Christina Pratt
Interview Transcription
After waiting a short time looking for a private area, we finally decided to go to
the Peabody Auditorium. It is a huge place, with lecture hall seating. She, the
interviewee, sat in a chair and I sat on the table in front of her. I wanted her to feel
comfortable and to get comfortable so I told her she could sit anywhere or anyhow she
wanted. We were interrupted three times time during the interview which caused a few
disruptions in our interview. The first two interruptions were women on cell phones who
walked into the building and the third was a cleaning person. The teenager that I
interviewed had fake fingernails and she seemed to tap them whenever you was nervous
about the topic being discussed however, she was very open and honest.
I: So how old are you?
R: 15.
I: And when is your birthday?
R: July the 27th .
I: And where were you born?
R: Milledgeville, Georgia.
I: Ohhh ok. So what racial group do you identify yourself with? That is everything from
American Indian to Asian to Black to White, Hispanic, a combination?
R: African American.
I: Mmmk and do you go to church?
R: Yes ma’am.
I: What denomination?
R: Baptist.
I: Baptist... Is your church here in Milledgeville?
R: Yes ma’am.
I: Oh ok... Do you like it?
R: Yes ma’am because I attend the youth group.
I: Do you? I’m a youth director at the Episcopal Church here, that’s interesting. Do you
like living here?
R: It’s so so…
I: So so? What do you mean?
R: At times if can be boring but then at the same time I enjoy it because it has a lower
crime rate then other places that you see on the news and everything.
I: So you like to watch the news?
R: Oh yeah!
I: Does it scare you?
R: No, because Milledgeville is safe.
I: So where do you go to school?
R: Georgia College Early College.
I: Do you like it here?
R: So so. Uhm I have my moments but most of the time it’s ok and everything ends up
kind of fine.
I: So what’s your favorite part of going here?
R: The part when I get to start my college classes, like three months, with me only being
in the 10th grade but I’m finished with my high school curriculum. And I’m gonna have,
by the time my real 12th grade year in 2012, I’ll already have a two year associates
degree, if I keep my grades up.
I: Oh ok, so you actually go over to GCSU and take classes and sit in with the college
kids?
R: Yes, in about three to four months
I: So do you get grades from here or do you get grades from the teachers there? Is it like
actually being in college or…
R: Yeah! In like three months we’re gonna be in the classroom with the professors.
I: So what is your least favorite part?
R: Uhmmm *looks around* Uhhhh *whispers* the teachers.
I: Really? Why?
R: Because some of them I don’t enjoy being around
I: What do you mean? Are they mean or rude or…
R: Some act our age when they’re supposed to be our teachers and they don’t have the
patience especcciiaallly (especially) in the morning.
I: I understand. So, when you first get to school what do you do?
R: Uhm what do I do when I get to school? I, uh, go sit down and try to talk to my
teachers for awhile because I get here kind of early because I’m a car rider in the morning
time so I like to just sit down and talk to my teacher for awhile until everyone gets here.
I: So do you guys have buses that pick you up as well and you just don’t ride the bus?
R: No, the middle school of the Early College goes to Oak Hill, it’s the middle school for
Milledgeville and we have a bus, well two buses, one takes us to the high school and one
for the middle school students so we catch the buses from our regular public school and
then Putnam County students have a bus to take them back to Putnam County.
I: So what about during lunch? What do you do?
R: I normally try to go to the Chick-fil-a or Einstein or the library to study for my next
class and chill for that 30 minutes.
I: So how is your lunch set up? Do they just let you have 30 minutes and you go
wherever you want to?
R: Yes the high school get to go wherever they want to go.
I: Do you have certain people that you like to go to lunch with or do you go by yourself?
R: Sometimes I be alone but I try to get along with everyone so I don’t have no kind of
drama problems.
I: So who do you hang out with while you’re here?
R: I have, she’s my cousin, so I be with her. Her name is Christina. Then I be with my
other cousin Jessica, and another friend Haley but she just be... well, she left.
I: She left the Early College?
R: Yes, she left for good.
I: Oh…
R: Well, she dropped out.
I: Oh, so did she just go back to regular high school?
R: Noooooo, she dropped out, out out. She wanna go to GED school
I: Oh.. really?
R: Yeahhh and it was kind of shocking because she was like my best friend at the time so
I wasn’t thinking that would happen but it did.
