Eric Hacker

I happened upon the subject of this interview at Foster’s Dining Hall the afternoon on Friday, the last day before Spring Break. He and I are actually classmates in our math course. Believe it or not, he was the one who called me over. With a bowl of tomato soup in hand I made my way over to the table to join him. We talked for a few minutes, discussing the upcoming math quiz we had to take and whether or not we were ready for it. (We both agreed we weren’t, but we’d try anyway.) Since he was there and I was looking for people to interview, I asked him if he would like to do an interview for the Faces of I.U.P blog. He kindly accepted the offer.

As per usual, I started off with the simple questions.“What is your name?” I first asked him, more for the sake of the interview and my audience rather than myself.

“Eric Hacker,” he told me.

“Where are you from?”

“Butler, Pennsylvania. It’s about an hour south of Indiana.”

 “What is your major?”

“Exercise Science.”

“What year are you?”

“I’m a first semester freshman.”

This immediately caught my attention. I was curious as to why he had taken a semester off. I wanted to ask him, but I figured we could wait until we got past the easier questions. “Do you have any hobbies/interests/activities?”

“Well, exercising obviously.” Eric told me. Considering he was an Exercise Science major, I could see that. “I also like fishing, hunting and kayaking; anything outdoors really.”

“You’re one of those people who doesn’t like staying still?” I asked him.

“Yeah,” he confirmed. “I’m also one of those people who doesn’t like staying inside. Even when it’s raining out I still like to go out and do something." Jokingly he added, ”Though I don’t like this cold.”  

“Why did you choose I.U.P?” I asked him.

“A lot of my family went here,” he explained to me. “My one cousin actually goes here. I visited a lot, and I liked the campus. Plus they had my major.  So I decided to come here.”

I nodded and decided to give in to my curiosity and ask him about being a first semester freshman. “Why did you decide to wait?”

“Well I decided to join the Air Force first,” Eric explained to me. “Then complications happened. They discharged me, so now I’m in school.”

I raised my eyebrows. Complications? I began to wonder. At first I was uncertain if I should ask though. After weighing the pros and cons in my head, I decided to risk it. After all, the worst thing  he could tell me was no and that he didn’t want to do the interview anymore. “Is it okay if I ask what those complications were?”

“I was having stomach pains.”  I could hear the disappointment in his voice as he explained to me why they discharged him. “They thought that I might have had appendicitis. That automatically disqualifies you from the job that I had. So they sent me home.”

I nodded my understanding. I did want to know more about his experience with the military. However, I decided to move on; partly because I wanted to find out more about him aside for his military experience- and I knew if I didn’t get that out of the way and I started on the topic of his military experience that those would be all the questions I’d ask. Another reason was because I had this sense that he didn’t really want to say more about being discharged at that moment. Maybe I was reading too much into it, or maybe I was misreading. In any case I decided that should the opportunity arise I would then revisit the topic. “So why did you want to go into Exercise Science?” I asked him.

His mood seemed to lift as I changed the subject. “I always liked working out and exercising. I want to help people be healthier and plan so they can change their life and turn it around.”

“Do you know what you want to do with your degree once you get it?”

“I want to become a personal trainer. I want to help people with nutrition and diet. I would like to become a fitness coach.”

I was curious. Being the major that I am, I have very little knowledge of what goes on with the medical majors aside from what friends or acquaintances tell me. “Who would you work with?” I asked him. I decided that maybe I should specify my answer. “Would you want to work with athletes, students, etc.?”

“At first I’ll start working with anyone. However, if I can get a job working with athletes at either high school or college level- maybe eventually professional level- that would be great. I’d be able to do all sorts of great stuff.”

I nodded and then asked him, “So why would you want to work with high school students?”

“I like the environment,” he explained to me. “I feel that it’s the place where many athletes begin to see their potential. They’re not at the upper-level yet, and you can help them by giving them something to work with and help them improve. If they go pro- you can say that you helped them along their way. Anyone that helps an athlete can get them out there.”

His talk about athletics got me curious about his own athletic experience. “What sports did you play in high school?” I asked him.

“I swam for two years. I ran cross country for three years and track for six.”

“Six years?” I asked, raising my eyebrows to make sure I heard him correctly.

“Yeah. Middle school and high school.”

I was impressed. “Did you guys make it to Districts?”

“Yeah, I went to Districts and Wipfeels. Got in those for both cross-country and swimming. We had a couple of people go to States.”

“What did you do when you were in track?” I asked him.

“Threw javelin, I sprinted, I tried distance and pole-vault. I pretty much tried everything. I was the best at javelin and I went to Wipfeels for that.” There was a sense of pride in his voice, but it wasn’t the overbearing or arrogant sort.

“What about swimming?” I asked him.

