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Classmate interview

Classmate interview

draft

My partner was Nkasiobi Nwosu and before conducting the interview I was kind of skeptical due to the fact that my original partner was not able to attend so I felt kind of unprepared for the task at hand but as the interview went on I was able to get more insight on her subculture and what she identified as which was “Nigerian-American”. Nkasiobi was a first generation nigerian-american born in the bronx. The interview went very smoothly. I was about to learn more about her subculture being Ghanaian myself. I was able to relate to a lot of the things she was saying. One of the questions I asked her was what the role of women where in Nigerian culture. She told me that in the past Nigerian women were secluded to living in the house and carrying out common house chores but as years went by they were able to grow out of that systematic role they were placed in. The next question I asked was what made her different from other Nigerian she said that she’s a mix of American and Nigerian so it made her unique in her own way. Next question I asked her was if she felt pressure to succeed. She told me yes and I could relate to her being Ghanaian myself both cultures really emphasize the importance of being success and striving to be excellent in whatever to pursue in life so hearing that was really assuring knowing there were others that felt the same way as I did. The next question I asked was whether there was any misconceptions about Nigerians and she said they are often labeled as scammers which is something that I often hear too. They are also labeled as greedy and money hungry which is something that gets associated with Ghanaians as well but I see where this is coming from because I’ve met quite a few Ghanaians and Nigerians that exhibited the same trait. Next question I proceeded to ask was how being Nigerian changed her as a person. She told me it allowed her to appreciate her culture even more and it thought her valuable lessons. It gave her a sense of identity being Nigerian 

The last question I asked her was whether her traditional views often clashed with her modern views. She told me that they often class because her family still holds on to their traditional value so their firm on their stance and modern views tend to go against traditional views so there’s always that conflict

Notes /questions 

What are the roles of women in Nigerian culture ?

-OLD ROLES – stay at home men got to work Mother 

New roles- independence

Evolution for men and women

What makes you different from your typical nigerian considering you’re part american?

 Being born in the Bronx. Mixture of both worlds having Nigerian and a mix of New York in them 

What are some important values to you as a Nigerian ?

Do you feel pressure to succeed ?

As a child 

  • You have to make your family proud
  • Prideful – succeed for yourself – how she feel

 And why do you think there’s pressure to succeed ?

What are some misconceptions about Nigeria culture ?

  • People think they are Scammers 
  • Greedy and money hunger greedy 
  • Judgemental

How has being Nigerian changed you as a person ?

  • the more I can in touch in my culture appreciation for views
  • Thought many things as an African and then translating it 
  • Appreciate lessons thought by family 
  • Identity is important 

Do you think your traditional views clash with your modern views ?

All the time- famiy views and modern views very different gender roles and marriage consent battle between traditional views and 

What makes your upbringing different from the typical Nigerian?

 

Categories
Classmate interview

Classmate interview

 

Interview Essay

Nkasiobi Nwosu was my partner for this interview and before conducting the interview I was kind of skeptical due to the fact that my original partner was not able to attend so I felt kind of unprepared for the task at hand but as the interview went on I was able to get more insight on her subculture and what she identified as which was “Nigerian-American”. Nkasiobi was a first generation nigerian-american born in the bronx. The interview went very smoothly. She was very excited to tell me about her subculture. Even though we had issues with the camera, we were still able to have an engaging conversation. The lack of a camera didn’t hinder our conversation. I was about to learn more about her subculture being Ghanaian myself. I was able to relate to a lot of the things she was saying.

Interview 

Nkasiobi seemed eager for the interview and by her tone she was very happy to share more about her.  Being a woman in Nigerian culture I asked her what the role of women was in Nigerian culture. She told me that in the past Nigerian women were secluded to living in the house and carrying out common house chores but as years went by they were able to grow out of that systematic role they were placed in. Being half American and Nigerian I wondered what made her different from her counterparts. She’s a mix of American and Nigerian so it made her unique in her own way. Being of similar African background the pressure to succeed has always been evident in whatever I did. Nkasiobi herself also felt the same. She told me yes and I could relate to her being Ghanaian myself. Both cultures really emphasize the importance of being successful and striving to be excellent in whatever to pursue in life so hearing that was really assuring knowing there were others that felt the same way as I did. There will always be misconceptions about an individual’s subculture from an outsider’s point of view because they themselves are not engaged in that culture. I wanted to know if she experienced this, she said they are often labeled as scammers which is something that I often hear too. They are also labeled as greedy and money hungry which is something that gets associated with Ghanaians as well but I see where this is coming from because I’ve met quite a few Ghanaians and Nigerians that exhibited the same trait. Next question I proceeded to ask was how being Nigerian changed her as a person. She told me it allowed her to appreciate her culture even more and it taught  her valuable lessons. It gave her a sense of identity being Nigerian. The last question I asked her was whether her traditional views often clashed with her modern views. She told me that they often clash because her family still holds on to their traditional values  such as growing up and pursuing a profession in the medical field or just in general going against their word. I too I’ve experienced the same conflicts with my family as well so when she said that a smile came along my face. Overall I really liked interviewing her she really gave be insight on another culture and noticed we had similarities as well.

Notes /questions 

What are the roles of women in Nigerian culture ?

-OLD ROLES – stay at home men got to work Mother 

New roles- independence

Evolution for men and women

What makes you different from your typical nigerian considering you’re part american?

 Being born in the Bronx. Mixture of both worlds having Nigerian and a mix of New York in them 

What are some important values to you as a Nigerian ?

Do you feel pressure to succeed ?

As a child 

  • You have to make your family proud
  • Prideful – succeed for yourself – how she feel

 And why do you think there’s pressure to succeed ?

What are some misconceptions about Nigeria culture ?

  • People think they are Scammers 
  • Greedy and money hunger greedy 
  • Judgemental

How has being Nigerian changed you as a person ?

  • the more I can in touch in my culture appreciation for views
  • Thought many things as an African and then translating it 
  • Appreciate lessons thought by family 
  • Identity is important 

Do you think your traditional views clash with your modern views ?

All the time- family views and modern views very different gender roles and marriage consent battle between traditional views and 

What makes your upbringing different from the typical Nigerian?

Reflection

This whole interview process was very enjoyable and I was able to learn many new things from my partner and build on the knowledge that I already had. The purpose of this was to interview someone with a different perspective and a different subculture and gain insight. The effects that I want this to have on the reader is a positive and informative effect. I want them to gain new understanding of this particular subculture and also an appreciation for the subculture as well. I think the readers would be Nkasiobi herself and maybe my fellow classmates and Ms Buno of course. My process for this essay was very freeform because I’ve never written an essay like this so I had to take an unorthodox approach to the whole essay as a whole. I prepared questions beforehand by reading her subculture so I could get a better understanding. Some decisions I had to make were selecting which questions to pick for the interview. Something that l learned about myself is that I did a good job interviewing my interviewee because I was to ask questions and following up questions so I could get a a more broad answer. I feel this assignment was different from our other ones because it challenged us to be out of our comfort he zone because we had to talk to another person. Some things that I like about this assignment was the whole process of interviewing someone. It was very different. Something that I would improve on is my cohesion of my writing so it could flow better. The comments of my peers and instructor helped me a lot because it was able to steer me in the right direction and helped me stay focused on the task.