I: Well, do you talk to her still?
R: Uhm I talk to her but I try to keep my distance cause it’s like a downfall and I wanna
be around more positive people so... yeah.
I: Well, good, good for you, that’s a good mindset to have. So dropping out of school is a
big no no then, huh?
R: Oh yes ma’am
I: So what do you do with your friends that are here at school? It seems like you have a
lot of freedom since you’re in the Early College.
R: Uhm nothing really, the main person I be with is just Christina. We take all of our
classes together but we don’t really sit together while we in the class because we know
we’ll be talking.. but in some classes when we sit together, we do our work and at
moments we may have our talking moments but we control it at the end.
I: So do you get to pick what college classes you take over there or do they assign you
classes?
R: I don’t know yet, Ms. Tyra hasn’t really told us how that is going to be.
I: So what do you do while you’re not in class?
R: Text. Text. TEXT!
I: So I’m guessing you like to text?
R: And I like to be at home and my mother and I will have our little shopping sessions on
Saturdays.
I: Do you go every Saturday?
R: Uh every other Saturday at the most
I: Do you go to the mall here or Macon?
R: No girl, we go to Lenox Square and sometimes we’ll go the the Tanger Outlets
I: So do you do any clubs or sports?
R: I wanted to be in Delta Gems because I want to be Delta Sigma Theta when I get in
college, like for good but that’s at the high school and we don’t have that club over here.
So I’ll just have to wait for the sorority thing then.. I was in TSA in middle school but
that ended and…
I: What is TSA?
R: It is a technology club, like in the science fairs and now over here in the Early College,
we don’t have that many things going on or whatever but I try to take advantage of it
anyway. We started a newspaper club and I attend the newspaper club and now we’re
trying to work on this Obama commercial, it’s a two minute video that we have to send it.
I: Where are you sending it in?
R: I guess to the White House? I don’t know, somewhere in Washington D.C. It’s a
public high school video and he wants to see what goes on with the high school so we
have to send it in on Monday.
I: So you’re working hard on it right now?
R: Yes ma’am, me and three other students are staying after school.
I: So are your friends in these same clubs? Is that how you made your friends?
R: Uhm no, it’s two ninth graders that are helping me and then me and Christina.
I: So you do a lot with Christina?
R: Oh yes ma’am
I: So do you guys like have a name for your group? Say you and Christina, do you have
names for other groups?
R: No... no, not that I can think of…
I: Well, do other people outside of your group have a name for your group?
R: You mean like cliques?
I: Well, yeah..
R: No, not at the Early College but like at Baldwin, you’ll have your different little
cliques without so many words but you can tell who are the outsiders
I: What do you mean outsiders?
R: Not basically outsiders but like ok, at the Early College you have people who think too
highly of themselves
I: Because their in the college and they think they’re cool?
R: It’s more their attitude
I: So everyone basically gets along though, do you have any problems?
R: Well, not me but there be drama at the school
I: With different people or groups?
R: Well this clique and that clique but they are just a group of friends and they have their
own problems, if you wanna call it that. They are immature.
I: Is there a group of students at school that people see as popular that may cause a
problem?
R: Not at Early College, we don’t really have popular people, there are just random
people that cause problems and it’s unnecessary the things that they argue over but it
mainly goes on at Baldwin
I: So how often are you at Baldwin?
R: I go there every evening and I had a car so I used to drive myself to Baldwin in the
morning time to catch the bus from Baldwin to the Early College and see my old friends
but sometimes now I just ride with my cousin and go see the old people
I: Do you still hang out with people from Baldwin?
R: So so, if I see them I’m gonna be with them
I: So do you go the the Baldwin basketball games?
R: Oh yeah, I go to all the basketball games
*lady interrupts*
I: So what do you like to wear? Is there a dress code?
R: The middle school has a dress code. It’s collar shirts with the green and blue and pink
with the khakis but when I had to be in the uniform, I had to be different with my colors
and add different accessories
I: So did you just wear brighter colors?
R: Yes and I added the different beads
I: Why did you want to be different and stand out?
R: I didn’t really like to wear uniforms because I wanted to be myself that’s why I’m glad
now that we don’t have a dress code
I: So do you feel like you can be yourself at school or do you feel more comfortable at
home?
R: I feel like I can be myself at school because I’m known as the goofy one who likes to
get along with everyone and I always try to be happy
I: Is there anything banned at your school? Anything you can’t do?
