Listen. Just Listen.

Week number two of “HOOT” flew by in a heartbeat as I learned several lessons and found greater success in switching up certain times and places.

First and foremost, I realized that just because I am a “morning person” does not mean that the rest of society is… For about the first week and a half I would go forth on my days’ interviews at about nine o’clock in the morning. Around here, that is when everyone is just settling in at work, not taking a break, and/or not shopping for “fun.” If anything, that is when the elderly are visiting at the local diner, and even they do not want to be smothered with questions as they attempt to enjoy their breakfasts. Thus, by Thursday I finally started venturing out at about twelve o’clock in the afternoon. Even in going to the Danbury Fair Mall two hours later than I went the week before, I ran into dozens of more faces to converse with, especially younger faces. Over the course of my first week I only got the chance to interview one young couple. Meanwhile, by the end of my second week, I had spoken with an additional fourteen younger adults solely because I moved my schedule farther into the day. So, even though I have been attempting to carry out “HOOT” later in afternoon hours, I would like to try and go out at night time this upcoming week too. That way I’ll have captured a variety of humanity— from your early risers all the way to your “evening goers.”

Secondly, I gained a true sense of how small our world really is. On Memorial Day, I explored the meeting location of the annual Danbury Parade to get to know some of the eager marchers. I fortunately had the privilege of speaking with another high school senior who is a part of the Danbury High School Marching Band. She revealed her past band memories, current percussion passions, and even her future ambitions of one day playing music for Broadway. Oddly enough, I later had the chance to witness her jam out as an impassioned percussionist at the final Godspell musical showing I attended Saturday evening. It was fascinating to simply know that if I had not met this spirited and young musician one week earlier, I would have completely dismissed her as another drummer in the background. I could not help but smile when I caught her gleaming during her solo parts because I know that she will have a bright and hopeful future.

Lastly, I strangely realized a goal that I thought I had already achieved at the beginning of these two past weeks. I originally thought that by me, myself, and I taking on this rather “nerve-racking” project in the first place, I had accomplished all of the optimism and open-mindedness that a girl my age needed. However, I did not until I learned that I was carrying out my project naturally while lifeguarding the other day. It just so happened to be me and the older, Hispanic man (that I had rarely talked to before) lifeguarding the outdoor pool at work. In the past, we had only smiled, waved, and spoken to each other for a maximum of five minutes. I was not “afraid” of him, so to say, yet I was still very hesitant to ask him whether or not he had come from another country, especially because he had such a thick accent. I wholeheartedly believe that if I had not interviewed so many random individuals before that point, I may not have had the nerve to ask him my questions and discovered half of his unimaginable life story thereafter. While he was disclosing his extraordinary reasons of coming to the U.S. over twenty years ago, I so badly wanted to whip out my camera and cell phone to add his intriguing story to my project. Yes, it is wonderful to be able to share other persons’ stories with the rest of humanity via social media, but listening to another person should not just be for a school project, the “likes,” or the “page followers.” Listening should be for the benefits of your own mind, body, and spirit. That is the goal I wish to obtain— to listen not to respond, but to listen and absorb my surroundings for the betterment of my own well-being.