn't attracted to anything other than being successful and giving myself the chance to do something significant. I wanted to be a sportswriter, or have some role in a medical field, and I thought I could learn to do that, but I didn't know if I would be really good at that. When I was looking at things, I tried to look at what I thought I could be good at, instead of doing something I could do. I think that's a big difference.” The gift of music is truly that – it is a gift to be shared and embraced as a natural bond between even the most diverse people. This gift is not one to be kept hidden, but should be given to the public and shared with people, because it’s the only cultural barrier that can be easily surpassed. Anyone can enjoy music, no matter where they are from or what they do for a living.
About a year ago, he was offered a promotion at the school to Assistant Principal and Disciplinarian. Although he loved his music teaching job, he decided to take this position because of the raise in salary. With this came a real job. “It wasn’t fun anymore. I missed teaching and interacting with students.” To him, his job as director was not a job at all, but more of a fun activity that he could play at everyday. Now, he felt trapped in the corner office, with a telephone line and a computer and loads of paperwork. He had to attend all the important meetings because he was the fourth person in-charge. “The meetings I had to sit through all seemed to be related in some way and seemed to never end. They weren’t fun at all.” Consuming the most part of his day, he had to write detention and Saturday School slips and walk around the entire building and hand them out to the students. He began to find his job less and less interactive other than the times when he would be visited by the rule breakers. To add to his new “fun” duties, he was in charge of the discipline. When a student was sent to the front office for acting up in class, they were sent to him. He would constantly listen to the “I didn’t do anything wrong,” and “the teacher doesn’t know what she’s talking about.” He claimed to feel like a police officer questioning the guilty criminal. He quickly got tired of dealing with the trouble-makers of the school, and severely missed his band students. He misses his job so much, that next year he will return as band director. “I love it that much!”
Music is a job that relates to anyone, anywhere. Everyone listens to music and everyone has a style that they enjoy. “I don't think music changes the world, but I think it changes people, and changes people for the better. Therefore, my job is important and is vital to society.” It shapes who we are and has dramatic affects on the culture. Especially in the Louisiana community, music is the root of tradition. Music can influence all personalities. Without music, life would be bland and most would lose their connection to the world and their outlet to express themselves.
Profile Essay
Blake McDuffie
English 1001
Many people may take for granted the services the Social Services provide to the Baton Rouge and the greater Louisiana communities. We do not take the time to think about the deeds done by the Civil Services. They provide food stamps and prevent people from taking advantage of the system. Sarah Jones has been working for the Louisiana State welfare department since 1974 and can give a glimpse of Louisiana’s Civil service system.
Sarah Jones is responsible for tracking down people who have made fraudulent claims to gain welfare checks and illegal food stamps. Although she never intended to be working in a Civil service field, she does like the basic idea of her job, making sure people are not stealing from the government. Her job was made especially difficult during the "hectic" aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
The U.S. government had set it up so that people who had lost everything and were destitute. However, those who were already on welfare were not eligible to have both benefits and many tried to get them both. Many people, including state employees, took advantage of the fact that at the time, the computer system was not able to look into and check the people’s status and gave themselves, family and friends the benefits.
Mrs. Jones explained, "The people who made false claims and took benefits have since been tracked down and are now being made to pay back the money they took." Although the government cannot always catch people in the act, eventually they will find them. Besides, giving people welfare, when needed, during Katrina many state employees helped set up shelters and homes for refugees.
Mrs. Jones got into the Civil services almost by accident. She studied history while in college and then studied to be a librarian. But she ended up flunking out of her librarian studies and took the Civil Service test. She passed and was offered a job.
"Career aptitude tests I took when I was younger said I would be good at it," referring to the Civil Services. This just goes to show that you never know what career you may end up doing.
English 1001
Many people may take for granted the services the Social Services provide to the Baton Rouge and the greater Louisiana communities. We do not take the time to think about the deeds done by the Civil Services. They provide food stamps and prevent people from taking advantage of the system. Sarah Jones has been working for the Louisiana State welfare department since 1974 and can give a glimpse of Louisiana’s Civil service system.
Sarah Jones is responsible for tracking down people who have made fraudulent claims to gain welfare checks and illegal food stamps. Although she never intended to be working in a Civil service field, she does like the basic idea of her job, making sure people are not stealing from the government. Her job was made especially difficult during the "hectic" aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
The U.S. government had set it up so that people who had lost everything and were destitute. However, those who were already on welfare were not eligible to have both benefits and many tried to get them both. Many people, including state employees, took advantage of the fact that at the time, the computer system was not able to look into and check the people’s status and gave themselves, family and friends the benefits.
Mrs. Jones explained, "The people who made false claims and took benefits have since been tracked down and are now being made to pay back the money they took." Although the government cannot always catch people in the act, eventually they will find them. Besides, giving people welfare, when needed, during Katrina many state employees helped set up shelters and homes for refugees.
Mrs. Jones got into the Civil services almost by accident. She studied history while in college and then studied to be a librarian. But she ended up flunking out of her librarian studies and took the Civil Service test. She passed and was offered a job.