R: Not really, well texting and stuff they try to prohibit buuuutttt (but) you still have your
moments
I: So what happens if someone doesn’t follow the dress code or if someone gets caught
texting?
R: They will take your phone and your parents have to come get it or you pay a little fine.
But we have it kind of easy of here because at Baldwin, if your phone is seen and taken
from you, you have to pay 25 dollars in order to get your phone back
I: 25 dollars to who?
R: The teacher and that’s how it goes. Over here, they might take the phone from you but
they’ll give it back to you at the end of class
I: Ok, what about the dress code? What happens if you break the dress code?
R: Uhm I don’t know, I never had that problem but I think she gives you a detention.
She’ll give you a detention at the end of they day or she’ll assign you a day and then you
have to stay after school until four o’clock and we get out at three
I: What do you in detention?
R: You can do anything. You just have to be quiet, you can listen to music or study
I: So have you ever gotten in trouble?
R: Not this year, last year I did… it’s been awhile. It’s been awhile since I got in trouble,
I just realized that.
I: Well good, so you’ve been on your best behavior then?
R: Yes ma’am, I’m an ambassador for the school
I: So you can’t really get in trouble then?
R: I try not to
I: So what kind of, beside you, do kids where here, since you don’t have a dress code?
R: I’m glad that they don’t try to take it to the extreme and wear what they’re really not
supposed to wear because they know how Ms. Tyson is so they keep it like the Baldwin
dress code and just stay normal
I: What’s the Baldwin dress code?
R: Just like normal clothes, don’t take it to the extreme. You know, no booty shorts. We
really don’t have a problem here.
I: So what kind of music do you listen to?
R: Country, Pop, a little Rock now and then and stuff like 303 or something like that, hip
hop and rap
I: Is that the kind of music that all the kids listen to?
R: Not really, some people are like “oh you listen to country? What’s wrong with you”
but music is music.. different people have their own different styles
I: So here at the Early College, if you wanted to meet someone you had never met before,
where would you go or what would you do to meet them?
R: You mean like in Milledgeville or at school?
I: At school, like if you had a new student, how would you meet them? Would you even
hang out with someone if they were new?
R: Well, I would because I’m like nice so like the 7th graders, the new students, like the
10th graders and us being the first group at the Early College, the 10th graders try to give
the new students trouble but I’m always the one who try to make them feel comfortable
and try to get along with all of them. Basically, all the 7th graders know me by being to
the classes and everything. Just sit in the classes with them and the 7th graders, I gave
them all my cell phone numbers in case they have any trouble or anything, I told them
they could just call me at any time.
I: Do they call you?
R: So so
I: Do you help them?
R: I try to
I: So, wait, you said that the 10th graders now are the ones who started the Early College?
So how many did you start with and how many do you have now?
R: We started with 55 and we may have like 50 now
I: Are you pretty close with everyone since you guys have been together for so long?
R: Yes but it gets pretty boring seeing the same faces everyday
I: So you don’t really have many new people that come in the?
R: No, you get no new students but once a year and that be the new 7th graders
I: So you can’t have new 10th graders at all, you have to start in the 7th grade and
continue?
R: Yes
I: So do you think that everyone in your class is the same?
R: Oh no
I: Well how are you different?
R: Ethnicity wise and attitudes and basically just attitudes but everyone gets along in my
class
I: Do you think that you have some kids who are more motivated than others? Do you
feel like there are some people who are here just to be here or who want to be here?
R: Like sometimes I feel like they’re here but they’re not really setting a goal. Like they
don’t want to do anything with their life but then you have some that wanna be successful
and then the others, it’s like they don’t care… at all.
I: So who do you hang out with?
R: I hang out with Chelsea and basically all my classmates
I: The ones that are motivated and want to go somewhere?
R: Well, I try to talk to everyone, like there’s this one student, er, he’s my cousin but it’s
like he wants to do it but for some reason the teachers give him a problem. Like, they are
harder on him than the other students because he has… well, he’s bad.
I: What do you mean he’s bad?
R: He disrupt the class everyday basically and he gets kicked out of every class.
I: Do you think he does it to get attention?
R: Yes, he does it because he wants people to laugh cause he don’t be like that at home
I: What grade is he in?
R: The 10th, so he’s with me.
