Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Interview Experience
Tyler Sanders
Western Michigan University
INTERVIEW EXPERIENCE
2
Interview Experience
Individuals Response:
In terms of my undergrad it
was a new experience for me.
First of all it was my first time
away from home cause I
purposefully selected a team
that was out of state so I could
get a different experience for
my time being away from
home and for my parents it
was their first experience
having a kid go off to college.
Skill Demonstrated:
Active Listening
Eye Contact
Body Position
INTERVIEW EXPERIENCE
That was not as smooth as it
probably could have been
compared to my sisters
experience. She is also
attending Western as well, but
I guess I was the experimental
kid. The whole process and
their first time going to school
for academics and athletics.
That whole paperwork
process and all that was all
new to them. The scholarship
and recruiting process was all
new to them. I guess the
second time around was better
with that whole idea of that
whole process.
Individuals Response:
When I first got here, I came
and it was before university
got started. So I didnt really
partake in orientation because
I was at practice. My team
was my first experience of
making friends and meeting
new people.
Individuals Response:
I guess coming from an all
black neighborhood education
system it was new to me to be
around so many new white
peoplenothing against
white people, but it was a
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I felt very overwhelmed by
the discussion and would have
taken notes in future
situations. Ariel showed
immediate interest in sharing
about her family and I had a
feeling that there was more to
discuss when it comes to the
relationships maintained. I
would follow up with the
sister-sister relationship
question after the first fifteen
minutes and found out that
their relationship was one that
helps the other survive
balancing their time. Although
this relationship seemed to be
very supportive, I may have
missed signs of relationship
issues among her and her
parents because so many
topics were discussed.
As she moved on to the
differences in her experience
and those of non-athletes, I
was able to recognize some
distain for individuals who
were able to make friends
through typical orientation. I
also wonder if she would like
to discuss more about the
relationships that she has with
these individuals and whether
she felt isolated because of
this different move in
experience.
Finally, Ariel brought up a
diversity topic that was very
different from anything that
she had mentioned before.
While I questioned whether
anymore issues of diversity
would come up again, it was
INTERVIEW EXPERIENCE
Helper Response:
Skill Demonstrated:
So you came in as a freshmen,
I assume. In that first year
Leading
experience a lot of students
Paraphrasing
get thrown into some random
place and dont have any
connection. You talked about
how your parents had
difficulty as it was their first
child in college.
Helper Response:
Talk a little about how
athletics or being in that team
setting maybe gave you a
little privilege or how the
Skill Demonstrated:
Gaining Insight
Open Question
Comparison-Close Ended
INTERVIEW EXPERIENCE
athletic department gave you
support. Also support from
your team on a social aspect.
Do you think that was
different from other students?
Individuals Response:
I would definitely say that I
had privilege of being a
student athlete in terms of
resources. Always having that
academic support in terms of
tutoring, having those
academic advisors who are
monitoring you. Having study
tables to keep you on track of
going to class doing your
homework. I feel like that was
very beneficial. In terms of
just the privilege being able to
travel to different locations
and run in different at track
and field meets. I feel like that
was definitely a privilege and
having a scholarship to
financially afford some of the
costs of college. I felt like that
was the biggest privilege in
terms of having that. Thats a
big issues for a lot of college
studentsbeing able to afford
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Question
INTERVIEW EXPERIENCE
Individuals Response:
With the idea of being social,
because whether you are
black or white it was a new
experience for all of us.
Skill Demonstrated:
Paraphrasing
Repeating Question with
clarification
INTERVIEW EXPERIENCE
Individuals Response:
Running at the college level is
different compared to high
school and being away from
home some of the concepts
that we shared. Because we
shared those concepts we
were able to support each
other and understand each
other to a certain extent. I
guess we all shared that same
privilege of being a college
athlete so that also was
something we could relate to
and talk about.
Helper Response:
Skill Demonstrated:
Alright. You talked a little
about and were getting ready
Reflecting meaning
to say something along the
lines of talking about now you
went from high school to
college and how that was
different. What do you think
the big differences were and
did they bring you together?
Individuals Response:
Umm, I guess the biggest
difference was the coach and
the work outs in terms of
there were higher
expectations from the coach
and it was kind of more like a
business relationship in terms
of a lot of the girls were
closer with their high school
coach. More as a family type
member.
INTERVIEW EXPERIENCE
Individuals Response:
Here it is more like the coach
cant be your friend and coach
at the same time. There are
going to be situations when he
has to get on you and some
situations when he make
based on business. Sometimes
youre not going to race or be
selected for the relay. Its not
something done personally,
but done out of the best
interest of the relay or the
team.
Individuals Response:
Of course the coaching
methods are more aggressive
in terms of his attitude. I
mean we are all adults at this
point. Where in high school or
middle school youre more
sheltered about how the coach
talks to you or says to you.
Even the workouts were
extremely different compared
to high school in terms of the
breaks you get between reps.
Different workouts. You work
out every day of the week.
You work out more than you
are actually in the classroom
too. That was a reverse and
those are some big differences
I saw.
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Here I received a sense that
Ariel had been in situations
that she did not find herself in
during high school. With a
more business focused
dynamic to the teamwork
style, Ariel and others had to
learn how to be understanding
of a different way to approach
the same work. Her
recognition of not taking the
decisions of the coach
personally showed that she
had come up with some
coping strategies on what to
do during these types of
situations and also showed
that the coach was able to
reflect the rationale for these
decisions onto the team.
