Beginnings…, a blog entry by Gloria
It's been around two months since I started departing student council only to head straight to WILL. My walks to the building have been pretty uneventful so far. Although... Today, I ducked under a neon-colored safety tape and strolled across the strangely empty street. A few seconds later, I found myself sinking. I had stepped into a sidewalk of cooling cement. I immediately drew my shoe away, which escaped with minimal damage. However, the formerly smooth sidewalk was now mangled with the deep imprint of my sole. I stared in horror for about a minute before a construction man came and told me to go along. On my walk back to school, I walked in a ten-foot radius of the construction site, but did note that the sidewalk was newly filled. So that was my rather humiliating adventure for the day.
Today, I started working with the Lewis C. interview. This is my first time working with a paper copy of the transcript, and it actually makes for a different experience. The multicolored highlighter streaks that decorate the Lewis C transcript contrast quite a bit with the uniformity of Word's yellow boxes on electronic copies. I felt that I was partaking in a much more organic process, and viewing the papers let me appreciate the work that went into the interview before I started extracting sound clips. I'm about half an hour into the interview, and it's obvious that Mr. Lewis' insights are densely packed into each question. He's talked a lot about his family and their support, as well as challenges in finding a university. Seeing how Mr. Lewis viewed the U of I, especially after experiencing the inaccessibility in other universities, reinforced just how much our university has pioneered in making the campus accessible. Even as I was walking back, I noted the renovations being done to the sidewalks and curb cuts, which wouldn't have been a common sight in the mid-1900s on many other campuses.
Every Thursday, I feel a little more confident in my abilities to cut out sound clips. My first day as an intern at WILL was for training with Sheela. I recall countless mishaps as I made hasty clicks on the X-Track files, compromising my work with an impulsive touch. I've started to exercise self control over my clicks purely in dread of those aggravating mistakes. Increased accuracy makes it easier for me to concentrate and spend quality time with each interview. As soon as I place those plush headphones on my ears, the voices in my head literally come alive. Though my productivity in terms of extracted clips varies each visit, it definitely makes me feel more accomplished than spending a mindless free period wandering around the second floor. I walk to and from WILL with extra bounce in my step (which is quickened when I have Health class right afterwards!), knowing that I'm in for a rewarding and enlightening session-- just me and those voices! 😊
