Biographic Information: English, Female, 21 yrs (3)
Themes: Biographical information (participant’s age, where participant is from), Participant’s family, friends and coworkers, Participant’s life (memories, hobbies, traditions, interests, etc.), Languages participant speaks and attitudes toward them
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Transcript:
[00:00]
00:06
Interviewer: Okay, hi, can you tell me your name, age, and where you’re from?
00:10
Participant: Hi, my name is Xxxx Xxxxxxx. I’m twenty-one and I’m from Las Cruces, New Mexico.
00:21
I: Can you tell me about your friends?
00:24
P: Yes, so I have two best guy friends who are accounting majors that I became best friends with in college. I have one best friend who used to be my roommate and she’s living in Florida because she’s gonna be a marine biologist and my bestest friend has been friends with me since I was like nine years old and she was supposed to get engaged today.
00:52
I: What is your favorite memory and why?
00:57
P: Um, my favorite memory is when I used to go to my grandparents’ house and we’d go outside and my grapa would tell me to go pick dandelions to make little flower bouquets and he told me that dandelions were flowers. So, I thought that my entire life.
01:19
I: Nice. Um, what was your favorite thing to do as a kid?
01:25
P: I think my favorite thing to do as a kid was go over to my neighbor’s house because they were my best friend and we’d just play with like Barbies and watch movies and stuff but it was just that like fun always going to each other’s house knocking on the doors asking if they can come and play or come and ride bikes and that was definitely my favorite thing to do as a kid.
01:52
I: Can you tell me about your family?
01:55
P: Yeah, so I have my two parents who are retired living their lives. Um, my brother is- got married last year. He’s eight years older than me um and then I have a half-sister who’s eighteen years older than me and she is married and has two amazing kids that I love with all of my heart. And then, um I have a grandma on my dad’s side who lives in the valley in Texas and then my two grandparents live here from my mom’s side.
02:34
I: Can you um, elaborate on your siblings a little bit?
02:37
P: Absolutely. So, like I said, my brother is eight years older than me and his name is Luis. He lives in Omaha with his wife and he’s my best friend. Um, we always did everything together when we were kids and he’s definitely the smart one out of the siblings. And my sister, like I said, is eighteen years older. She lives in San Antonio now with her family and she works at UTSA and she’s also like a genius and yeah, we are like twins because we look very similar and, yeah.
03:17
I: Nice. Can you tell me about your grandparents?
03:21
P: Absolutely. So, um my grandma on my dad’s side lives in the valley in Texas. Um, she’s like, ninety-six, I think, and she is killing it um, and I love her. She barely speaks any English, but she is a good woman and my grandparents on my mom’s side are my favorite people ever. They own a pecan- or a they own a pecan field and my grandma is still a hard worker every single day. She’s up at like five drinking coffee and running around while my grapa stays inside watching TV, doing grapa duties, and they are the sweetest, most loving people I’ve ever met.
04:07
I: Nice. What has been your favorite vacation and why?
04:13
P: I think my favorite vacation was one of the school trips I went to when we went to California with ENLACE. Um, and it was my favorite because I got to do so many different things I’ve never done. Like I got to um, go to the beach and like to the pier and we went to Disneyland and we got to go explore colleges and I got to do all of this with my favorite teacher at the time and with all of my best friends that were in the class so every single day we got to do something new and I got to do it with people I really loved and so it was just a fun time all of the time and California was just Gorgeous and the beach was gorgeous and it was just a good good week.
04:57
I: Nice. What are some of your favorite [5:00] things to do now?
05:02
P: Um, some of my favorite things to do now are to go to the gym with my little brother and my girlfriend. Um, it’s just become part of our weekly routine and I always look forward to it. Also just coming home and watching shows like I started watching The Summer I Turned Pretty I just finished watching The Ultimatum and it’s just having shows to watch whenever um and I’m also starting to get back into reading a little bit so that’s become one of my new favorite things. Just read a little bit before bed or in the morning whenever I have a chance and also going on walks. I love going on walks in evening.
05:42
I: Nice. What are some of your favorite family traditions?
P: Um
I: You can talk about traditions as a kid that you had too if you want to.
