Reflections on an Interview

I conducted my first interview last Thursday, November 1st with my coach of six years, Michael Olson.  The fact that I've known Michael for the past six years meant that I was pretty comfortable going into the interview. I felt confident that he would be honest and forthcoming given our relationship. I was, however, a bit concerned about asking some of my more open questions, since Michael tends to be a pretty straight shooter and I didn't know how comfortable he would be with opening up to me.

Little did I know that he would tell me things in his answers that I think will be absolutely pivotal in writing my fieldstudy.

The interview took place in the cold, dimly lit side hall where the freight elevator for my fencing club's building is located. As I set up my laptop to record the interview, I asked Michael to look over and sign the informed consent form. In his usual fashion, he joked with me about the pseudonym option and asked first if he could use 'Chuck Norris' and then 'Attila the Hun'.

After a quick test of my laptop, the interview got under way. I started with some closed questions, but ones that had rather lengthy and not completely concrete answers. I asked Michael what he was like as a child, how he got into fencing, and how he came to become a coach and own the club. He was very detailed in all of these answers, especially the last, for which I was grateful. Not only will they be useful to my fieldstudy, but they satisfied some of my own freestanding curiosities.

After these closed questions, I asked Michael what the most rewarding thing to him as a fencer is, to which he replied, "...it's being perfect for a moment." He went on to discuss and expand upon the idea of being perfect for a moment and I think this answer was probably the most significant of the entire interview. It was exactly the kind of honesty and profundity I was looking for. I think it also served to highlight the fact that fencing is unique and completely different from any other sport out there.

So long story short, my first interview went extremely well. Michael was honest and vulnerable and forthcoming, all while still managing to inject humor into his answers. I was very happy with how it went and look forward to applying the information I obtained to writing my fieldstudy.