First Interview Story

My Writing and Reporting teacher instructed my classmates and I to interview someone at the school. Whether it was a student or an employee, we needed to find an interesting story and write it as if it was in an article. 

T'was the Friday morning before Spring Break... I have no classes on Fridays, but you gotta do what you gotta do to get a great story. It was test day for the Emotional Mindfulness class. You'd think it be a boring, stressed out day in class but it was completely the opposite! Down below is my article I wrote for my class if you'd like to take a look. It was my first "Interview Story" I ever wrote so easy on the critiques ;)

A petite woman walks her bike into the classroom with her helmet still buckled on her chin. She is carrying an oversized backpack that doesn’t seem to weigh her down. 

She parks her bike in the back of the room, bringing a sense of ease to the students with piles of books on their desks’. 

As if she awakened the classroom, the students start to giggle and they welcome their teacher as she walks up the aisle to her desk. 

Betsy Phillips drops her backpack on the desk taking out a plastic bag full of orange tangerines.

“Let’s do this,” says Mrs. Phillips. 

She passes out the tangerines one by one greeting each student to her Friday morning Emotional Mindfulness teaching. 

All of the students took one and set it down in front of them like they were preparing for something else to happen.

“Get comfortable and happy” says Mrs. Phillips. 

This was the start of their meditation practice they always begin class with, even on test days. 

Mrs. Phillips scoots her swivel chair to the  front and center of the classroom and sits on it criss-cross-applesauce. 

The class wiggles around, finding the perfect spots in their seats. They quiet down enough to hear the AC running and the birds chirping outside. 

For a first year Santa Barbara City College teacher, she really knows how to lead a class. Her experience as a mental health counselor for two decades is what makes this classroom so positive on a day like today.

Phillips is passionate about this topic. She started studying Tibetan Buddhism when she was 18, claiming it as a psychology and not a religion. 

Yoga and meditation helped her get through college. She says the practice is “fundamental” to her sense of well-being.

Her major was in American Studies, but traveling and volunteering was what she learned the most from. 

On a train she traveled through the open landscapes of Ecuador. Even if the train ride was hours long, she could stay entertained by the view because the outdoors is what inspires her most. 

She continued taking in the view writing it all down in her notebook. It was filled with words that spoke of appreciating the simplicity and scenery of the life surrounding her. Not only would she take these types of feelings in today, but every day for the rest of her life. 

“I am extremely lucky and blessed,” says Phillips. She digs deep into her thoughts searching for a reason why only to say, “I could never claim one experience or even a set of them for being responsible.”

Mindfulness can be practiced in all activities. That’s how Phillips is able to live her life in the present every moment of the day. Not only does she teach it to her students, she makes sure they achieve the full experience of it.

Back in room CC126 on West Campus, Mrs. Phillips ends the meditation with a recording of nuns and monks. 

Before some of the students get the chance to open their eyes Mrs. Phillips shouts, “You know what, let’s go outside!”

She takes off her shoes revealing her striped socks, inviting the students to let their feet be free as well. Skipping out the door, she leads the way out into a large area of grass right outside the classroom.

Jumping around full of energy, she encourages the students to let loose. To break the ice and erase everyone’s fears, she tells the students to say whatever it is they want to the test. 

Mrs. Phillips throws her arms up in a dramatic way, shaking out any stress screaming, “AAHH!”

Everyone’s face brightens, surprised that a teacher could understand exactly how they were feeling. All of a sudden the class got in giggling mode and started letting go of anything holding them back. 

People were passing by, but the class was in a zone that didn’t let anything outside themselves affect them. Mrs. Phillips has done her job and the class is now prepared for their test.

All the students head back inside, except for one in particular that stays back with the teacher. 

“I’m a little exhausted” says Chante Stallworth. 

Mrs. Phillips assures her she will do well and they enter back into the classroom together. 

The instructions for the test were as follows: breathe, drink tea, take breaks, go outside. Mrs. Phillips apologized for not being able to bring tea, but assures the class that everything else in the instructions are “necessary”.

“That is the style of learning we are in and my thank you for coming to class on Fridays” says Mrs. Phillips. 

She begins clapping for her students, cheering them on during their test. Everyone drops their pencils and joins in on the motivational clap. The class is in this together.

Wholeheartedly Mrs. Phillips shouts, “Go team!”