05:55
P: I think one of the favorite things I had when I was little is that we’d always go to church on Christmas Eve and then after church, my mom would let us open one present under the Christmas tree and that would just be like the highlight of what got us through church as we just wanted to come home and open that present and then put out all the cookies and stuff before we open the next presents. And then I think my other favorite tradition is that for every birthday we always go out to eat as a family no matter whose birthday it is. Um, I think it’s just really cute to just do something simple with your family and then go and share a meal like your favorite place. Um, and then just obviously Thanksgiving at my grandma’s house every year is definitely a favorite tradition.
06:46
I: Nice. Who would you say you look up to in your life?
06:52
P: Um, I think the person I look up to the most is my brother. Like I said, he’s my best friend, but he’s just so smart and ever since I was little I always looked up to him and wanted to follow in his footsteps. Um, and he’s just such a hard worker and like has always known what he’s wanted and has gone after it and I really love that and I try to make sure that I do that in my life. Um, and I just go to him for everything, especially since he’s older and he’s already gone through things that I’ve gone through. It’s just really nice to have someone who’s been there to look up to and then to see how successful they are now and just knowing that. I like I wanna make sure I’m there. I wanna follow in their footsteps and just knowing that they’re a good person on top of that just really brings it in for looking up to them.
07:40
I: Nice. What languages do you speak?
07:45
P: Um, I speak English and I can understand Spanish to a certain extent as well as speak it, but I’m really trying to work on that.
07:55
I: Have you ever felt uncomfortable speaking any of the languages that you speak?
08:00
P: I’ve definitely felt uncomfortable speaking Spanish because it’s not my first language and I know that I don’t understand it or speak it as thoroughly as some people and especially when it comes to my family and I’m one of the only people who isn’t fluent in it. It’s a little hard because I know there’s judgment from it. So I think that’s definitely one of the times I’ve been in comfortable just trying to do something new, even though I know it’s not perfect.
08:28
I: When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up and why?
08:33
P: Um, when I was a kid, I changed my mind every single day what I wanted to be. It started off being um a princess for a good few years and then it changed into things like being a lawyer or interior design or a fashion designer, but I feel like all of my things always had to be dealing with creativity and just kind of dealing with people because I’m really good with people, but I always just wanted, like whenever I was little I just wanted to be whatever seemed fun and creative and seems like I would have such a good day every day going to work and just being able to have a good outlet as a job.
09:19
I: What advice would you want to give to your younger self.
09:25
P: I think the advice that I’d give to my younger self is to stop being such a people pleaser and caring what everyone thought. I feel like growing up I was really insecure and I always wanted to fit in with other people and I wanted to be picture perfect and that really messed me up as I got older because it didn’t go away and I didn’t get to live my true self and so I definitely just tell my younger self to just be authentic and to just do what makes me happy because that’s all that matters at the end of the day. No one else’s opinion.
10:04
I: What has been your experience living in this region in the Southwest? and how do you think it would differ growing up somewhere else in the US?
10:15
P: I think my experience growing up here has been really good. I feel like because we are in such a tight knit community where it’s a big city but not really a big city it’s allowed me to make friends really easily to be around people I love um, to not have to stress about when can I see my family ‘cause we’re all here. And I think it’s also just made me have a really good perception of being nice to people the, the southern hospitality really is something that we have here um, and I also just like makes me feel tighter as a community and just understanding to like the little things not the big things um. I think that if I grew up anywhere else, especially like a big city, I’d be completely different. I don’t think I’d be as like loving and caring to other people and I feel like I wouldn’t take um, all of the small things like and see them as so pretty you’re like happiness because there just be too much going on and I just feel like values change completely to um and I feel like that’s something we have really strong here and I feel like growing up somewhere else, I’d probably lose out on a lot of those values that I’ve grown up with here.
11:31
I: What is your favorite way to spend a day off?
11:35
P: Um, my favorite way to spend a day off, I would like to say staying in bed all day and watching movies, but that usually doesn’t happen. Um, but when I do have a day off, I really like to make sure that the house is clean. And just do cleaning and catch up on chores and then when all of that’s done just lay in bed and make some popcorn and watch a movie so it’s just kind of like a reward for catching up um on all the things, I’ve been kind of dreading.
12:08
I: What are some things that you hope to accomplish in the next five years? This can be socially, career wise, anything.