“Sprints mostly. Mainly the fifty-yard free-style. I went to Wipfeels for those. I would do water relays and medley relays. I only did two or three events by myself.”

I nodded. He had told me that much of his life revolved around physical activity. I wanted to find out more about his fondest memories in his involvement. So I asked him, “What is your fondest memory doing those activities?”

“Probably when we qualified for Wipfeels for swimming,” Eric told me. “We each had to swim our fastest time ever. We had to do it by six-tenths of a second- which is ridiculous for swimming. We all did it, and we made it to Wipfeels by a tenth of a second.”

“What is your fondest memory outside of doing your activities?”

“Spending time with my brother,” Eric told me. “He’s four years older than me. We used to not get along when we were younger. Then he went to college and we became good friends. Now I’m in college and we’re best friends. We talk pretty much every day. Spending time with him is pretty cool. We’ll sometimes go shooting, fishing or kayaking.”

“Do you have any favorite things to do outside of sports?” I asked him.

“I love music,” he told me without pause. “I play piano and actually taught myself. I can listen to a song and play it, since I can’t read music for piano. I also played guitar, trumpet and saxophone. Drums too.”

I was pretty impressed. “Were you in band or chorus at all?”

“Yeah, I was in concert band and jazz band for two years too.”

“You taught yourself how to play piano?” I then asked him. I was pretty amazed by this fact, my curiosity demanded me to learn more if I could. “When did you start doing that?”

“I took a lesson for three weeks in first grade, and then we moved. I didn’t learn too much about it with those lessons, I only learned scales. (I don’t even remember those.) I remember afterward, I still liked the sound of the piano. I would watch videos and listen to the sounds. I’d then associate them to an actual piano. So I learned to play that way.”

“Did you teach yourself all those other instruments or did someone else?” I asked him.

“All of them except for the guitar and trumpet. I took lessons for the guitar for ten years. The trumpet they teach you in school- but much of it is self-taught after fifth grade.”

Eric telling me about his music experience got me thinking also about his athletic experience, which in turn also got me thinking about his studies. “You said that you want to help people do better in athletics and that one day you can say you helped them get to where they are at. Was there anyone in your life who helped get you to where you’re at now?”

“All of my coaches and my grandfather taught me a lot. My family was all supportive. It’s nice because when you’re not certain if you can do it, they all know that you can. So it gives you motivation to do well. My drill instructors also left an impact.”

“Was there any coach in particular?”

“My cross-country and track coach,” Eric told me. “He coached my brother, and then he coached me. My coach helped me switch up my seasons instead of having me just focus one particular skill.”

“Do you think the professors here at I.U.P do a good job teaching Exercise Science?”

“Well, I don’t have too many classes in those since I’m a first semester freshman and I have to take care of my electives. I think that my Prevention of Injuries professor is pretty good though. He always stays up-to-date on his information, and he actually works as a professional trainer along the side.”

“As a first semester freshman, do you have any advice for incoming college students?”

“Be good at time management,” Eric told me without a moment’s pause. “Be organized and write stuff down. Things pile up and it can be easy to forget them if you don’t. It can mean the difference between passing and failing a class since you don’t have many points in college courses.”

I was curious to see if he was speaking from experience. “You said that time management and organization were something that people need to have. Did you have any struggles with it?”

“When I was in high school,” he told me. “When you join the military though they make you break that habit. They also make you memorize stuff.”

Since he brought up the topic of the military, I decided to go back to his experiences in the forces. 

“What memory stays with you whenever you think about the military?”

“There’s a lot,” Eric laughed as he thought. “My Basic Training was in Texas. I was there in July, which is the hottest month of the year. Since it was, I remember some of our exercises were in the pool.”

“Did you ever go to Texas before then?” I asked him.

“No,” he told me. “I heard people say that it was hot, and that it was more of a dry heat. In my opinion it’s actually pretty humid down there.”

“Where in Texas were you?” I asked him.

“San Antonio,” he told me. “We flew in to the Dallas Airport. We then had to take these little buses in order to get to San Antonio.”

“Where else have you been aside for Texas?” I asked him.

“Well, I went to Hawaii for my cousin’s wedding. None of the places I traveled to were real exciting aside for that. Hawaii was a blast. It’s weird because it’s warm but there’s always a breeze blowing in. All the restaurants are open and sometimes birds will fly in and sit on the tables. I think that’s weird, but aside for that it was pretty cool. We saw some tunnels that were dug beneath a volcano, and we went to see the Pearl Harbor Memorial. We stood on a boat and watched the Arizona under the water.”

“Was it real emotional?”

“Yeah. No one was talking. When you’re on the boat, you have this headset which tells you information about what happened. Then you take them off when you reach the Arizona Memorial. It’s so quiet and eerie. The only sound you hear is the oil flowing up from the ship towards surface.”