"Career aptitude tests I took when I was younger said I would be good at it," referring to the Civil Services. This just goes to show that you never know what career you may end up doing.
A Glimpse of Louisiana Under the Canopy
Dave Marley Dixon 
Ms. Lei Lani Michel
English 1001
Profile
Franklin Williams’ job is to artistically and safely reshape the skyline. Franklin Baton Rouge , Louisiana Franklin Louisiana Franklin
Franklin Williams was born and raised in
Underneath
When I asked him about the large amounts of business that comes with hurricanes he said, “I honestly, despite all the profits, do not like making money off of other people’s misfortune.” This showed that deep inside this man’s main goal was based on the intent to help people. Whenever a hurricane forms in the gulf, regardless of its course, people call him constantly in fear of the nearest tree potentially falling on their house. I asked “Do you at least get excited even when the hurricanes do not pose a threat to your area?” He responded “I have seen what they can do to property and it hurts me every time I think about it.” “During Hurricane Katrina in September of 2005 my business received the most calls it has ever received. The phone was off the hook for six months, seven days a week.” He said with a frown, and explained that he did not normally have to work everyday in a week and was at first resistant to the change. During this time, some of the rules of small business were changed by the Department of Wildlife because of the desperate demand of the community. These small changes included the disposal methods of the chopped up wood. Instead of having to dump all the wood off at a designated spot at the levee, Arbor Vitae would just have to drag it to the street corner where the city would handle it from there. This joint partnership with the city allowed
To end my interview for my LSU English class I asked
Police Officers in Our Community
Adam Milling
Mrs. Michel
English 1001
October 14, 2007
Police Officers in Our Community
In our LSU community there are many people that are over looked. Some of these are by accident, some on purpose, but all in all we do not appreciate many of the things they do. A few of these are janitors, garbage men, and even the people who cook our food every day but I chose another profession. The person I interviewed is a police officer. His name is David Wallace and he works with the Baton Rouge Police Force. He is tall with short brown hair, and a thin yet muscular build. This essay will give a description of being a police officer in today’s world, from his point of view.
Born on March 25, 1972 and raised in Watson, Louisiana David’s mind was set on the fact that he would be a motorcycle police officer when he grew up because his father had been a Baton Rouge Motorcycle Police Officer in his childhood and he admired what his father did and was inspired by the sense of pride he got from his work. Also, when he was a teenager he thought about being a professional bull rider but the actuality was his dream was to follow in his father’s footsteps. After high school he did not pursue further education due to this dream. Now, a thirty five year old man, he has been an officer with the Baton Rouge Police Department. To take a step back for a second, first David had to go through training to get where he is today. His training was a demanding twenty one weeks long at the police academy to become a police officer. Next, each new officer must wait for six months of riding with a veteran officer before they are set out on their own. Once his training was done he became a cadet in the Crime Information Unit. He then attended the 57th Basic Training Academy in 1994. After he graduated this academy he was assigned to uniform Patrol 1st District where he spent approximately eight months. Later he decided to transfer to a different department. He had to go through more training upon making his decision to transferring to the Solo Motorcycle Division. This training consisted of eighty hours of basic riding lessons. After those eighty hours were successfully completed, David was required to ride along with a Certified Motorcycle officer for one hundred and twenty hours to gain his independence. David is now in two different departments. He is both in the Solo-Motorcycle Division and the Special Response Team. There are many duties required by each of these units. One priority of the Solo Motorcycle Division is to enforce the traffic laws throughout Baton Rouge and ensure that there is a safe and efficient flow of traffic through the city at all times. Also, the Solo Motorcycle Division is responsible for all special events that occur as well as the escort of dignitaries. Likewise, the Special Response Team (SRT) is also responsible for special events and dignitaries along with other tasks. One of these is the resolving of situations that have a high potential to for violence and even events that have potential to become a violent situation. A few of these situations include, but are not limited to, barricaded subjects, hostage or crisis situations, sniper incidents, high risk search or arrest warrants, suicidal situations, and as I stated earlier dignitary escort and protection.