12:16
P: Um, within the next five years, some of the things that I want to accomplish is obviously graduating getting my undergrad, um I wanna move out of the city, which is already gonna be happening. I wanna be able to put myself out there a little bit more. Um, and make friends and just go out and explore and do different things just kind of grow my social life and grow my confidence that way. Um, I also would like to get like my own apartment or like rent a house or something. I feel like that’s a big deal for me as well as getting a new car and then in the next five years I’d also really hope to be like engaged and thinking about the next part of my future that way.
13:07
I: If you don’t mind, could you tell me what your biggest fear is or fears and why?
13:12
P: Um, my biggest fear is not, (1.4) is probably letting people down or not living up to people’s expectations and that really ties back into people pleasing so much at a young age. But I feel like as I’ve grown up and I’ve tried new things, it’s always been really scary to fail, and I think that’s where my biggest fear is. I don’t want to fail at things. I want to be good, and I also don’t want to let people down who believe in me. I’m also really scared of clowns and spiders. And, um, I think those two are very self-explanatory.
13:52
I: Growing up in Las cruces, what were some of your favorite things to do?
13:57
P: Um, growing up in Las Cruces some of my favorite things to do would be going to the farmers market on Saturday and going to like all of the festivals in Mesilla and seeing Ballet Folklorico or performing Balet Folklorico since I was in it. Also, like going to the Balloon Fiesta when I was little. Um, going to white sands stuff like that and really just a lot of going like to things that the community would put on because my parents would always take us to those to have some fun. Um, and even just like going to the parks and stuff like those were always like what I always wanted to do. I just wanted to go play at the park and meet whoever was there and be friends.
14:50
I: What are some of your favorite things about Las Cruces now and why?
14:55
P: Ummm, I think some of my favorite things about Las Cruces now is obviously the food. [15:00] I will argue with anyone that we have the best Mexican food in the world and that’s that. Um, I also just still kind of like doing the same things like going to the farmers markets with vintage markets just because it’s something fun to do since there isn’t a lot to do in town. Also, just like driving around and really seeing like driving up to the mountains or driving to go hike or driving somewhere to see the sky and the sunset just more of that kind of thing is definitely my new favorites now that I’m older and can do different things.
15:40
I: What has been the best thing that has happened to you?
P: Um
I: Or you can say multiple things.
15:49
P: Umm, I think definitely one of the best things that has happened to me is meeting my current girlfriend. Um, I, for a few years I just was with someone who did not treat me well by any means and just really kind of showed me what I didn’t want and I think by meeting my current girlfriend it’s just been one of the best things for me because it’s allowed me to grow and to learn a lot about myself. Um, as well as like learn how to deal with other people and to understand what I really want and understand what love is and what like actually caring for someone really means so that’s definitely one of my things. Um, I also think one of the best things that could have happened to me was as funny as it is is not getting into- or not getting scholarships to go to other schools and getting a full ride to go to NMSU because being here was just- it really helped me learn what I wanted to do a little bit more and it helped me meet all of the people that I have in my life now and my life would completely be different if that didn’t happen so it’s definitely one of the best things that’s happened to me.
17:05
I: If you feel comfortable, can you tell me what the worst thing that’s happened to you has been?
17:09
P: Umm, (3.0) I think the worst thing that has ever happened to me was when I came out to my parents um it was really hard. They weren’t accepting at all, and they took it out on me in every way where I couldn’t have a phone and I couldn’t go out and I couldn’t have friends. Um, a lot of stuff like that and I think that was the worst thing that’s ever happened to me because your family’s your- supposed to be your support system and I didn’t have that when I needed it the most and it definitely took me to the lowest point in my life. Um, so that’s probably the worst thing that’s ever happened to me.
17:58
I: Thank you for sharing. What has been the best and worst dream that you’ve had if you can remember them? Can you describe it to me?
18:06
P: Oh, so. (3.6) I think the worst dream I’ve ever had was I vividly remember this when I was younger, I woke up screaming and crying because I vividly remember like swimming in the water or something in like in the ocean and all of a sudden there was a shark that was swimming towards me like full speed and he was trying to eat me and I apparently didn’t know how to swim and I woke up screaming and crying because I had just gone eaten by a shark. And I think that will beat out any of my worst streams ever. My best dream would probably be that I think one time I had like a dream that I had like a genie or something and I was just making wish after wish and it was just I was really living my dream life up there like I have the car that I wanted and I was traveling and I was eating all of the food that I wanted and it was really cool and my genie was like purple. And yeah, he was a cool genie.