“Did you get to interact with the locals and the Native Hawaiians?” I asked him.

“Yeah! My cousin actually married a Hawaiian Native and their entire family is Native Hawaiian. Talking to them and learning about their culture was really interesting. It was pretty cool to learn about their traditions.”

“Did you have a favorite thing about Texas?” I asked.

“Not really. I heard there were things to do such as the River Walk. I also heard the town was really cool. I was in camp for most of the time.”

“Was it in Basic that they discovered you were having your issues?”

“Yeah. They started realizing it during the work-outs. My sides were beginning to hurt badly. I think it was just from dehydration. They said it was something with my appendix and you can’t really fight that.”

I nodded. “Was your plan to just join the Air Force or were you also looking into going into college eventually?”

“No, I just wanted to go into the Air Force. Ever since I was eight I knew I wanted to go in the military. It wasn’t until I was ten that I decided on the Air Force. I made into the Special Forces, and I signed on to be a para-rescue man. I wanted to do that as long as I could since it’s a tough job and I like the challenge.”

“What do para-rescue people do?”

“They deal with mass-casualty situations. It’s almost like what you see in the movies. If there’s a situation like a hurricane or a problem that requires the rescue of large numbers, the Special Forces get called in to evacuate them. They also help evacuate any soldiers who are allied with ours. They can do missions involving scuba-diving, sky-diving, helicopters, you name it. When I joined, I didn’t want to get stuck with a desk job; I wanted something hard.”

“After you got discharged, why did you decide to go to college?”

“There was nothing else to do. I worked at a metal shop for a while and learned to weld during the fall and winter semester. I discovered that it was something I didn’t want to do with my life. So I decided I should go to college so I can learn to do something that I like. It’s difficult now because I have very little financial aid and it’s expensive. I’m hoping I can qualify for it next semester though.”

Our interview drew to an end. After I thanked him, we continued to sit together and talk about life until it was time to head to our math class. We took a picture of him inside Foster near the entrance of to the actual dining area. Again I thanked him for letting me interview him and we made our way together to our math course.

As I’m writing this post, I can’t help but wonder about how disappointed Eric must have been that he couldn't fulfill his dream to become a para-rescuer. It’s not easy to be told you can’t fulfill a lifelong dream of yours, especially when you were presented with the opportunity to do so and then come to find out that due to circumstances- you won’t be able to completely actualize it. However, I’m glad that Eric is now on a path that he feels he enjoys and wants to do. He has shown that despite the challenges that he has been faced he is always willing to keep trying. Even if in the end he can’t succeed- he isn't afraid to pursue new dreams and do what he loves. I would like to take a few moments to wish him the best of luck as he continues down the path of his college career and his goal to becoming a Personal Trainer. I hope that when you do, you’ll get to be able to help many people turn their life around.

Unfortunately, we have reached the end of this post. Of course, there are still plenty of people to interview. As always, feedback is appreciated. Be sure to check back in next time- and if you’re an I.U.P student or family member- be sure to enjoy the Spring Break!

Macey LeBlanc

The subject I conducted this interview with is actually a classmate of mine in my Religious Studies course. After our class was finished, I asked her if she would be willing to let me interview her for my blog. She agreed to do it. “I have nothing else until 2:30 today,” she informed me.

A couple minutes later we met up just outside of the Java City in Stapleton Library. After I fetched myself a cup of coffee we sat down. Just as I did with Joshua, I explained to her that she could leave at any time, and that if there was anything she’d rather I not mention to let me know.

Below is the interview. As I did with Joshua, I made sure to start off with some easy questions to make sure she was comfortable.

“What is your name?”

“Macey LeBlanc,” she responded.

“What is your major?”

“Pre-Vet.”

I looked up from my note-taking. “Pre-Vet?” I asked to make sure I heard her right. “Not Pre-Med?” 

For a moment I thought about how coincidental it would have been if the first two people I interviewed were both Pre-Med majors. To explain to her why I wanted to make sure I was clear, I told her that my previous interview had been with a Pre-Med major.

She laughed. “I actually do have people ask me what a Pre-Vet is,” Macey told me. “I’ll tell them my major and they’ll ask, ‘Is that Pre-Veteran?’ I’ll tell them, ‘Nope. Pre-Veterinarian.’”

I chuckled as I moved on to the next question. “What year are you?”

“I’m a second semester freshman.”

“Both in your college career and I.U.P?” I asked.

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“Where are you from?”

“My house is in New Jersey, however I’m from Louisiana.”

“Where in New Jersey?”

“My house is in Howell. However I lived in a couple of places before that. I move around a lot.”