When asked how the job of being a police officer affected his life, David answered that it forces him to live at a higher standard because the unstated rule of a police officer is to be a role model for society. During the course of the interview for my English 1001 paper David stated, “after working in this profession for a period of time, all of the high risk encounters becomes a way of life.” He also mentioned that “as a member on the SRT we do a lot of high risk entries. When making the entries we wear special bullet proof entry vest, ballistic helmets, and carry AR15 assault rifles.” David stated that he had to put on this gear approximately two weeks ago, his SRT team was called out on a high risk warrant execution in Baton Rouge. He informed me that the information that was given to his team was that an undercover narcotics officer had made a large cocaine from a single family home and the officer was scheduled to return to the home to make another large buy from this family. David stated the severity of the situation when he told me that, “there were small children known to be present, as well as the grandmother of one of the suspects”. The men they were after were three black males. Their names were unknown but all of them were known to carry guns. Also making the situation more critical was that the suspects were believed to be on high alert because they were having a turf war with other rival gang members in the area. “Our assignment was to make entry into the home, take every one present and securing them. After doing so narcotics officers would search the home for the items they were looking for and interview the people who were detained. Then they will make the appropriate arrest.” These missions sound easy but are high risk when the suspects are armed. They arrived in an Armored SWAT Vehicle, also known as the Bear Cat, when they saw several men standing outside on the front porch. He said one of the men ran inside the house and once they arrived to the front door the men still outside were ordered to the ground and were immediately covered by team members. The team went into the home where they found the grandmother and two small children who were suspected to be inside sitting on the couch. As they continued moving through the home they came to a locked door where the man from the porch ran into. “We did not know if the male was destroying the drugs or maybe arming himself in fear of going to jail” David recollected thinking before entering the room. The door was breached and a flash bang, a device that makes a loud noise, a bright light, and produces smoke) was deployed. Once in the room the team observed the male reaching under the bed. He was secured and they later found out he was hiding cocaine which had a street value of approximately two hundred thousand dollars. Through further investigation of the house large amounts of drugs, several guns, and approximately one hundred and fifty thousand dollars in twenty dollar bills, of drug money was discovered and taken off of the streets. Thankfully no one was hurt during the raid. The three men were arrested, and among them one of which had a warrant for his arrest for murder.
When Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana it rocked our LSU community and with that the jobs of the people in this community. One effect of Katrina on David’s work was there were a lot more cars driving around in Baton Rouge which meant there were more accidents happening along with more traffic laws being broken. Also, another effect of Katrina was that David was required to work more. He had to change from working eight hours days five days a week to twelve hour days seven days a week. Even with the added hours and increase of traffic in Baton Rouge David says there are no doubts or regrets he has about his job. With that said there are still things he does not like about his job like the one hundred plus degree days in July and August. Also, he wishes that the court system would become less lenient and more unforgiving to repeat offenders.
When asked what he believed his future plans for his job were, David replied that he would continue working for the Solo Motorcycle Division as a Supervisor and for the Special Response Team until his retirement in another 13 years at the early age of forty eight. In a more personal note he says after his retirement he is just going to enjoy life and maybe even work for the Harley Davidson Corporation teaching motorcycle lessons to incoming officers. Lastly, I asked David what he thinks the affect on society would be if his profession did not exist and his answer was, “without officers to enforce the laws the world would be chaos.” Hopefully, this essay gave a glimpse of Louisiana and one of its professions that is very easily over looked in our Baton Rouge community.
Mrs. Michel
English 1001
October 14, 2007
Police Officers in Our Community
In our LSU community there are many people that are over looked. Some of these are by accident, some on purpose, but all in all we do not appreciate many of the things they do. A few of these are janitors, garbage men, and even the people who cook our food every day but I chose another profession. The person I interviewed is a police officer. His name is David Wallace and he works with the Baton Rouge Police Force. He is tall with short brown hair, and a thin yet muscular build. This essay will give a description of being a police officer in today’s world, from his point of view.
Born on March 25, 1972 and raised in Watson, Louisiana David’s mind was set on the fact that he would be a motorcycle police officer when he grew up because his father had been a Baton Rouge Motorcycle Police Officer in his childhood and he admired what his father did and was inspired by the sense of pride he got from his work. Also, when he was a teenager he thought about being a professional bull rider but the actuality was his dream was to follow in his father’s footsteps. After high school he did not pursue further education due to this dream. Now, a thirty five year old man, he has been an officer with the Baton Rouge Police Department. To take a step back for a second, first David had to go through training to get where he is today. His training was a demanding twenty one weeks long at the police academy to become a police officer. Next, each new officer must wait for six months of riding with a veteran officer before they are set out on their own. Once his training was done he became a cadet in the Crime Information Unit. He then attended the 57th Basic Training Academy in 1994. After he graduated this academy he was assigned to uniform Patrol 1st District where he spent approximately eight months. Later he decided to transfer to a different department. He had to go through more training upon making his decision to transferring to the Solo Motorcycle Division. This training consisted of eighty hours of basic riding lessons. After those eighty hours were successfully completed, David was required to ride along with a Certified Motorcycle officer for one hundred and twenty hours to gain his independence. David is now in two different departments. He is both in the Solo-Motorcycle Division and the Special Response Team. There are many duties required by each of these units. One priority of the Solo Motorcycle Division is to enforce the traffic laws throughout Baton Rouge and ensure that there is a safe and efficient flow of traffic through the city at all times. Also, the Solo Motorcycle Division is responsible for all special events that occur as well as the escort of dignitaries. Likewise, the Special Response Team (SRT) is also responsible for special events and dignitaries along with other tasks. One of these is the resolving of situations that have a high potential to for violence and even events that have potential to become a violent situation. A few of these situations include, but are not limited to, barricaded subjects, hostage or crisis situations, sniper incidents, high risk search or arrest warrants, suicidal situations, and as I stated earlier dignitary escort and protection.
