Interview date: 1/10/17 3:30

Coming into the Interview:

One of the hardest parts about preparing before the interview was getting the media kit. I did not have the first interview on my team, so I did not bring the media kit from the retreat. The interview was on some what of a short notice because she was going to be out of the country starting on the 12th (on a trip for her program). So we did not have a lot of time before the interview to pass the media kit. After a lot of brainstorming, we figured out that one of my teammates could drop it off on her way into Burlington.

I was pretty nervous for the interview. It was with Natalie Meyer a senior at CVU, who started the Refugee Outreach Club (R.O.C) at CVU. My teammate Greta originally contacted her, and I offered to interview her. Our team wanted to interview her because we thought that her club/organization was very close in relation to what we were working on. Before the interview I read her website about R.O.C. so that I would have a foundation, for some of my questions to be built around.

The main reason why I was nervous for the interview because, I was worried the technology was not going to work. I also missed the part of the last re-treat when we learned about how to interview people. My teammates filled me in one what I missed, but I was worried I was going to miss something. Before the interview I also set-up the camera and the microphone so I could make sure I knew what I was doing.

After the Interview:

It was not as bad as I thought it was going to be! Natalie was very nice and answered the questions just how we wanted people to answer them. I think that it was a great idea to interview her and she had a lot of valuable things to talk about. Most of the questions I asked her was about how/when/why she started the club, and how it has grown from the beginning. She told me that the R.O.C is in multiple schools around the state, even Middlebury college, and it is now a non-profit organization. It has grown so much since the beginning, and I think she has really helped high school students reach out and help New Vermonters and refugees. She explained that when you are enrolled in the club, every Saturday you go and help tutor students. You help them with homework, and they are working on finding a program that would help refugees learn English faster. Natalie said that part of why she is going on her trip is to learn about what the refugees would want when they come to the United States, and what programs would help them learn English best. This is an amazing program, and when I go into CVU next year I am going to look into going the club. I am eager to see how this program will evolve.