The topic I have chosen is highly subjective. By interviewing the person of my choice, I am planning on gathering more information from his story/stories as an international student in the U.S. His thoughts, understanding, experiences, beliefs, attitudes, and feelings will give me a different point of view, compared to the one I already have, from a person who has the same primary cultural identity as I do, here in Suffolk. I would like to explore the shared meanings we might have behind our shared cultural identity as international students from small/unpopular countries. If it turns out that we do not have much or any shared meanings behind our identity, then this interview would be a great eye-opener for both my interviewee and me.

Talking openly about hard times and periods of struggle is always a difficult task, both for the storyteller and the audience. My main goal is to make my interviewee feel comfortable enough in our conversation, to the point which he forgets it is an actual interview. That way, he might share a story or two which he would not share with everybody.

My first topic of choice would be about U.S. education since being an international student means getting a U.S education, and it is impossible not to have an opinion about it. Along with any stories that my interviewee would want to share,  I would like him to compare and contrast the U.S. education system to the education system from their home country. I am also curious to know if his professors take internationality into account when teaching.

My second topic is about speaking English as a non-mother tongue. I am looking for positive or negative experiences when it comes to everyday life, academic life, or even simple tasks like socializing or filling out a document. I would like to find out if my interviewee is conscious about his accent or the vocabulary he uses, compared to the American students in his classes. I am also curious if the language ever caused issues when communicating with others in person or giving a presentation or a speech.

The third topic I believe is essential is the meaning he puts behind his cultural identity. The only reason why this is not topic number one is that I want to bring on some memories of his in his consciousness. I want him to remember how he felt different from his American fellows before he elaborates on this topic. I am looking for a compare and contrast of what internationality meant to him before he became an international student, and what it means to him now. I would like to see how much his perspective changed, as well as what provoked it to do so.

Now that he is in the nostalgic mindset I want him to be, I would be interested to know what helped him adjust. That’s why this is topic number 4. Now that he has hopefully forgotten that he has been recorded the whole time, I want him to answer to me as sincere as possible, what helped him accept the new environment as something normal, something that he is a part of, and something to which he belongs.

The final topic is one that is also nonavoidable – the food. I want to hear which home food he misses the most (if he misses his home food at all). I am curious to learn if the American food in his country tasted the same as in America. I am curious to learn what his opinion was about American food before he started studying in the U.S. as well as if and how it changed, now that he has been living here for a few years. I am also curious if there are restaurants that serve his home food, as well as if he ever found cooking his home food to be helping him deal with nostalgia.

My interviewee is a friend of mine from Pakistan. I chose him because he is also an international student from a country that is not represented by a lot by students in Suffolk. Also, his culture is very different from mine, and I feel like it would be interesting to see how his background influences the way he experiences college life. I will be interviewing him on Monday, around 7 PM in person, at his apartment (he lives 10 minutes away from campus). I feel like seeing him in person and in his safe space would make him feel the most comfortable – I hope he feels like he is just hanging out with a friend. Both the Skype interview or the phone interview would feel way too formal for the discussion we will be having, which would make him nervous to share sincerely. I would rather have a direct person-in-person dialogue than change the means by which we do the interview, even if that means selecting another interviewee.

I want us to be on an even surface, as that would bring the most calmness, between both of us.

If something were to occur that would prevent this interview from happening, I would try to reschedule the date and time. If the worst-case scenario happens, and that friend of mine cannot do the interview, I would schedule the meeting with another person (he is also an international student but from Turkey).