I: But he’s made it to the 10th grade and hasn’t been kicked out of the program
R: Well, at the end he tries to tighten up. I think he wants it but he has the “I don’t care”
attitude just for the other students.
I: So you think he does it to fit it?
R: Yeah and to make people like him
I: So how many cousins do you have that go here?
R: Well, there’s like five of us in the 10th grade.
I: Do you all hang out?
R: Not all the time at school but at home
I: So what do you do for fun on the weekend?
R: I went to a party last weekend but that was the first time that I had done anything in
awhile on the weekend without my family since January. I try to keep it at the minimum
until the summer time. I need to just stay focused on my school work.
I: So do you have a curfew?
R: No, my parents are strict so they don’t give me a curfew, I just know the proper time
to be home.
I: So what’s the proper time then?
R: Like 12 to 12:30 on the weekends
I: What about during the week?
R: I don’t really go out during the week; if I do it’s normally to the GCSU library, maybe
go to the mall during the evening time but I’m with a family member. I don’t go out with
my friends during the week.
I: You said you go to parties, what kind of parties are they?
R: Only the teen parties, like if someone has a sweet sixteen or different little theme
parties, I’ll go to those.
I: So just like birthday parties?
R: Well, yes, and the theme parties but you have to pick a certain person to call it their
party so you can get more people to come. Like if I don’t go to the party, I’ll go to the
movies or the bowling alley and the skating rink is coming back up
I: So do students drink at the parties?
R: Noooo, they pay three dollars to get in or sometimes they are free and they give away
beverages like bottled water and canned drinks but I don’t them. You never know what
people do to them. They’ll have a dj and they used to have them at the recreation park
and they couldn’t charge there. But now they rent places because you know you got to
have security and everything.
I: Oh wait, you have security at these parties?
R: Yes, you have to have security at any party you have, for the high school teen parties
I: Why do you have to have security? Is there fighting?
R: At times there will be fights but when they see security there, they’re not gonna get
too wild and they pat down everyone before they come in
I: Are adults there?
R: Well no, like only the people that are having the party and security, those are the only
adults allowed there. Other adults can’t come into the party
I: They are not allowed?
R: No, you have to show your id, a high school or well middle school id to get in
I: Are these parties every weekend?
R: Some people be having them every weekend, or every other weekend but there’s not
really a rotation, they just have them every now and then
I: Ok, so those are the parties that are at the parks and stuff.. what about the parties at
people’s houses?
R: NO!
I: No one has parties at their house anymore?
R: No.. no.. no way
I: Why not?
R: They may have them but I’m not going. No way, no how.
I: Does it make you uncomfortable?
R: Anything could happen at someone’s house so I don’t really trust it. I’d rather be
somewhere that I’m comfortable. I’m more comfortable at the recreation center than
someone’s house
I: So do your parents allow you to date? Do you have a boyfriend?
R: No, not really. If anything, I could tell my mom but no way I could tell my father.
I: My dad used to tell me that I’m not allowed to date until I’m 90 or married. Have you
ever been on a single or group date?
R: Not really, I don’t really considerate it a date, maybe like a little outing or going to the
mall or something
I: But you guys like couple off when you get there?
R: Yes ma’am
I: Do you tell your mom then?
R: Yeah, she knows. I tell before I go out and she’ll meet them or whatever
I: So if you were to date someone, would your mom approve of the people you date?
R: I believe that she would
I: If your parents didn’t like him would you still date them?
R: No, because it would be like I’m hiding something and I know that I wouldn’t date
someone that my parents already didn’t like. If they’re not in school then I don’t really
want to talk to them, I don’t like the boys that sag. They look nasty.
I: Is it important at your school to have a girlfriend or boyfriend?
R: No, I don’t even think that I would talk to anyone like that at the Early College, in a
way that can kind of track you off of your school work and school is my number one
priority at the moment.
I: Would you date someone outside of your friends? What if Chelsea didn’t like them?
R: I don’t care. It’s not her business *laughs*
I: How is sexual activity or romantic, physical relationships talked about at your school?
Do you have classes about sex? Do they talk to you about it?
R: No, not at the Early College they don’t talk about it
I: You don’t have like a health class or anything like that?
R: Nope, not here
I: Do you have any idea if other students at your school are sexually active? Do you guys
talk about it?