Immediately I was curious about all the places where she had lived, but I refrained from diving right into those questions. I still wanted to make sure she was comfortable talking to me. So I went on and asked, “Do you have any hobbies or interests?”

“I love animals,” she told me without a moment’s pause. Just from the way she said those words I could tell she was passionate about them. “I actually used to train alpacas.”

I raised my eyebrows “Train alpacas?” I asked to make sure I heard her correctly.

“Yeah. It was fun” she told me. “Before that I trained dogs. However, my dog is a dachshund and he was really stubborn. I said, ‘This is way too difficult. I’m going to switch to alpacas instead.” I wondered why someone would switch from training dogs to alpacas. As if she read my mind, she elaborated on her statement. “Believe it or not, alpacas are actually easier to train.”

“Really?” You could probably imagine my disbelief. “I never even knew you could train alpacas,” I admitted to her. “I know that they could be domesticated, but not that you could actually train them to do tricks. What you can you train them to do?”

“Have you ever seen a dog agility show?” Macey inquired.

“Yes,” I replied. (For those of you who don’t know, a dog agility show is basically a competition where people show how agile their dogs are by using various kinds of obstacles and performances.)

“It’s the exact same concept,” she went on.

“So they have to run around bars and stuff?”

“Yes,” she confirmed. “They also can be taught to jump over hurdles. There’s one thing you can teach them to do where you have to put a blanket over their head. Basically they have to behave with the blanket over them, and you have to back them with a lead into an open square. They get rated based on well they do. Then you walk around the ring with them and that’s basically showmanship.”

“Do they give out prize money for that like they do with dog shows?”

“I've never done it to win money. I did it through 4-H organizations. They hand out ribbons. I never won. Unfortunately I had to quit after a year because I moved. I would assume that there would be prize money in some competitions though.”

“Is there a reason- other than possibly winning a prize- why you’d train an alpaca to do those tricks?”

“Mainly just because you can. Also the shows are a form of entertainment. Alpacas are actually pretty entertaining, especially when they try to spit on you.”

“Did you ever get spit on?” I asked.

“Almost,” she laughed.

“Do you have any other hobbies?” I asked.

“I used to write a lot when I was in high school,” she told me. “Mainly love poems because I’m a sap. However I don’t do it as much anymore. I also used to be in choir, but since I’m not a music major I don’t partake in it here.”

I nodded. It was then I decided it was time to dig deeper into Macey’s story. “What do you hope to do with your degree in Pre-Vet?”

“Ideally I want to own a zoo. I would love to own a zoo. That is my life dream.”

“Are we talking like a zoo with lions, tigers and bears-“

“Oh my!” she exclaimed. Again we both laughed. “Yeah. That’s the kind of zoo I want. However, zoos are expensive to own so the likelihood of that happening isn't very high. I would settle for working at a zoo, but that’s not too likely either. I would even work at a wildlife rehab center too, but that’s mainly more volunteer rather than paid. Even if it were paid, it wouldn't likely be very good. So what I’ll likely do is work at veterinary office and volunteer at a wildlife rehab center.

“I played Zoo Tycoon so I can see how zoos can be expensive,” I said. (Those of you who ever played the game know what I’m talking about.) “Why do you think it’s not likely you’d actually be able to work in a zoo though?”

“The job isn't in high demand,” she explained. “When a person becomes a keeper, they tend to stay. It’s not very often they need another worker to be there. It’s very picky to work there and the pay isn't very good either.”

I nodded. “What made you decide to come to I.U.P?”

“I was actually dating someone for three years,” she told me. “We just broke up the Monday before Valentine’s Day. I was looking into colleges at the time he told me he was going to Wyo-Tech- which is in Blairsville. So I looked up colleges within the area that offered a pre-veterinarian degree. I got accepted into three places- and in the end I chose I.U.P.”

“Was there any other reason why you picked I.U.P?”

“I wanted to be out of New Jersey. I really don’t like it there. If I wasn’t following my boyfriend at the time I made my decision, I would have gone to Louisiana State University. They have a great Pre-Vet program down there. I chose here though because I was following him. I also like Pennsylvania because it’s basically the south of the North.”

“Why did your family move from Louisiana?” I asked her.

“Well when Hurricane Katrina hit we had to evacuate. We moved to Florida. Since then my Dad has been divorced and remarried a few times. He met this lady at his work and she lived in New Jersey. So he moved us all with her and they got married. Seven years later he got divorced and we moved again since he met someone else through work. We’re now living with her. However, he can’t marry her because they work together and if they did one of them would have to quit. However, she just had a baby. Now I have five blood related siblings and two step-siblings.”

“Cool,” I congratulated. “So you said you live with your Dad. Where does your Mom live?”

