Interview conducted by Sofia R.
11:53 a.m: Semi-improvisationally meeting for the interview, Grace and I excitedly conversed about a Seniors of CPS interviewer interviewing another Seniors of CPS interviewer. Grace, nervous despite knowing the questions, hadn’t thought about her answers to them before. I click record. Welcome Grace. The interview has begun.
Sofia: Okay, what's something you're passionate about?
Grace: Okay. Wait, are you already recording?
Sofia: Yeah.
Grace: Oh, damn, you're speedy. Okay.
Sofia: Thanks! Yep.
Grace: I’ll get the obvious one out of the way, which is I'm passionate about birds. I, like, grew up surrounded by birds. And then as I got older, that grew into a love of birdwatching. So now, I'm just kind of bird-obsessed in all areas of my life. I'm also really passionate about music, and singing specifically. Like I’ve been taking singing lessons for like seven years, and it makes me really happy. It's perhaps one of the only things that I've like, stuck with long haul.
Sofia: What is one of your favorite songs?
Grace: I feel like I'm gonna get a lot of hate for this, but I really like Graceland Too by Phoebe Bridgers. I don't know, it's just a really impactful song, and it means a lot to me. And I’ve listened to it more than one should listen to the same song.
Sofia: Yeah. Everyone has that one song. What is one item on your bucket list?
Grace: Um, I’m trying to decide which one! I guess I'd really like to go up into Oregon. And like into the woods where there's a lake, and find like a loon. I've always really wanted to see a common loon in person because they also-
Sofia: Wait, what’s a loon?
Grace: It's like a type of bird. That lives in fresh water.
Sofia: Okay, okay, got it.
Grace: It's cry sounds like, a lot of people describe it like a woman screaming, which I would say is accurate. They yodel too. And I just think it would be really lovely to hear that in person, and chilling but also lovely.
Sofia: Sounds cool. Have you changed during your time at College Prep?
Grace: There are a lot of things. I definitely like who I am now a lot more than I liked who I was like, in eighth grade. I think I'm a happier person, and I think I've learned to be more trusting. And I've learned how to connect with people more deeply and create more meaningful relationships, also I’ve just learned how important that is and that we all need support and you can't just try to rely on yourself for like, all of your, like, everything. Yeah, sometimes you need other people to survive, and I think that's an important thing that I've learned.
Sofia: Last one. What's one of your favorite College Prep memories?
Grace: Oh, it's so hard to pick two!
Sofia: You can do two!
Grace: I totally wasn't fishing for that. Okay, first of all, I'm gonna say sophomore retreat. Because, like, river rafting was maybe the most fun I've ever had in my entire life and I loved it. And my other one also from the spring of sophomore year, and it was being in Mamma Mia. Because it was just so fun. Like the music was so fun, and just like, pretending to party on stage was so fun. And I was in it with a bunch of my friends, and specifically tech week, Mamma Mia tech week, because I always love tech week.
Sofia: Yeah, sounds like sophomore year was awesome.
Grace: It was! Shockingly.