When asked how the job of being a police officer affected his life, David answered that it forces him to live at a higher standard because the unstated rule of a police officer is to be a role model for society. During the course of the interview for my English 1001 paper David stated, “after working in this profession for a period of time, all of the high risk encounters becomes a way of life.” He also mentioned that “as a member on the SRT we do a lot of high risk entries. When making the entries we wear special bullet proof entry vest, ballistic helmets, and carry AR15 assault rifles.” David stated that he had to put on this gear approximately two weeks ago, his SRT team was called out on a high risk warrant execution in Baton Rouge. He informed me that the information that was given to his team was that an undercover narcotics officer had made a large cocaine from a single family home and the officer was scheduled to return to the home to make another large buy from this family. David stated the severity of the situation when he told me that, “there were small children known to be present, as well as the grandmother of one of the suspects”. The men they were after were three black males. Their names were unknown but all of them were known to carry guns. Also making the situation more critical was that the suspects were believed to be on high alert because they were having a turf war with other rival gang members in the area. “Our assignment was to make entry into the home, take every one present and securing them. After doing so narcotics officers would search the home for the items they were looking for and interview the people who were detained. Then they will make the appropriate arrest.” These missions sound easy but are high risk when the suspects are armed. They arrived in an Armored SWAT Vehicle, also known as the Bear Cat, when they saw several men standing outside on the front porch. He said one of the men ran inside the house and once they arrived to the front door the men still outside were ordered to the ground and were immediately covered by team members. The team went into the home where they found the grandmother and two small children who were suspected to be inside sitting on the couch. As they continued moving through the home they came to a locked door where the man from the porch ran into. “We did not know if the male was destroying the drugs or maybe arming himself in fear of going to jail” David recollected thinking before entering the room. The door was breached and a flash bang, a device that makes a loud noise, a bright light, and produces smoke) was deployed. Once in the room the team observed the male reaching under the bed. He was secured and they later found out he was hiding cocaine which had a street value of approximately two hundred thousand dollars. Through further investigation of the house large amounts of drugs, several guns, and approximately one hundred and fifty thousand dollars in twenty dollar bills, of drug money was discovered and taken off of the streets. Thankfully no one was hurt during the raid. The three men were arrested, and among them one of which had a warrant for his arrest for murder.
When Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana it rocked our LSU community and with that the jobs of the people in this community. One effect of Katrina on David’s work was there were a lot more cars driving around in Baton Rouge which meant there were more accidents happening along with more traffic laws being broken. Also, another effect of Katrina was that David was required to work more. He had to change from working eight hours days five days a week to twelve hour days seven days a week. Even with the added hours and increase of traffic in Baton Rouge David says there are no doubts or regrets he has about his job. With that said there are still things he does not like about his job like the one hundred plus degree days in July and August. Also, he wishes that the court system would become less lenient and more unforgiving to repeat offenders.
When asked what he believed his future plans for his job were, David replied that he would continue working for the Solo Motorcycle Division as a Supervisor and for the Special Response Team until his retirement in another 13 years at the early age of forty eight. In a more personal note he says after his retirement he is just going to enjoy life and maybe even work for the Harley Davidson Corporation teaching motorcycle lessons to incoming officers. Lastly, I asked David what he thinks the affect on society would be if his profession did not exist and his answer was, “without officers to enforce the laws the world would be chaos.” Hopefully, this essay gave a glimpse of Louisiana and one of its professions that is very easily over looked in our Baton Rouge community.
Saving Lives
“Animals are not my whole life, but they make my life whole,” says Casey Daigle, someone who saves the lives of animals on a regular basis. She runs a non-profit rescue organization, in the Baton Rouge community, which focuses on companion animals. She has been in this business for nearly eight years now, and claims there is nothing else she would rather do than devote most of her time to these once homeless, but amazing pets who give us unconditional love and in some cases have even saved our lives.
Casey is a middle-aged woman of a petit stature. I have seen her many times when she would bring the rescued dogs and cats to the veterinary clinic in the Louisiana community, in which I work for. Every time I have seen her she would always have a smile on her face and a story to tell. Her blue eyes would light up with every story she told because they were usually stories about how her rescues had delightful endings, as many of them do. She is a compassionate, loving person, and always willing to do whatever she can to help even if that means fostering animals at her own home. I find these characteristics necessary for a person in her line of work because of the endless hours of care one must provide to the sick or newborn animals while receiving nothing more than joy and satisfaction for her hard work. I believe she stated it well when she told me “I have to be devoted to these animals and take on a lot of responsibilities in order to give them the life they deserve.”
Casey grew up in Monroe, which is in North Louisiana, and always had multiple pets as long as she can remember. Her and her brother took on the responsibilities of caring for their pets, such as feeding, bathing, and medicating them when needed; many of the responsibilities she still has in her own clinic. Therefore, she learned the responsibilities that came with pets at a young age. She always knew she wanted to work with animals when she was younger, and as you can see her dream came true. Besides working with her own pets, Casey took a job at a veterinary clinic while in high school in order to take a step in the direction of fulfilling her dream. She worked at a few different clinics after high school for a total of nine years before she was introduced to someone who worked for a companion animal rescue organization. After talking to this person she decided to go work with her, where she later gained enough experience to open her own rescuing organization and finally get to the point in her life where she is today.