“My Mom lives in Louisiana still. Most of family- including my Dad’s side- lives down there. I’d probably live with them if I had decided to go to L.S.U. I also have cousins who attend it. However the one just graduated from there.”

My curiosity bested me on this one, not going to deny it. “Since one of the reasons why you came here to I.U.P was because of your boyfriend whom you just recently broke up with- do you think you’ll stay here or are you going to transfer to L.S.U.?”

“Oh no, I’m staying here,” she reassured. “It’s too much work to transfer. Besides, I like it here. It’s nice. Though I don’t like the snow. It’s too cold.”

“I’d imagine that being from Louisiana, you’re not used to the snow?”

“No,” she agreed. “Before I moved to New Jersey I only experienced snow once. It was a light dusting but since it was Louisiana people were freaking out- they were having trouble driving in it. We tried to have snowball fights and build snowmen but it just went wrong.”

Chuckling, I went on and asked, “What do you like about I.U.P.?”

“I like the environment. All of my professors except for one were really good. I have many friends here. I’m pretty close with my room-mate even though she and I can get on each other’s nerves. She may not always admit it, but she loves me. We have a friend who lives down the hall. We all get together and hang out. I wouldn't want to leave.”

“You said that you were best friends with your room-mate, did you know each other beforehand? Did the two of you meet here? Was it an instant friendship or did it just gradually develop?”

“It was instant because we’re a lot alike. We were texting before we moved in and the one time she says to me, ‘Just so you know, all my friends like to describe me as a sarcastic asshole.’ I texted her back saying, ‘That’s how my friends like to describe me too!’ So we moved in, hit it off. We started to get on each other’s nerves a bit but that’s because we live with each other. We’re still good friends though, I think it’s just because it’s hard to live together with someone.”

“Where do you see yourself five to ten years from now?”

“In five years I will hopefully be in a veterinary school. In ten years hopefully working at maybe a vet. I don’t look at long-term usually. That’s the extent of how far I’ll look. I’m not the kind of person who looks too far. I don’t do it because then there’s false hopes. So I don’t do it.”

“Would you say that your life’s outlook is to not look long-term? To focus on the here and the now?”

“Yes. Sometimes it can get me in some issues. But I’m kind of spontaneous.”

“You love spontaneous?”

“I’m the queen of spontaneity.”

Laughing, I then decided to try one of the new questions that I came up with after my interview with Joshua. “Can you tell me a story that happened to you? It can be funny, sad, whatever you want.”

She thought for a few moments. “I do have one actually. In my English class, my professor always somehow manages to bring up sex. Because of that, I’d always mention 50 Shades of Gray. I love 50 Shades. It’s a horribly written book but aside from that I love it. So every single class, when my professor brings it up I say, ‘50 Shades?’ It’s an ongoing joke.

Macey continued her story. “One day, the girl who sits next to me says, ‘What is 50 Shades? I don’t know what that is.’

“‘It’s a book about B.D.S.M,’ my professor explained.

“The girl was like, ‘What’s B.D.S.M?’

“The professor begins explaining to the girl what each letter of the acronym stands for, however she couldn't remember what the ‘B’ stood for.”

Macey paused for a moment and then went on. “That’s when I cut in and said, ‘It stands for bondage.’

“‘Oh bondage,’ my professor said. Suddenly she pauses for a moment and then looks at me. She asks, ‘Wait Macey, how do you know what that means?’

“Soon all of my classmates- including a friend of mine who used to live down the hall from me- is like, ‘Wait Macey, how do you that?’ And, ‘Yeah Macey, how do you know that?’ Next thing I know I’m all over Fade. It’s bad, but it’s funny. I’m now Fade famous apparently. I got to love my haters. Anyway, I think that’s a pretty comical story.”

It really was hilarious. I really can’t do the story she told me justice though, so I do ask my readers to take my word for it.

I decided to get a little serious though with my next question, since she brought the topic up. “You said you like 50 Shades of Gray. What do you think of the controversy behind it?”

“I feel most people who have issues with it either are judging it based on what they heard or else have read reviews by people who are biased against it. They don’t realize that there’s a story. I mean- she does agree to it. I personally don’t think the relationship is abusive. Does he manipulate her a bit? Yeah- but I think everyone kind of manipulates each other. I’ll admit, sometimes I can be manipulative as well. People don’t realize that there’s a story, or that he’s not a complete asshole. There was some serious shit that happened to him that kind of made him the way he is. She loves him, and he love hers. It inspires him to change his ways. In my opinion it doesn't condone an abusive relationship.”

“What do you say to people who were protesting the movie? People saying that it’s dirty or wrong or anything along those lines?”