R: I don’t really talk to anyone but my mother about it but I hear them at school…
Sometimes they brag about it
I: Who brags, the boys or the girls?
R: Both! And I’m like you’re a female, why are you bragging about that? It’s kind of
strange, I’ll tell my momma about it and she just shakes her head.. I’m like they’re in the
10th grade.
I: How are they seen, the ones that are sexually active? Are people like good job, pat on
the back or what are you doing?
R: It depends. I look at them and I think, ok you’re sexually active but I don’t think you
need to look at them a certain way just because they’re doing that at a young age, being
14 and 15. But then some that are constantly talking about who they’re doing this
weekend and that weekend, that’s your personal life. Why would you go spreading that
around and making yourself look bad, you’re a female and that’s what makes it worse for
me.
I: So do you think that guys are seen as better because they’re sexually active? Or do they
just talk about it amongst themselves?
R: I mean, I think they have boy and boy conversations but the females, they just be
bragging and some of them do not care
I: You know, when I was in high school, I said the same things. I’d be like “mom, did
you know that so and so is doing this?”
R: Right, it was just last week that I was in the restaurant and I was just telling her about
these people in my school and she was just shaking her head.. but not me.
I: Not you?
R: No way, not me.
*interruption*
I: So if you could change anything about your school, what would it be?
R: It would be the number of students. I would have more diversity and different
ethnicities and more students to make it seem like a real school.
I: So what is the ethnicity of the school now, since you want to change it?
R: We have African American, Caucasian, some Asian and some Hispanic. I just want
people to be able to come later and have some new faces. I want different faces, we have
been with the same people since 7th grade and I know there are some people who want to
go here but can’t.
I: If you could keep something the same about your school, what would it be?
R: I think the dress code. I like that us high school doesn’t have one but I think Ms.
Tyson is about to change it for the middle school so they will be out of the uniform also.
Something I could change would be more clubs and activities because remember I want
to be a Delta Gem and I’d like to start that
I: So what are your plans after you graduate from high school?
R: I want to be a lawyer in criminal justice but I know that takes years and time and a lot
of studying and then afterward when you get that degree you have to find the correct law
firm that you want to be with that actually have business. It would be kind of hard here
unless I moved into a big city like Atlanta so my backup plan if I don’t be comfortable
with that situation by the time I start my real college classes then I’m gonna be a nurse.
I: I’m a criminal justice major and I thought about going to law school. You’re right
though, it is a lot of work. So you want to go to college for sure then?
R: Yes ma’am, that’s my main priority
I: Have you thought about which college?
R: I want to try to attend UGA but you know you need to have a high gpa, a 3.7 I believe.
But my first two years have to be at Georgia College and State University since I’m in
the Early College. I’d also like to go to an all African American school, but like a well
known one.
I: Have all the people in your family gone to college?
R: It depends like, my mother and my father, well he went to technical college and
became an electrician. Now he owns his own business. My mother she was going to
college for cosmetology but now she just does hair on the side but she’s a CNA.
I: So does that affect your decision to go to college?
R: Well that’s my parent’s main priority because that’s the number one thing they stick
on me with, they’ve been telling me since kindergarten so I have to maintain either the
Honor Roll or the Merit list
I: Are you always the Honor Roll then?
R: Well, sometimes I fall off but I still try
I: So your dad is an electrician and your mom is a CNA, what about your grandparents?
R: I’m real close to my grandparents. My grandma, well she’s retired from the state and
now she just sits at home
I: Does she live with you?
R: No. Sometimes, I stay with my father and sometimes I stay with my mother and
sometimes I stay with my grandmother and grandfather or I could stay with my aunt. I’ll
just be all around. Sometimes it seems like everyone is still together cause everyone gets
along, both sides of the family
I: So your parents aren’t together?
R: No, they’re not but they’re like this *crosses fingers*
I: Oh, so they’re very close?
R: Yes ma’am. I don’t think that I could live with them together
I: Why not?
R: Well see my father, with my school work he be kinda stressful because he doesn’t
know when to leave me alone when it comes to my school work but I guess he just wants
me to do my best.
I: So who do you spend the most time with?
R: I like to be with my grandmother because she acts like I’m a little baby
I: Oh, so she spoils you, huh?
R: Oh yes but if I can’t be there then my mother and father but most of the time we all be
together on the weekend. Like when we do our shopping on the weekend, my dad takes
us.
