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StoryCorps Interviews

During MLK Jr. Day weekend, I interviewed my friend for StoryCorps. StoryCorps is a nonprofit organization that encourages people to interview others that they are close with such as family members or close friends. This was my first time doing the StoryCorps interview and I was excited. 

The questions I chose for my friend were not personal, but I still considered the questions to be deep. As I went through the questions, I learned a lot about the struggles and challenges that my friend experienced. I think this process made me even closer to her. I found it satisfying to finally have the questions I had for many years answered during the interview. These were questions that I always wanted to ask, but I didn't ask them because I either kept putting it off or I forgot to ask. My personalized questions included why my friend persisted with music for so many years and what my friend learned from living in foreign countries. 

While the answers I got weren't what I expected, I still found some closure from the answers. The most beautiful part of the interview was when I asked my friend, "Is there anything you want to tell me but never got the chance to do so?" She said, "Thank you. Thank you so much for being my only friend that has stayed in contact with me for so long." I felt so grateful and appreciated that it touched me quite a bit. Before this, I never really thought of myself as an awesome friend or special friend because I do have my faults and I tend to remember my weaknesses more than my strengths. When I heard this,  I realized that I have the tendency to underestimate the impact of simple, kind actions. In this case, it would be maintaining frequent contact with a middle school friend. 

The lesson that I took from this interview is that do not overlook the importance of your small actions because eventually, they will end up making a tangible impact on someone's life. I might be exaggerating what I did here, but my general point is that I shouldn't have assumed that I was an average friend as I should have acknowledged the good things that I have done. 

From this interview, I look forward to doing more StoryCorps interviews with my good friends and anyone I want to know better. I find greater satisfaction in asking deep, meaningful questions because these questions catalyze good conversations that I don't find on a day-to-day basis. Maybe this is the thing I should strive for every day for the rest of my life. I still have around 60 years left on this planet (assuming that I die around 80 years old) and it isn't a lot of time. 

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