“Is it dirty? Yeah. But really to each his own. People have funny fetishes. I mean…well here’s an example. Many people worship a man who got nailed to a cross. I don’t bring this up for an example to be offensive. I say that because I do too. I’m Catholic. Yet to people outside of Christianity, that can be considered a funny fetish or stupid. They can be like, ‘Why would you do that? That’s dumb!’ I’m just saying that anything can be looked at as a fetish or a dirty thing.”

“You just mentioned that you’re Catholic,” I said. “Do people ever see what you do and how you view the world and then realize you’re Catholic and they give you the double-take look?”

“Definitely,” Macey confirmed. “For instance, I've had people tell me- because I’m bi- that I can’t be Catholic and have that orientation. I’ll be like, ‘Well that’s too bad because I’m here. It’s a thing, it happens. My family is from the South- which is very religious. Most of my family is very religious. My godfather is gay and he’s actually very religious. People say that it’s not possible to be gay and religious. I say, 'Too bad, it is.' That’s actually one of the reasons why I like the current Pope. He’s more accepting towards the gay community. He may not agree with it, but at least he’s setting a different tone. I’m hoping someday the views that the Church maintains will change.”

I was both amazed and impressed she was willing to share such thoughts with me. As our interview drew to a close, I asked her, “Are you sure it’s okay I put that in the interview?”

“Oh you’re fine,” she reassured me. “What I told you is what everyone else already knows or soon will find out.”

I thanked Macey for sharing her story with me. “I got some good stuff here,” I told her. “Thank you again for doing this. I really appreciate it.”

“Not a problem,” she said. “I’m glad to be of help.”

I checked to make sure she was cool with everything else we discussed being in the blog. I told her where she could find the pages, and that the update would be up in the next few days. After that we went our separate ways, saying we’d see each other the next day. (She and I have both a Religious Studies and a Sociology class together. They’re on different days.)

I do want to say that I appreciate how open Macey was about her back-story. I know that not everyone would be comfortable doing that so I did truly appreciate it. She is definitely an intriguing face of I.U.P. that has many different interesting facets to her personality, and many layers to her story. Plus, she’s real funny. It just goes to show that people aren't so simple that you can easily wrap them in a package.

Unfortunately we’re coming to the end of this. Before I do head out, I do want to say that any and all opinions that the people I interview maintain may or may not match my own. I won’t deny that I have my own opinions and ideas- but my goal with this blog is to tell other people’s stories. Any ideas held may or may not be shared by me or by the university.

Be sure to check back soon. Spring Break is around the corner, but hopefully I’ll have some more faces that I can blog and more stories to share over the Break. As always feedback is much appreciated- be it praise or constructive criticism. Until next time, catch you all later! 

Joshua Soundarajan

I ran into the subject of this interview outside of the Java City inside the Stapleton Library. Out of students who were in the area- he was the only one I saw who wasn't working on assignments. Stealing the opportunity- Tablet, phone and a cup of coffee at the ready- I sat down next to him. I kindly asked if he would allow me to interview him for my blog. Though he had class in thirty minutes, he was very courteous. Below are some of the questions that I asked him. I made sure he knew he could stop at any time, and that if there was anything he didn't want me to mention, I would leave out.

I started off with a couple of easy questions, just to make sure he was comfortable around me.

“What is your name?”

“My name is Joshua Soundarajan.”

“Where are you from?”

“I was originally born in Pittsburgh, PA. Now I live in Indiana.”

“So that makes you a native of Indiana?” I asked to make sure I comprehended him.

“Yeah, I’m a native,” he smiled.

“What’s your major?” I ventured.

“Pre-Medicine.”

“Do you have any minors?”

“I’m going to get a minor in Chemistry and Economics.”

His responses to my questions about his major and minor immediately drew me in. Being a major in Communications with minors in Sociology and Religious Studies, I had very little interaction with people who were going into the Pre-med field outside of my classes. While I wanted to dive right into learning more about his story, I refrained and asked a couple of more questions.

“What year are you?”

“I’m a freshman right now, but I will be graduating in two-and-a-half years.”

“Dual Enrollment?” I inquired.

“No, I took AP classes in my high school last year. And I managed to get 30 credits. I skipped a whole year even before coming to I.U.P.”

I raised my eyebrows. I had heard such accounts before where people were able to knock off time off of their education…but to have been able to receive that many? Needless to say I was impressed.

I went on though, asking: “What are your hobbies and interests?”

“I like to work out a lot at the Fitness Center,” Joshua told me. “I like to play violin, I used to do a lot of competitions with district P.M.A orchestras, regional orchestras, and state orchestras as well. I do a lot of stock investment stuff too. Mostly penny stocks. Though people vary. They don’t like the idea in investing in penny stocks, but once you understand the patterns, it’s very easy to understand how it works.”