Casey owns her own facility where she houses the stray animals. There are several metal cages usually large enough to house three or four of its inhabitants. The cages are large to make sure the animals have more than enough room to move around, play, etc. They are made of metal to keep the animals from chewing through them, which can be a problem if more than one animal gets loose at the same time and they do not get along. The facility also has a large fenced in back yard, in which the dogs are allowed to run around in and develop their social skills with other dogs and peopleunless they are aggressive towards other dogs. In those cases, they are not allowed around any of the other dogs to ensure their safety. The cats have large rooms full of toys to play in and other cats if they can get along with one another, which is rare with older cats but usually common with kittens. Every day Casey or another volunteer for the organization allows the cats and dogs to get out of their cages to have play time in these designated areas. At the facility, she also has a place where she or someone else can bathe the animals that are simply dirty or need a special medicated bath. Both the facility and the animals are kept clean in order to control odor, which is a problem in many boarding or "pet hotel" facilities. Much of the cleaning is done by Casey, which is another responsibility that comes along with the job.
To give the interview significance, I ask her what the significance of her job is, Casey replied, “No one wants an animal that is in the condition we receive them in, except for us. For this reason we take them in, doctor them up, and make them presentable so people will want them. Without people like me the animals that live on our streets and have close to nothing to eat, would only spread diseases and die of starvation and/or dehydration.” She also made a point that these strays would eventually interact with our outside pets and possibly spread diseases to them. She also receives pets from people who simply do not want their pets any more, cannot afford to take care of them, or are incapable of taking care of them. Again, without someone to take those pets in they would be euthanized. Loving pets would be killed for something far beyond their control. Not only does Casey make a difference in the lives of the animals she adopts out, but many people would agree that those pets have changed their lives. Casey claims, “They have found loving companions in these once homeless pets.”
To stress the importance of her job, Casey told me of a time when one of the dogs she rescued and adopted out saved its family’s lives. Their house caught on fire and unfortunately their smoke detectors did not work. The once stray dog woke the mother of the household up by continuously barking and licking her face. If the dog would not have awakened someone they may not have gotten up until it was too late and could possibly be dead right now. When Casey received this dog, it was malnourished and full of several types of worms. If she would not have rescued that dog and nursed it back to health, not only would the dog have died within the next week, but that family it rescued could possibly be dead as well. There is another story she told me that proved the significance of her job. She said that some of the dogs that work for the police force were adopted from her organization. These dogs provide security for our neighborhoods by helping find runaway criminals, sniffing out drugs in certain places, and so much more. Without dogs in these positions, our security would not be at the level it is today.
Casey’s organization received many misplaced and abandoned pets after Hurricane Katrina. Being a rescue organization in Louisiana, she felt she had an obligation to help those pets find their owners or new owners if necessary. She took in close to twenty pets from the New Orleans area, and nursed the injured ones at no expense to the owner when located. She helped to find those pet’s owners by repeatedly placing ads in the newspapers and online. She also made fliers and searched for people via the numbers on the rabies tag. With research, she found some addresses to where the pets lived, which narrowed the search for families a little. Eventually she found most of the owners, but for the pets whose owners she could not find, she kept them for eight months after the hurricane, and then began adopting them out to those who met her adoption qualifications. The qualifications vary with the animals, but some examples are must have fenced in yards, availability to keep certain pets inside, not having children with certain pets, etc.
Casey does not get paid to do this job, so when asked why she does it if there is no cash in return, which is the reason for or at least a perk of other’s employment, she replied, “I love what I do because I know I am making a difference in the lives of both animals and humans. I do not do it for money. I do it because I hate to see animals walking around on the streets full of parasites, starving, not being able to feed their babies, and getting ran over. I save them and allow them to have a good home and the chance at life that they deserve.” She said she did like her other jobs she previously had, but she feels there just are not enough people doing the kind of work she does now and not many people will because it is so difficult. Although she does depend on people in the positions she once held, such as the Veterinarian Assistants, to help treat her rescued pets, she obviously loves her job and will never leave the business she is in now as long as she is capable to work. She is excited to finally have found the perfect job for her. In my opinion she carries out her organization’s motto “Saving lives one stray at a time.”
Publisher: Crystal Dozier
Before Casey's Help
After Casey's Help
Casey is a middle-aged woman of a petit stature. I have seen her many times when she would bring the rescued dogs and cats to the veterinary clinic in the Louisiana community, in which I work for. Every time I have seen her she would always have a smile on her face and a story to tell. Her blue eyes would light up with every story she told because they were usually stories about how her rescues had delightful endings, as many of them do. She is a compassionate, loving person, and always willing to do whatever she can to help even if that means fostering animals at her own home. I find these characteristics necessary for a person in her line of work because of the endless hours of care one must provide to the sick or newborn animals while receiving nothing more than joy and satisfaction for her hard work. I believe she stated it well when she told me “I have to be devoted to these animals and take on a lot of responsibilities in order to give them the life they deserve.”
