Career Goals and Aspirations “So where do you work?” I’m at a marketing firm called Murphy and Bane right now. I do marketing, on the design and creative side. “Oh, nice. So are you coming up with logos and that kind of stuff?” Kind of, haha. I come up with a lot of design ideas, but right now most of them don’t make it past the first stages. Getting there, though. “That’s awesome. Have you always wanted to work in marketing?” Not really. I’ve always been artistically-inclined, and this has been an interesting challenge for me, but growing up, I always wanted to be a painter. “Oh, wow, that’s so cool. Do you still paint?” When I have time, haha. My dream would be to make a living from that alone. “That’s awesome that you’re going for it. What kind of painting do you do?...” Family “So do you have any siblings?” Yeah, I have 2 sisters. They’re both older. “So you’re the baby of the family, then?” Yep, haha. “Do they still live around here?” No, not anymore. The oldest one, Catherine, is at grad school in Florida, actually. She’s studying bioengineering. And Tessa works in Washington, D.C., for a lobbying firm. “Wow, smart family! What do your parents do?” My mom was a pediatrician—she retired a couple years ago. My dad’s still doing business consulting part time. How about yours?... Travel “Did you go anywhere for summer vacation last year?” Yeah, my parents took me and brother on this big, cross-country road trip. It was crazy, haha. “Oh man, I don’t know if I could get through a whole road trip with my family without ditching someone at a gas station, haha. Where did you guys start and end?” We started in Virginia Beach and drove basically right through the Midwest and down to San Diego. Yeah, it was a lot, haha. “Wow, how long did that take?” We really took our time, so it was about a month. Some parts were definitely a little boring, but it was overall really cool. Driving through the Rockies and down the Pacific Coast Highway in California was beautiful. “That would be amazing. On the last road trip I took…” School “It’s crazy we’re both seniors. I’m so ready to graduate.” Me too. There are parts that I’ll miss, but I’m definitely ready to move on. “Yeah, some of the teachers were pretty great. Did you ever take a class from Mr. Turner?” Oh yeah, I took his world history class. He was hilarious. And I think I actually learned stuff from him, too, haha. “Yeah, same. I can still remember those mnemonic device things he made us use to memorize the different Roman eras, and it was like 2 years ago!” Me too! And Ms. Nguyen was good too. I actually liked one of the books she made us read, which was a first for any English class. “You played soccer too, right? Didn’t you guys win the championship last year?” Yeah! Don’t get me started on that, haha, it was amazing. “Didn’t you come back from behind? That’s so cool…” Hobbies/Free Time “Dang, sounds like you’re pretty busy with school. What do you do when you have free time?” I really like to read, actually. I don’t have a lot of time for it right now, but I try and do like a few pages every night. “Wow, I wish I read more. I’m really slow, so it’ll usually take me like 2 months to get through one book.” I’ve definitely read books that take that long, and even longer! “Do you have a favorite?” Well, I’m really into fantasy right now. I just re-read Lord of the Rings and remembered why I liked it so much the first time. I know, I probably sound like a huge nerd… “Well… only a little bit… just kidding, haha. That’s awesome. I’ve seen those movies, at least, so that kind of counts. What’s your favorite one? Ugh, that’s such a hard question...