“That's really cool,” I complimented. “I’ll be honest, I don’t know anything about economics.”

He elaborated his answer. “I don’t know much either- I decided to get an Economics minor because back in high school we were playing this stock market game. I thought it was really interesting. I was better at it than many of my classmates- even my teacher! So I realized if I get better at working in the stock market, I have the potential to pay off my college and medical school because medical school is expensive.”

Figuring it was time I dived deeper into his story I asked, “Do you know what you plan on doing with your degree?”

“I want to be an E.N.T. Ears, nose and throat specialist. Maybe open my own clinic here.”

“Are you one of those people who likes to stay close to home?”

“Yeah. Though I don’t like this weather outside right now.” We both laughed and he continued on. 

“If I could go to one place, it’d be Miami, Florida.”

“So you’re interested stocks, you loved violin, and you competed in that…and you work out?” I asked.

“Yeah. I like to do a lot of body-weight exercises. Just getting in shape.”

“Do you play any sports?”

“When I was in high school, I used to play football, tennis and track. I would throw the javelin shot.”

“Did your school ever make it to districts?”

“Yeah. I was from Indiana Area School District, and they were pretty good at football. They usually 

get in the playoffs every year.”

“You love football you said, you have a particular team you support?”

“Pittsburgh Steelers, because I’m from Pittsburgh. I’ve grown up with them, and I love black and gold.”

“Do you do anything special when the Superbowl comes around?”

“We usually get KFC or we make our own chicken wings. The one day to eat a lot of junk food!”

“Why did you decide to go to I.U.P?” I asked, moving our topic from sports.

“Firstly, because my Dad is a professor at I.U.P, so I get free tuition. In these economic hardships, you can’t pass off on free tuition. If I didn’t have that opportunity though, I would have gone to Pitt.”

“What’s your Dad a professor of?” I asked him.

“He’s a professor of Computer Science. He’s in Stright Hall.”

“So you said you were hoping to open your own clinic. Do you know what you might practice?” I was curious about E.N.T work, it was the first time I heard the term. I wanted to know more.

“I want to specialize in ears, nose, and throat. I’ll probably just specialize in those body parts. In Indiana there aren't many who specialize in the eyes, nose and mouth.”

“That would be pretty good to have since there isn't many,” I agreed.

“Yeah, it’ll be good to have especially winter, when people get a lot of ear and throat infections.”

“Hey, if you ever get that clinic open and if I’m still in the area at the time, maybe I’ll come see you!” I told him.

“Yeah!” he laughed, and pretty soon we were both laughing once again. 

“Have you gotten sick at all?” I asked him. Since we were talking about health, I was curious if he had any tips on staying healthy aside for the typical “wash your hands” or “drink lots of fluid.” Little did I realize how far off my feet his answer would knock me?

"I haven’t been sick in almost 3-4 years. I drink almost a gallon of water a day, I eat my yogurt, and I cut down on carbohydrates. I usually never get sick at all.”

“Really? So if you cut down on carbohydrates it actually prevents you from getting sick?”

“It prevents cholesterol building up in your blood. That’s from my experience. I used to have high cholesterol in my blood, but once I started cutting down on rice, pasta and all those carbs my cholesterol went down like crazy.”

Once again, I was impressed. “That’s actually really cool. I didn't know that.”

“Most people, they say fats are bad for you- no. Fats are actually really good for you. Carbohydrates use transfer fats. If you can cut the carbs out, your fat can be digested instead of carbs. Most of these classes teach mainstream sciences, others teach off-brand. We’re so used to hearing fats are bad. If you change that, you change the textbooks. Which would cost money. Personally, I think it’s because many doctors here in America care more about money than they do about taking care of people.”

“You really don’t like that, do you?” I asked him.

“No, I don’t,” Joshua answered.

“You really want to serve the people?”

“Yeah. That’s responsible.”

I decided to dare ask the one political question you shouldn't in today’s modern political world. “Do you ever look at the healthcare system and the politics behind it here in America?”

“Yes, absolutely. I’m a very liberal person. I agree with having affordable health insurance. We have mandatory car insurance, why can’t we have mandatory health insurance? If people can spend hundreds of dollars for iPhones, why can’t money be spent on that?”

“Do you ever get frustrated with the politicians?”

“Sometimes. Everyone blames Obama, but it’s not just him. It’s Congress who passes the laws. You can’t blame just one person.”

“Do you wish there was something the Affordable Care Act would do that it isn't doing already?”

“It still needs to be more affordable. Here in America for instance, an open-heart surgery costs nearly forty thousand dollars. Whereas in European countries like Switzerland and Sweden, the equivalent is that of ten thousand dollars. It’s much cheaper. Also, the average doctor’s appointment costs one hundred fifty dollars- you don’t realize it because insurance only has you pay like twelve. Doctors are really charging a lot for even a simple check-up. You could just as easily look up your ailment online. It’s way overpriced.”