Casey grew up in Monroe, which is in North Louisiana, and always had multiple pets as long as she can remember. Her and her brother took on the responsibilities of caring for their pets, such as feeding, bathing, and medicating them when needed; many of the responsibilities she still has in her own clinic. Therefore, she learned the responsibilities that came with pets at a young age. She always knew she wanted to work with animals when she was younger, and as you can see her dream came true. Besides working with her own pets, Casey took a job at a veterinary clinic while in high school in order to take a step in the direction of fulfilling her dream. She worked at a few different clinics after high school for a total of nine years before she was introduced to someone who worked for a companion animal rescue organization. After talking to this person she decided to go work with her, where she later gained enough experience to open her own rescuing organization and finally get to the point in her life where she is today.
Casey owns her own facility where she houses the stray animals. There are several metal cages usually large enough to house three or four of its inhabitants. The cages are large to make sure the animals have more than enough room to move around, play, etc. They are made of metal to keep the animals from chewing through them, which can be a problem if more than one animal gets loose at the same time and they do not get along. The facility also has a large fenced in back yard, in which the dogs are allowed to run around in and develop their social skills with other dogs and peopleunless they are aggressive towards other dogs. In those cases, they are not allowed around any of the other dogs to ensure their safety. The cats have large rooms full of toys to play in and other cats if they can get along with one another, which is rare with older cats but usually common with kittens. Every day Casey or another volunteer for the organization allows the cats and dogs to get out of their cages to have play time in these designated areas. At the facility, she also has a place where she or someone else can bathe the animals that are simply dirty or need a special medicated bath. Both the facility and the animals are kept clean in order to control odor, which is a problem in many boarding or "pet hotel" facilities. Much of the cleaning is done by Casey, which is another responsibility that comes along with the job.
To give the interview significance, I ask her what the significance of her job is, Casey replied, “No one wants an animal that is in the condition we receive them in, except for us. For this reason we take them in, doctor them up, and make them presentable so people will want them. Without people like me the animals that live on our streets and have close to nothing to eat, would only spread diseases and die of starvation and/or dehydration.” She also made a point that these strays would eventually interact with our outside pets and possibly spread diseases to them. She also receives pets from people who simply do not want their pets any more, cannot afford to take care of them, or are incapable of taking care of them. Again, without someone to take those pets in they would be euthanized. Loving pets would be killed for something far beyond their control. Not only does Casey make a difference in the lives of the animals she adopts out, but many people would agree that those pets have changed their lives. Casey claims, “They have found loving companions in these once homeless pets.”
To stress the importance of her job, Casey told me of a time when one of the dogs she rescued and adopted out saved its family’s lives. Their house caught on fire and unfortunately their smoke detectors did not work. The once stray dog woke the mother of the household up by continuously barking and licking her face. If the dog would not have awakened someone they may not have gotten up until it was too late and could possibly be dead right now. When Casey received this dog, it was malnourished and full of several types of worms. If she would not have rescued that dog and nursed it back to health, not only would the dog have died within the next week, but that family it rescued could possibly be dead as well. There is another story she told me that proved the significance of her job. She said that some of the dogs that work for the police force were adopted from her organization. These dogs provide security for our neighborhoods by helping find runaway criminals, sniffing out drugs in certain places, and so much more. Without dogs in these positions, our security would not be at the level it is today.
Casey’s organization received many misplaced and abandoned pets after Hurricane Katrina. Being a rescue organization in Louisiana, she felt she had an obligation to help those pets find their owners or new owners if necessary. She took in close to twenty pets from the New Orleans area, and nursed the injured ones at no expense to the owner when located. She helped to find those pet’s owners by repeatedly placing ads in the newspapers and online. She also made fliers and searched for people via the numbers on the rabies tag. With research, she found some addresses to where the pets lived, which narrowed the search for families a little. Eventually she found most of the owners, but for the pets whose owners she could not find, she kept them for eight months after the hurricane, and then began adopting them out to those who met her adoption qualifications. The qualifications vary with the animals, but some examples are must have fenced in yards, availability to keep certain pets inside, not having children with certain pets, etc.
Casey does not get paid to do this job, so when asked why she does it if there is no cash in return, which is the reason for or at least a perk of other’s employment, she replied, “I love what I do because I know I am making a difference in the lives of both animals and humans. I do not do it for money. I do it because I hate to see animals walking around on the streets full of parasites, starving, not being able to feed their babies, and getting ran over. I save them and allow them to have a good home and the chance at life that they deserve.” She said she did like her other jobs she previously had, but she feels there just are not enough people doing the kind of work she does now and not many people will because it is so difficult. Although she does depend on people in the positions she once held, such as the Veterinarian Assistants, to help treat her rescued pets, she obviously loves her job and will never leave the business she is in now as long as she is capable to work. She is excited to finally have found the perfect job for her. In my opinion she carries out her organization’s motto “Saving lives one stray at a time.”