I: So even though your parents are not together, you still see your mom and dad a lot?
R: Oh yes, both of them everyday.
I: Oh wow, you really do need a car since you go so back and forth.
R: Yes but I had a wreck in it.
I: What happened?
R: I was coming down the road and the car ran a stop sign and ran into me. But luckily
with me being 15 my father had already bought me a car but I only had my learner’s
because I have to wait until I’m 16 to get my real license. But luckily, my mother, my
grandmother and aunt were in the car with me.
I: Did they ever let you drive yourself?
R: Well, not anymore. Not since my wreck
I: So you used to be able to drive by yourself with a permit?
R: Yeah we people didn’t know, they used to let me sneak and drive to school. They
could take me but I let them know that I was responsible and knew the responsibilities of
having a car with only being 15 so I proved to him and he trust me to drive my car to
school but then I had a wreck.
I: Did you go anywhere else when you had the car by yourself? You know, somewhere
you weren’t supposed to go?
R: No, you know, it crossed my mind a few times but then I didn’t because he trust me
enough to even drive myself to school so I didn’t want to take advantage of that privilege
I: So your dad let you drive by yourself, did your mom?
R: Yeah but she was really worried about me but I still did it and sometimes on the
weekend, he would let me drive with one of my friends that was going to spend the night
to the movies.
I: Did you have to be home at a certain time when you were driving by yourself?
R: No, I knew not to take advantage of anything like that. When the movie ended, we
may stand around for a bit after the movie but we were home by like 12:30 or so.
I: So do you have any siblings?
R: Nope, it’s just me. I tried to get my mom to adopt another child and I think she was
gonna do it but then when I got older I said never mind.
I: Never mind because you want to be spoiled?
R: Yup. But honestly, at times, I do miss the privilege of having an older or younger
sibling around to have a little racket in the house because it’s so quiet. So all day, I just
sit at home and play on the computer or listen to my ipod.
I: How much time do your parents spend working?
R: My father, all the time because he works long business days and he also works at the
fire department. My mother works everyday from like six to two.
I: Oh so she’s home when you get home then. Do you ever get to go and visit your dad at
the fire station?
R: Yes, like on Sunday, me and my mom will bring him dinner when he is at work and
we will go spend time with him.
I: Oh ok, so are your parents involved in any of your school activities?
R: Yes, ever since kindergarten, my mother or my father attend all the field trips and try
to make different donations to the school. They were real close to the school like in
second and third grade, they used to call my dad to be a substitute for some reason and he
was one of the people that the school acknowledged with the little award so my parents
are really into school. The principal has my parent’s cell phone numbers in her phone.
I: Oh dang, then you really have to be good then
R: YES! She tries to threaten me with it sometimes and say that she’s gonna call my
mom but I know she’s playing.
I: So do both of your parents go on the field trips or do they alternate?
R: They alternate for the most part. Like we’re supposed to be going on a trip to Times
Square in May and my father said that anyone who does good in school and should be
able to go but doesn’t have the money, he will pay half for them to try to go. He tried to
go with me to Washington D.C. in the 8th grade but luckily they wouldn’t let him go.
I: So why are you going to Times Square?
R: It’s with the Newspaper Club, we just want to go.
I: Oh ok. So that’s what you do for fun but what do your parents do for fun?
R: We have like family night on Friday and then we will try to do a fish fry just within
the family and we may have movie night or go out on the weekends. We like to go to
Atlanta on the weekend. Sometimes it be boring though because I’m the only child
I: Well, you could bring Christina with you. Do you bring her along?
R: No way. I get enough of her at school and then she’s my cousin. Plus I don’t want to
split my shopping with her. It’s my shopping time, not her shopping time.
I: Ok.. ok.. so do you and your family watch tv together?
R: Yes, too much
I: What do you and your family watch on tv?
R: Let’s see, Everybody love Chris and sometimes Wheel of Fortune and Andy Griffith,
or even Animal Planet.
I: So you watch a lot of tv together by do you and your family read together?
R: No, I read on my own. My mother, she likes to read but I don’t like the things she
reads because they’re boring to me. My dad, he’s too busy to read so I just stay in my
room and read different books.
I: What do you like to read?
R: I like to read Coretta Scott King and Stephanie Perry Moore, she’s more of a Christian
books because I’m used to reading her with the youth group and so now I’m kind of
attached to her books
I: Do you and your parents talk about political stuff? What do you believe your parents’
political views are?
