Running head: SOCIAL NETWORK INTERVIEW ANALYSIS

Social Network Interview Analysis

Rebecca Mickelson
University of Kentucky

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Questions
1. How do you personally define success?
2. What motivates you to succeed?
3. What were some of your short-term goals, and how did you achieve them?
4. Have you accomplished any of your long-term goals?
5. How have you maintained your goals and/or pursued them more?
6. How long did it take for you to accomplish your goals?
7. Did your goals develop over time?
8. Did you face any hardships along your journey?
9. Do you have any advice towards reaching set goals?
10. Why do you think it is important to set goals for yourself?

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My first interviewee was my mom. When it comes to life, she is the person I look up to
the most, so I felt it fitting to interview her first. My mom has maintained a successful career
while being an involved parent. I felt like she could provide guidance and help through her own
personal story to what it looks like to succeed.
Q#1: Gosh thats so open ended. I have success in my career, as a wife, and as a parent.
I find success in achievements at work. I find it in raising children who are productive,
happy, healthy, and successful. I asked her to describe success in one sentence, and her
response was, Finding happiness in life.
Q#2: I think my faith motivates me too succeed.
Q#3: A short term goal was to complete my masters degree, well first my undergrad.
Being employed in my field, also getting married were goals of mine. How were these
achieved: I completed my college degree by going to class getting good grades and
studying. I picked schools that had good programs. I also got first job through
connections made in grad school.
Q#4: I wanted to retire early, but that didnt quite happen. I would say I have. I wanted
to have a family, own a home, and I wanted to travel some. I completed those things kind
of early. I worked at my career for 30 years, thats pretty good.
Q#5: I have made job changes to advance my career and have become more aligned in
the medical field. Along with that have come advancements in my salary.
Q#6: My career started building after I re-entered the work force, after I took 7 years to
raise my children... My degrees to 8 years.
Q#7: Definitely. It helped define what direction I wanted to go to in audiology. I found I
liked diagnostic work the best.
Q#8: Yes, I had conflict with management at my first job. I never fathomed that
someone wouldnt like me. While in college, I changed my major and transferred schools
to find my major. It was hard because it was like starting all over again.

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Q#9: Yeah, you have to follow your passion of what you like to do, because you can
only make an impact in your career if you like what youre doing. You have to be
passionate about your work, and if not its just a job.
Q#10: Setting goals allows yourself to grow as a person and allows you to see
accomplishment, it adds to your self-worth and self-esteem.
The second interview I conducted was with my aunt. She is like a second mom to me, so
I felt her answers and opinions would be fitting in my life. Also, she has worked in education
(the field I want to work in) her entire life. I believe she could provide some perspective into the
education world.
Q#1: I think I would have to define success as finding yourself, and the place you want
to be in this world. To know who you are, and live a life centered around it.
Q#2: My desires and my images of where I wanted my life to go motivated me when I
was your age. I was always family orientated, and then my family became a main
motivation for me.
Q#3: I had a passion for helping and teaching students, so I wanted to become a special
education teacher, and that was my goal. School didnt come easy for me. I was up late
getting help or studying early in the morning, but I got my undergraduate degree, and
completed my masters.
Q#4: Well, I am in my first year of retirement, so I would say I accomplished my long
term goal of having a career. And I got married and had a family, which always was a
goal of mine. My kids are now married with children, so my goals have been fulfilled.
Q#5: I the teaching field you have to maintain your teaching license, and depending on
your pay scale, taking more classes and educating yourself can increase your salary.
Q#6: I completed my undergrad in 4 years, and got a job. Then continued onto my
masters later, Id say in total around 8 or 9 years. I also got married while in college, so
that didnt take long.

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Q#7: I think I always had to goal of helping kids learn and grow, but the ways I did this
changed over time. I never really thought I would own a business either.
Q#8: I was never a really good student. School didnt come easy; it was something I
had to work at. There were multiple times when my mom would drive to my school to
help my through it.
Q#9: Yeah, never give up on something. If you find it worth pursuing or you are
passionate about it than you should do it.
Q#10: Goals keep you accountable. They push you toward where you want to be. And
looking back, they show you all the accomplishments in your lifetime.

Social Network Interview Analysis

There is not a clear definition of success. Some may define it as finding happiness, and
others may say it is finding yourself (C. Mickelson, personal communication, September 28,
2015). I felt that interviewing two women who I look up to would give me insight I could
connect and implement in my own life. Before I conducted these interviews, I regarded my aunt
and my mom as high. I saw them have careers they loved and families they cared about; I had
always admired them. So this assignment was a great way to see their journeys and relate them
back to my life in some ways.
Because I have similar goals to my aunt and my mom, I felt they had knowledge that
could be useful in my life. When analyzing my moms answers, I found her to be very general
and applicable to my life. Her overall message or theme was centered on faith, family, and
finding a career she was passionate about. I really related to her statement, you have to be
passionate about your work, and if not its just a job (C. Mickelson, personal communication,
September 28, 2015). I feel this way in my own life, and it was cool for my mom to reassure
those feelings. What I am taking away from my moms words is to find your passion in life and

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live it out. Her interview talked about being dedicated and determined, and also said a setback or
two can only make you come back stronger. When thinking about my aunts interview, I feel
excited about my future. Her answers were more aligned with where I see my life going. She
has been through things I am going to be facing soon, so it is helpful to get advice now. Because
I think I want to pursue education as my major, her response to question number three (I had a
passion for helping and teaching students, so I wanted to become a special education teacher, and
that was my goal) really related to me (M. Peet, public communication, September 28, 2015).
Generally, this passion and desire to help forms a motivation in her life.
Applying what was said in these interviews may be a difficult task, but I know it will be
worth it in the future. The overall themes of pursuing what you love and never giving up on your
goals resonated the most. Because I am in college, I have a great opportunity to explore and
discover things I enjoy doing. Also, because college is challenging, remembering to never give
up on something important will stick with me throughout my career as a student. More specific
advice to adhere to would be to remember that anyone can have an effect on my future. Any
person has the potential to impact my future career, and connections made now can carry me
further in life. Also, aligned with teacher, I will need to remember the importance of maintaining
a license and educating yourself. Through communication, much knowledge can be passed
down. It is evident that you can apply other people struggles and perseverances to your own
life, and become a better person from that. Goals are important to the formation of my future;
understanding who I am fundamentally will provide direction for my life and my goals.