Having no more questions about the topic of Affordable Healthcare (guilty is charged I lost my train of thought) I went on and asked him, “When you do work out, what do you focus on?”

“On certain days, I focus on certain parts. Chest and triceps on Monday. Back and biceps on Tuesday. Legs and shoulders, calves on Wednesday. Then I repeat the process for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. On Sunday, it’s usually a cardio or an abs workout. Yeah, there aren't any rest days.”

If my mouth dropped any further, it would touched the floor. “No rest days?”

“For me there’s no rest days. I’ve worked out for four years. So my body has adapted to working out. In order for me to get better, I have to spend more time on it.”

“Wow,” I remarked. “That’s amazing. I took a Health course last semester where I worked out a bit. I I haven’t been to the gym this semester. It’s bad, but I've just been so busy. Do you have advice for people who want to get involved in an exercise program?”

“It’s your diet that matters most,” Joshua told me. “You can exercise all you want, but if your diet isn't checked there’s no point in working out. It’s like putting water in a sports car. You can have the nicest car, but if you don’t have the right fuel, it won’t work. Reduce your junk food, and that will help you more. Don’t jump into a workout. Build yourself into it, build yourself up.”

I thanked him. “I’ll definitely need to keep that in mind when I get back into the swing of things.”

I went on and asked him if he had a professor he was close to:

“I’m close with my Dad, of course. I do talk to my Organic Chemistry Professor a lot. He’s one of the most knowledgeable professors at I.U.P in my opinion.”

“Organic chemistry sounds pretty difficult,” I remarked.

“There’s a lot of memorization involved. It’s either you know it or not.”

“How would you describe yourself in one word?” I asked him.

“I want to say unique. I want to be well-rounded. I like to be knowledgeable about a lot of backgrounds rather than focus on one thing. It’s always good to be knowledgeable so you can have a broad perspective. Most people who are narrow-minded don’t want to open up their minds to new ideas.”

“Is that one of your pet peeves?” I asked him.

“Well… I’m kind of O.C.D too, that’s one of my pet peeves. I like to keep things organized. I like to get things done. I don’t like to wait, like if I have an assignment, I like to get it done.”

“What advice would you give to someone going into your field?”

“First thing is, you study like crazy because the medical field is one of the hardest fields to go into. You have to have a really good GPA.  If you also do it for the money rather than the biology, there is no point. In order to actually pass you have to enjoy what you do. If you don’t like biology, just forget about it.”

“Do you personally think I.U.P does a great job preparing their med students?”

“I believe I.U.P does a really good job at preparing med students. Some I wonder about. The professors I had though, have done a really good job at teaching me.”

"Do you ever wonder about the future about the medical field?”

“I would assume the field would expand because people live longer and there’s more people- especially with the Baby Boom- which is right now. There’s also the Echo Boom which is ninety-five to ninety-nine, when they start getting older they will need some sort of health care. I think the medical will be expanding in the next 20 and 30 years.”

“What is the one thing you hope America sees when it comes to medicine?” I asked him.

“Less dependence on pharmaceutical medications and more focus on natural remedies- which are probably much more effective. Watching carbohydrates, eating healthier, exercising. There’s only so much that medicine can do. Lifestyles changes will help you more individually.”

By the time we had finished our interview, he had only ten minutes to get to his class. I took his picture, and thanked him once again for letting me interview him. I told him he was my first subject for the blog, and he smiled. “I've never been blogged before. There’s a first for everything!”

There certainly is Joshua. 

I do want to say that out of all the people I could have interviewed for my first candidate, I'm grateful it was Joshua. Not only did I get to learn about an interesting face of I.U.P, I also got to learn much about health and the science. As I write this post, I’m thinking about him. I know that wherever life takes him, he will definitely go far in life. He has huge dreams; and he has the work ethic, the knowledge, and the character to achieve them. I think in the days ahead, he will be a face to keep your eyes open for as he continues to achieve great feats. I meant what I said too. If I am still in Indiana when he opens his clinic, he might be one of the doctors to whom I will turn. I hope that my future doctors will be as devoted and caring towards their patients as I know he will. 

After we finished talking, we shook hands and I wished him well. Letting him know that the post will be up in a couple of days. I hope that wherever he is, he has read it. I do hope that he feels I gave his story justice. 

 Unfortunately we've come to the end of today's post. However, I do ask that you be sure you check back.There’s still plenty of faces to encounter and stories to tell. If there’s one thing I.U.P is never short of…it is people!

If you have any feedback- be it praise or constructive criticism of my style- by all means let me know! Until then, catch you all later!