Publisher: Crystal Dozier
Before Casey's Help
After Casey's Help
Emily and Baton Rouge
I am in freshman writing at LSU. Everyone in English 1001 was required to write a profile about a person that has made a significant difference in the community. This is a profile about a woman whose good humor, relaxed attitude, and friendliness help many people in the Baton Rouge community more than they might realize. She does many things to help out the community, such as being a friendly face and a helping hand for bus riders, working as secretary at her local union, being vice president in her mass choir, and volunteering when she has time.
I rode the bus to the Capital Area Transit System’s bus terminal to interview the woman that is almost always at the customer service desk. I thought that, “This is someone people should know. She always looks happy and never gets upset with customers.” I walked into the bright waiting room, up to the customer service desk where there were people in line. A large clock hung on the wall above the first person in line, who was complaining about having to pay for a bus pass. They stormed past me and out of the door. I looked past the line, to the person behind the desk. Framed in yellow and white by phone books and new bus fare notices taped to the glass partition was a short woman with brown skin, eyeglasses, and curled, frizzy hair held back with a headband. Around her neck was a blue lanyard with many keys on it. Her mouth was turned up in a perpetual grin. Since I was next in line now, I walked up to the desk and hunched over to speak under the glass. A refreshing stream of air moved past my face as I looked at the office. She was in a room about four yards wide and three yards deep. There was a phone on her left and one on her right. Posted on the wall behind her were signs showing the office hours, the refund policy, more new fare notices, and an inspirational plaque.
She looked at me with a level gaze when I started speaking and smiled bashfully and nodded when I asked her if I could interview her. Her name is Emily Maten. She is from Greensburg, Louisiana, a small town with no traffic lights. I asked her what she did when she was a child. She said she liked playing jacks and one of her first jobs was babysitting. Now she likes to read and go out to Live After Five with her friends to listen to old school jazz, gospel, and rhythm and blues. She has two daughters, two dogs, and one cat. She has a car, but takes the bus sometimes.
Emily has been working for CATS for eight years. Hired in 1999, she works six days a week, usually from 8:45 am to 5:45 pm. An older woman walked up to the desk and said, “Emily, Hey.” Emily said, “Hello.” I asked Emily what her favorite thing about her job is. She said the people are because there is “never a boring moment, a lot of drama.” She also is the secretary for her local union -1546 where they discuss bus company issues such as employment policies and pay raises. The phone on her right rings and she answers with, “Capital Area Transit”. It sounds like the person on the other end is asking about the Highland bus. “It’ll pick you up on Florida and 18th street. Yes ma’am, " said Emily. Emily has memorized the routes for 17 buses, but has the stop times at hand. When I asked how she thought CATS could be improved, she said they should have community bus meetings closer to the terminal and advertise more for them.
I asked Emily what her duties are for vice president for her church’s gospel choir. She keeps an account of who is in the choir and tells everyone what to wear for special anniversaries. She also gives the choir members tips on singing. I asked her if she could give me, an English 1001 student, a tip. Two girls appeared at the counter, though and asked, “When is the next Bluebonnet coming?” Emily told me to hold on a minute while she helped the girls. When she came back, she told me, “Always pay attention to the musician and the director of the choir. She also told me, “You got to feel the spirit and sing from your heart, so the congregation can feel the spirit.”
A man walked up and started gesturing with his hands and pointing to the buses outside. I think he was trying to figure out what bus to take. He wrote Emily a note and she wrote back the answer. Next I asked Emily what she did when she volunteered at the Baton Rouge River Center. She volunteered there after hurricane Katrina, while the bus terminal was closed for three days. She helped people find the buses that they needed to get to relatives. Emily helped one lady that was trying to go to Kentucky. Emily put her on a bus to Nashville, Tennessee where she could transfer onto a bus to Kentucky. When I asked Emily if she or the bus terminal was changed because of the hurricane she said it wasn’t. She also helped the Baton Rouge community by volunteering with Hands On Baton Rouge at the Sweet Dreams women’s shelter after work. She smiled and said that it was fun. She helped out at a big birthday party that the shelter held once a month.
When I was ready to go, I thanked Emily for her time and promised to bring her a copy of our interview. She smiled and nodded just like she had when I first asked to interview her. I think that this was a good topic for freshman writing at LSU. Through my English 1001 interview, I learned what it is like to have a good job, how to get leadership experience through volunteering, and how to experience more of the community. I enjoyed meeting and getting to know Emily and I hope that many people read this and go to see her.