R: Uhm I think they’re democratic but I don’t know which one it is. It’s so so like when
Obama is giving a speech on tv, they try to make me come watch but it don’t work at
times because I don’t want to listen to it. It’s boring to me… I’ll watch it on youtube one
day
I: How do your parents seem similar to or different from your teachers?
R: They are different from my teachers because like with my mother, I can connect with
her and she will understand where I am coming from and my father, he checks in and
wants to know how I’m doing. My mother will be there in the morning and my father will
come in the evening time…
I: So wait, they check in with your teachers?
R: Yup and I feel like sometimes the teachers try to exaggerate like one time, in 8th grade,
I had a problem with this teacher. I don’t think that she liked me very much. For some
reason I was passing her class but for some reason she would just try to pick on me. For
some reason I was on Merit List all my life but in her class I had problems and it was
math. Math is my favorite subject and I didn’t really understand what was going on but
she would give me like five parent teacher conferences in one month! I don’t believe that
she liked me and now my mother sees how she really acted with me.
I: So did your mother not believe you in the beginning?
R: Yeah, she said Alexis, she don’t act like that while we are they so I don’t know what
you’re talking about. I had some of the students tell her how she treated me. She just did
not like me.
I: Well, were you doing well in her class?
R: Yes I was doing well but she wouldn’t give me credit for what I was doing.
I: So do you think that you got it right but she would tell you that you were wrong?
R: Yes, that’s how I feel. She would lose my papers after I turned them in and like me
and my mom would call and she would say that she helped me on that work but the
teacher still wouldn’t find it. We actually had a student that tried to poison her.
I: WHAT?
R: They put Windex in her tea.
I: Did she drink it?
R: Yeah she drank it but then she spit it out.
I: Did the kids who put it in there get in trouble?
R: Yes they did. I don’t know, I think she didn’t like me because I wasn’t Caucasian.
Like she’s from Riceville, it’s a small town outside of Sandersville and there’s a lot of
racism there. I think she’s racist too.
I: Does she treat other students like you?
R: Yes, ok, she treats the white girls nice and be best friends with them and they will
even text each other outside of school. So that’s why I don’t feel bad that the boys tried to
poison her because she treats us bad.
I: So that was in 8th grade. Is she still here?
R: Yup. No one likes her.. at all. So today this day, we still don’t speak to each other.
She is the older adult and she’s not supposed to act like that but she does… I just think
she was too young to be a teacher. She would bring her personal business to work, sitting
up in the class talking to the white girls about how her boyfriend broke up with her. We
don’t want to hear that, we want to learn our math.
I: I understand, there are just some teachers that you can’t get along with
R: Yeah and she’s one of them. She looks at me like I have down syndrome.
I: Well, I hope she doesn’t treat you like that anymore. But hey you made it through the
class so you don’t have to deal with that anymore
R: Yeah and she made me take summer school too. I cried because it was my first time
not passing anything. It made me feel so horrible and down just because she didn’t like
me.
I: Do you think she acts differently when the principal is around?
R: Oh yeah, she fronts in font of Ms. Tyra because she know Ms. Tyra does not play.
*interruption*
I: So what cars do your family own?
R: My mother owns a Explorer and convertible Chrysler. My father has a Yukon, a little
Nisan car, a truck and a work truck… oh and a motorcycle. My grandmother a Chrysler
300 and my other grandmother doesn’t drive. My aunt has a Honda and an Expedition
and then I have me a little white Honda.
I: What kind of car do you want?
R: After I graduate, I want to buy my grandma a Lexus and then I want to get a BMW
and I want it to be black.
I: Uhm do you and your family eat together every night?
R: It depends on where I’m staying. If I’m with my grandmother then we eat together,
sometimes I eat with my mom but my dad and I go our separate ways.
I: So when you stay all these different places do you have all these different closets?
R: Yup, I have my own room in each house
I: Does that not make it confusing when you’re get ready for school
R: Yes because I can never remember what I have at this house or that house
I: I’m pretty much done. Do you have anything that you want to ask me?
R: No, but can you keep asking me questions?
I: Uhm, so what’s your favorite subject?
R: Math. Sorry, I like this and I don’t want to go back to class. *laughs*
I: What makes a good teacher?
R: I think patience and being nice and they need to be helpful