19:18
I: That’s great. As of right now, what are your future plans and what do they consist of?
19:27
P: Um, as of right now, my future plans are to start studying for some of my FINRA exams, that I need for my job. So, I need to graduate and after that I plan on just having a lot of fun and spending the most time that I can with my family and friends. And then by June or August, um, moving out to Austin, hopefully getting an apartment. And then starting my full-time job. I plan to only be there for about [20:00] a year, a year and a half and then see what else Austin has for me in the way of jobs and be there for a few years until my girlfriend graduates from college and then we can re-assess where we’re moving and what the plan is after that.
20:19
I: Where are you currently working and can you tell me about it? About your experience.
20:24
P: Absolutely. So, I currently work at Target um. I’ve been there for five years. This is actually my five-year anniversary this month. Um and I’m a front, I’m a front lines associate. Um so, I do cashiering, I do drive ups and pickups and I do guest service. Um, so, when I come in just depending on what I do, I’m usually at self-checkout. So, I’m just watching people greeting them saying hi and bye just seeing what everyone needs. Um, that’s probably my favorite position to do because I don’t have to do too much, and I get to just talk to people all day. Um, or days like today, I was just a cashier so, I was on a lane all day. Um, I also like I said, work um drive ups and pick-ups, which is really fun because it’s really high paced and you have to be timed. I’m also trained and getting retrained to do fulfillment so that I can pick all of the orders for drive up, which is also fun because it is fast paced and timed and you have to hit a bunch of goals for it.
21:33
I: Very nice. Can you tell me about your coworkers?
21:38
P: Yeah, so, uh my coworkers all very in age, which is really fun. Um, I have some coworkers that are still like in high school. Some with us in college and some who are like in their fifties and we’re all pretty good friends occasionally um and I have like the sweetest and coolest bosses um that I could ask for. My work best is named Jazz and she’s studying to be a pharmacist right now so it’s a really fun time coming into work and actually being able to spend it with people who have similar interests with you and who make time go by pretty fast?
22:18
I: Very nice. What was your first day of high school like? Can you describe to me what that was like for you?
22:25
P: Um, my first day of high school was terrifying. Um, I had transferred high schools kind of last minute and so on my first day of school I was really scared because all of my friends went to Mayfield, where I was supposed to go and I was at Cruces alone. My two best- my three best friends who I went- like I was planning to hang out with, one of them ditched me for her cousin, one of them ditched me for her boyfriend, and one of them ditched me for like one of their other friends so I was literally by myself, and I didn’t know a single soul. Um, at high school but the first day of high school was a little scary, but it’s also the day that I met one of my bestest friends in the world as well as meeting one of the worst people I’ve ever met in my life who introduced me to her.
23:18
I: Very nice. What would you say to yourself five years ago if you could?
23:27
P: Um, I would tell sixteen-year-old me, that there is so much waiting for her. Um, like I kind of mentioned earlier, um there was just a lot going on for me when I was like that age and sixteen was especially just like a dark area. I really didn’t think that I’d even make it to eighteen. It was just one of those things. So, I definitely tell sixteen year old me that like no matter how bad everything sucked like life truly gets better, especially once you’re out of high school and once you move out and once you find people who actually want what’s best for you and aren’t holding you back. (2.7) So I’d tell me to hold on.
24:12
I: If you could be anything in the world, like there’s nothing holding you back, what would you be and why?
24: 20
P: I would love to be like a travel blogger. I really love writing about things and just explaining things to other people and getting detailed and stuff like that and I really want to travel. So I definitely put those two things together. Um, and also, I mean that would cost like a lot of money and I wouldn’t get paid much but I think it would just be two of my favorite things put together. And it would be the least joby job that I could actually have. And I just love to share everything I’m seeing and experiencing with other people.
[25:00]
I: Can you tell me about your pets if you have any or had any?
25:05
P: I’ve had a bunch of pets in my lifetime. Um, growing up, I always had cats and dogs um and they were always big dogs. We never had little dogs. Um I also had hamsters, plural. I was not the best hamster owner. Um, one time my hamster got out of his cage and climbed into a toilet.