In this portion of the
conversation, I found myself
listening to Ariel and feeling
that she really wanted to be
supported for the work that
she had to complete to be a
student athlete. Discussing the
pressures and additional work,
I could sense a need for some
affirmation which I was able
to give her through nonverbal
head nods. Working with
athletes I felt a certain
recognition of the fact that I
should be prepared to have
these conversations with my
students in the fall who may
be facing culture shock when
it comes to the coach role.
Having this conversation with
Ariel opened my eyes a little
to some of the things that I
often forget to think about
INTERVIEW EXPERIENCE
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when I am meeting with my
residents who are also
athletes.
Individuals Response:
As being around each other so
much is what created that
support for the most part. We
lived in the same hallway. We
were in some of the same
classes. We ate together. We
practiced together. We were
on bus rides for twenty hours
together. So I mean you do
find a lot of support for your
teammates and they know
what you go through and they
may have been what you have
been through too and that gets
you a lot of support.
Helper Response:
I thinkI love athletics by
the way. I call myself a three
sport athlete. I was on the
boys tennis team, I managed
boys basketball, and I coach
girls tennis team, but thats a
long story about myself, but I
know that the impact of
athletics can have on team
dynamic when you work with
people. I think a lot of times
that comes from the coachs
mentality on how to work
with the team so then it
trickles down to the
teammates.
Skill Demonstrated:
Building Rapport
Empathizing
INTERVIEW EXPERIENCE
Helper Response:
You talked a lot about group
dynamic and how you saw
those differences there. Do
you think the differences or
how did you see the
differences effect the team
dynamic?
Individuals Response:
I would have to say that the
group dynamic has a lot to do
with the coach because the
coach sets the tone for the
team. The one thing my coach
did stress is that you have
your teammates to support
you. Whether it be academics,
family issues, relationship
issues, a lot of our teammates
look to each other for advice
and guidance.
Individuals Response:
As I got older in the team,
being a team member, I saw
that my role changed from
being that freshmen that was
seeking advice from older
teammates to giving that
advice to younger freshmen
who came to me. I guess that
was kind of nice to see how
my role developed in the
team. Even the coach looking
to me for my leadership to
help guide the team and the
group. A part of the group
dynamics is having those
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Skill Demonstrated:
Open Question
INTERVIEW EXPERIENCE
11
Helper Response:
Skill Demonstrated:
You talked a little about how
your role changed. Now you
Summarizing
went from undergrad being an Open Question
athlete to graduate school
being an athlete. Explain to
me a little about how that
transition looked to you.
Individuals Response:
That transition was kind of
new in terms of I didnt know
what to expect of being a
graduate student athlete now.
I probably was the first person
to actually do that and I guess
at that point me and my coach
had established a relationship
where he knows that my
academics is important to me.
He is able to make
adjustments to help me be
successful and having the
graduate program, Dr. Lewis
work with me and my
schedule. It involves both of
those parties being
understanding and working
with me so that I can be a
student and an athlete. An
example of that is if I have
class during the same time as
practice, I cant say Ill just
INTERVIEW EXPERIENCE
take it another time because it
is only offered at a certain
time when you get to that
level. My coach is like you
can work out in the morning
so that you can go to class in
the evening. So compromises
from both parties help me be
successful in terms of
applying what I did as an
undergraduate athlete to being
a graduate student athlete. Its
just the work load did change
in terms of reading and APA
expectations. I guess it helped
with that whole transitioning.
Having the support of writing
centers, and tutors, and
athletic academic advising to
help me with that as well.
Helper Response:
So you talked a little about
your experiences as an
undergrad and as a grad
student. It seems like you had
a good experience in both. It
seems like the resources that
were provided to you really
helped you to be successful.
In listening to you talk about
track and also your experience
in the classroom that
teamwork and being able to
talk to people helped you to
do both. The question I have
is what do you prefer?
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successful.
Skill Demonstrated:
Reflecting feeling
Paraphrasing
Open Question
Learning proper helping skills is something that I wished I had fully developed as I had
grown up, but today more than ever it is time to fine tune what I do not know. Sitting down and
talking to Ariel, I definitely felt a certain pressure to think about what I was going to say next
INTERVIEW EXPERIENCE
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that I do not feel with typical students in my office. However, the point remains the same that I
do need to continue to learn from what works and does not work in my communication style. In
this conversation, I would continue to ask Ariel questions pertaining to her athletic experience
and then work on the transition to not being an athlete. This is something that has been a real
struggle for her because as stated above this was her community and family.
Overall, it was a good experience to sit down and work out feelings with Ariel as she is
an individual that I do not talk to on a regular basis. It did seem quite a bit like working with a
student and while I did not feel like she was looking for a solution, I felt like she is and was
looking for someone to listen and also in search of a new friend or community. As a past athlete,
she no longer has the practices or the bus rides with the rest of the team and now some of the
HESA graduate students with have to replace that hole. After the interview we talked more about
spending some time together and going shopping. While I didnt recognize it at the time, I think
that was all Ariel was looking for throughout the conversation. She was looking for a new home,
a new friend, and the chance to feel safe and comfortable again outside of the realm of athletics
on campus.