by: Katie Clarke
Accountant
Tiffany Shaw
English 1001
Ms. Michel
15 October 2007
Accountant
English 1001
Ms. Michel
15 October 2007
Accountant
As I walked through the door of the high rise building the American Tower in downtown; the environment immediately seemed welcoming. People smiled at me, and asked if I needed anything, even though I could tell they were really busy running back and forth from each others offices trying to complete the work they had for that week. The interior of the building was decorated with bright color’s, with beautiful picture’s hanging from the wall, and artificial flower’s surrounding the visitor area. The noise in this building was nothing like other ones I had been in before. It was not filled with silence, but filled with lots of chatter and laughter. Everyone in the building seemed to be enjoying themselves. Another thing that made this building so unique was it was more modern then most buildings that have the old look and it was very spacious. As I sat in the visitors chairs I heard the receptionist say the name Mrs. Digilormo and I knew then that she was the one who I would be doing my student interview on. When I turned around in my chair to see what she looked like there was this lady with short brown hair to her shoulders, a skinny body frame, and blue eyes. She was wearing nice black pants, black high heel shoes, and a white shirt. I could tell by her attire she was a very professional person, because everything seemed so neat and went together perfectly. As I made my way toward the receptionist counter where Mrs. Digilormo was standing, the receptionist said, “Mrs. Digilormo there is the young lady you have been waiting to see to interview you.” She turned around and said, “Hello Tiffany it is nice to meet you. Why don’t we go to my office to talk.” Her office was really nice, and I could tell that she was a very organized person. Everything was neatly organized on her desk; she had pictures of her children on her desk with a beautiful view of the city from her window. Her office had an aroma of fresh clean linen from the candle that she had lit, making her office very relaxing and comforting.
Mrs. Digilormo explained to me that she was born and raised in Shreveport, LA and has a degree in the bachelor of business administration, and majored in accounting from Northwestern University in Natchitoches, LA. I asked, “Why did you choose to major in accounting?” She then explained “I have always loved working with numbers and spreadsheets.” She told me that basically an accountant reconcile bank accounts, collect receivable, cut checks for payables, maintain fixed asset records, handle payrolls, and prepare monthly financial statements. “Wow, that’s a lot of work for a person to do,” I said. She laughed and explained to me that sometimes it can be tough, but that once you do it for a while that you get use to it and can get it done fairly quickly. Mrs. Digilormo also said, “We need accountants in this world because they help to maintain financial records determine profitability of a company, and help people manage their money. I know that sometimes people do not think about being an accountant because it is not an easy major, but the truth is that if you work hard you can do it.”
Mrs. Digilormo has an extensive work experience. Her first real job as an accountant was working for Tango as a public accountant. She said that she really did not enjoy the job she had for that company because of the demanding hours, but she knew with determination and hard work that she could move on to a better job with better opportunity’s. After the Tango Company job she began working for the Campbell Company as a private accountant which is still the job that she has today. “I came about getting the Campbell job because a former employee had given notice, and informed the company she knew someone who would be perfect as her replacement, so you could say that I lucked out and that they found me,” said Mrs. Digilormo. She said that most people hate there job but that she loves hers mostly because of the atmosphere, and the people who she works with. What also makes her job great is that her task can be done at her own pace with only a few deadlines she must meet.
Mrs. Digilormo job starts out at 8 a.m. every day. When she first arrives in her office she gets on her laptop computer, and checks her email to see if there is anything new that she needs to do for that day. In the morning part of the day she prepares the monthly financial statement for that month. “That is the probably the hardest task of my job because I have to make sure that all of the numbers on the statements are precisely correct”, said Mrs. Digilormo. Once she has done that, from 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm she goes, and has lunch with her co-workers. The afternoon part is usually when Mrs. Digilormo will open the mail, answer the phones to answer clients’ questions, and file documents. Mrs. Digilormo day usually ends at 5:00 pm unless she has extra work to do in the office to meet a deadline. Outside of the office, Mrs. Digilormo enjoys spending time with her children and husband on the weekend since she only works Monday through Friday. She is like any other person and enjoys doing the normal things like cooking dinner for her family, going on vacations, and watching her children play soccer. She explained “I am the same person in the office as I am out of the office.” To me that meant that she is still a nice and wonderful person outside of the office like she is inside the office.
Since I knew that Mrs. Digilormo was living in Louisiana when Katrina had struck I decided to ask her if she had been affected or had anything to do with her job been affected. She explained to me that Katrina had not affected her personally, but that many companies in the Louisiana community had lost money because of hurricane Katrina. “I could not see anywhere in our financial reports after hurricane Katrina where it had affected the company that I work for majorly except for a little, and that is only because so many people were hurting financially,” said Mrs. Digilormo.
When it was my time to leave, I turned to Mrs. Digilormo and I said, “What advice can you give to inspiring students who are thinking about being an accountant?” “Public accounting requires lots of overtime, but is a great experience to make lots of contacts that can help you later in finding a better job. I would suggest you start in public accounting if you do not have children, and then move to corporate accounting, such as a factory or hospital, where the work house are more traditional and overtime is minimal. You might even get lucky as I did and work as a private accountant for a wealthy individual that can include more flexibility than the public or corporate world,” said Mrs. Digilormo.
After getting to know Mrs. Digilormo, she taught me that being organized, experience, and hard work can help to pay off to get a great job. I always thought that lots of business people who had really good jobs were always snobby, but I learned from Mrs. Digilormo that it pays off to be nice no matter if you are at work or out of your work environment and what it really takes to become an accountant. I have also realized that it is not worth staying at a job that you do not enjoy because better things are out in the world with great opportunities.
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