(laughs) (5) But he survived another year after that. He made it. And currently I have a cat that we’re fostering um his name is Loki. He’s a little tuxedo cat. And he is Satan himself. Um, he’s very mischievous, but a cuddle bug when he wants to be and I don’t think I could ever experience life without pets because pets make me happy.
26:03
I: What would a perfect day look like for you?
26:08
P: I think perfect day for me would be like getting to sleep in till like 9 or 10 you wake up and it’s raining outside it’s really pretty it’s a day off a free day. Getting to have breakfast in bed watching Twilight. And just getting to like, be at home and not have to stress about anything, any chores or going out just getting to spend the day in the house, have a me day, do some face masks, a hot girl shower, make all of my favorite food and then just set up in the living room with some candles and lights and make a little fort. And just have a fun, ‘at home’ day would be ideal. Perfect thing ever.
26:59
I: That’s cute. If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go? With who and why?
27:08
P: If I could travel anywhere in the world, I really want to go to Greece. Um, and I would travel with my girlfriend because that’s always been one of our things on our bucket list. I just want to travel to Greece because it just looks like a once in a lifetime experience. Um, I wanna try new food. I wanna be introduced into new cultures and they also have cats running around everywhere. And I do love cats and I think that would be really fun to get to experience all the beautiful scenery and then have cats running up to you to pet them.
27:46
I: That would be the dream. What would you say is your biggest regret?
27:53
P: Um, (2.2) I think that my biggest regret would be going back to my ex-girlfriend multiple times. Um, because I never learned my lesson and I didn’t allow myself to grow and try new things or try to experience new people and I feel like I really held myself back when I shouldn’t have.
28:23
I: What are your favorite things about your life right now?
28:28
P: My favorite thing about my life right now are absolutely my friends. Um, getting to have my own space to be able to host parties and game nights and movie nights and just do what I wanna do. Um, having shows to come home to watch and just having that be something as well as just cooking meals all the time. Um, that’s definitely became- has become one of my favorite things is to come home and cook breakfast or cook lunch and then living with my girlfriend is also a favorite thing getting to wake up to my best friend every day.
29:08
I: What are some things you want to experience in life while you can?
29:14
P: I want to experience the Seven Wonders of the World. I want to just experience a lot of traveling. And I want to experience lots of moments where I just feel present and get to experience like the beauty and things. I also want to experience financial stability and being um surrounded by people I love being in a good marriage, possibly having a family. Um, just real adult stuff like that.
29:51
I: What are you thankful for in your life and why?
29:55
P: I’m absolutely thankful for my family. Um, because no matter [30:00] how many ups and downs we’ve had, they still are my support system, and they do anything for me. I’m also really thankful for all of my friends because my friends have been my strongest support system who’ve always been there for me um, and they pushed me to do better. But I’m also just thankful for my scholarship opportunities to be able to keep me to go to school as well as my working opportunities. Um, my internship that I still don’t know how I got has turned into one of the biggest blessings to help me keep moving on in my dreams and my current job has also introduced me to a lot of amazing people and has given me the stability that I need so I’m super thankful for all of those things.
30:46
I: Um, being from like a hugely bilingual region and a hugely bilingual place, um how do you think that has affected you? Like in any way in your life, linguistically, like language wise or, just in any way.
31:02
P: I think it has affected me to wanna learn Spanish a lot more because we see it so often we hear it so often especially working retail in this area, people come up to me all the time and thinking I- they assume that I speak Spanish and stuff like that so that’s definitely something I think the other thing too because of that is it’s mainly have a lot stronger cultural ties to history to wanting to learn more about history or my family history to see where we came from and how I can actually celebrate that. So I think those are the two biggest things. It’s just being able to really tie back into culture more because it’s so celebrated here and then working on things to help express that like being able to speak a native language like Spanish to help other people around me and help myself.
31:55
I: What would you like to say to your so in the future if you could talk to yourself?
32:04
P: Like questions to ask or like what I [um] say?
I: Yeah, you can say questions first. Go ahead.
P: I think I’d just ask myself like “what does happiness look like now?” because I feel like it just changes as we grow up. But I’d probably just tell my future self like, I’m proud of you no matter what, because I know that I’m, I know that future me is doing something right.
32:33
I: Very nice. Well, thank you for letting me interview you. I really appreciate it.
32:39
P: Thank you.
[32:40]
New Mexico Border Spanish Corpus 