Brad+Williams+interview+transcript

Brad Williams full Interview Transcript

Amanda: This is interview number one for Katie Doerr & Amanda Hobbs and we are interviewing Brad Williams 2002 alumni from Belleville West. Katie: Question one: How was the atmosphere in Belleville West? Brad: Depending on what was going on, if there was a football game on a Friday the atmosphere was crazy and hectic and there was tons of just excitement for the start of the football season and if they did bad, (laughing) it grew out as the season went on. Also, if there was a major sport going on such as if the Cardinals were in the playoffs more people were worried about watching their phones to get updates on how the Cardinals were doing or, if there was a party that night they would, everybody would be talking about where they were going and who they’re going to hang out with. And if there was fighting at school the atmosphere was crazy and everybody’s like “Oh did you see that fight? Did you see that fight” Katie: Question two: Did you like the campus at the time, or would you have made any changes to it? Brad: Ah, the campus was alright at the time. The only changes I would have made was getting rid of the tuna trees in the spring time that smelled really bad and also when it was raining outside it sucked changing classes. And you were soaking wet sitting in air conditioning rooms or the snow that was piled up. People would throw snowballs at you or just the pile of snow sitting somewhere right outside the door and you’d step right in it. Katie: Question three: what types of classes did you take throughout the years? Brad: I took just the basics I didn’t take any Spanish or French ‘cause I didn’t have the patience to learn either one of those languages. And my senior year I took a lot of easy classes just to get credit and make sure I had an A to make my GPA better. Katie: Did you have any classes that were your favorite or not favorite? And why? Brad: My favorite class was English with Mr. Shimlek because he let us watch movies and my, also Mr. Hasenstab gave me a D even though I had an F and he told me Merry Christmas. Also, my freshman year had a teacher, Mr. Brauer, for civics. He pretty much let us do whatever we want as soon as we got out work done. And we also got to play hockey on the weekends sometimes with Mr. Brauer. Katie: Would you say that you were active throughout your four years in school? If so, how did you participate? Brad: Yea, I played hockey for three years, and went to the football games on Friday nights or Saturday nights and baseball games and to the parties. Katie: What was your favorite memory at Belleville West? Brad: Uhm, freshman year when I got to Belleville West I was like man I just can’t wait ‘til four years are up so I can graduate, but after graduation, after the couple days went by it was like well I don’t get to see my friends no more and stopped hanging out, stopped talking to them. And that was the sad part about graduation. But, the four years of school with getting to know new people and getting to see you friends everyday was about the best part Katie: Who was your favorite teacher or faculty member and why? Brad: Mr Hasenstab because he gave me that D when I thought for sure I wasn’t gonna get credit for his class for having that F Katie: Were there any drastic changes to the school that you liked or did not like and why? Brad: Uh, wearing names tags around your neck was just one of the changes I didn’t see appropriate for us kids having to wear every day. And, if you didn’t have your name tag on every day, you got wrote up and sent to the office and also, during my senior year in PE there was a lot of racial fights that took place every day. Towards the end of the semester, we ended up having cops have to stand in the locker room just to make sure nothing drastic took place. Katie: Was there a large difference between gender, or race, during your four years at school? Brad: there was about the same amount of kids in each class. Like, there might have been a few more girls than guys, but, and about the same white kids to black kids in the class. Katie: Were there a lot of dropouts at west during your four years? Brad: I wouldn’t say a lot. But, there were a couple that dropped out due to pregnancy. Katie: During school, were you able to decide what your future major would be? Brad: No, I never could decide what I wanted to. Every time I thought I knew I wanted to go into a certain field I’d give it a week and it changed. So, I just went into SWIC to take general studies and still never decided what I wanted to do. Katie: Would you recommend others to attend Belleville West? Brad: I guess, I mean other than the fact that there were some days that were better than others. Faculty seemed to keep things in order and it was a pretty decent place to learn Katie: Where was the hot spot to take your senior photos? Brad: I don’t know exactly where the hot spots were to take senior photos, but I got mine done at Crafty Eye. Katie: The rivalry between East and West today is very intense. Was there a back when you were a senior at west and if so, what team was it and why? Brad: Yeah, we disliked Althoff pretty bad. We just couldn’t stand them beating us all the time. So, we decided to, uh, drive by and make sure they knew that we were ready for them this year and decided to spray them with water guns and sure enough we made sure we beat them in hockey. Katie: Do you feel that the economic recession is worse now than it was back then? Brad: Yeah, Katie: How did you feel when the St. Louis Rams won the Super Bowl during your freshman year? Brad: I was shocked at first I did not think that they were going to be able to pull it off because of course it’s the rams they could never win. And when they won the Super Bowl that was the talk of Belleville West for the next couple of weeks that everybody could just not believe that they won the Super Bowl Katie: What kind of car did you have during high school? And would you please describe it, in detail. Brad: I had a Ford Escort which was a stick shift and that was (laughing) Katie: What kind of car did you have during high school? And would you please describe it, in detail. Brad: I had a Ford Escort and uh, at first I did not want to drive it. My parents told me I needed Ito learn how to drive it or else I’d have to ride the school bus. So, I pretty much taught myself how to drive the stick shift even though I still had problems parking on the hills and killing it. So, that was main part of learning how to drive a stick and being able to not kill it when I’m sitting on a hill at a stoplight. Katie: What color was this car? Brad: It was black. Katie: Did you have any reaction towards the 2002 Winter Olympics being held in Salt Lake City, Utah? Brad: Yeah, I was pumped about the Olympics because they had hockey for USA was going to go for the gold medal game against Canada and I thought for sure that United States was going to be able to beat them. And t hey lost in the gold medal game against Canada. Katie: So, other than hockey, did you watch any other sports in the Winter Olympics? Brad: Yes, I actually watched the curling event. That was entertaining. Katie: Who was your favorite team in those Winter Olympics and who was your favorite player on that team? Brad: USA and I’d have to say it would be Keith Tkachuk cause he played with the St. Louis Blues. Katie: During High School, what type of music did you listen to? Brad: I listened to country 90% of the time, and some rap and some rock. But, for the most part it was country and Tim McGraw was my favorite artist. Katie: In 2002, did any fashion trends emerge that aren’t as popular today as they were back then? Brad: Well, back then they, they’d sag, people would sag their pants which I had no reason why I didn’t see why they wanted to sag their pants and show their underwear but I guess whatever fits their style fits their style. Katie: Did you own a cell phone during high school? Brad: Yes, and uh a lot of kids decided to text message during class, and, ah, I think that’s how some kids passed school is they would get answers from other friends by getting answers through text message. Katie: Did you ever get caught texting during class? Brad: No, I did not. Katie: When September 11th occurred, what was the majority of the school’s….. When September 11 occurred what was the majority of the school’s reaction? Brad: Most people were in shock and didn’t want to believe what was actually going on. And most girls were crying and freaking out over something… and at first I didn’t know exactly what was going on. And I thought it was just one plane that hit a building, and thought it was a freak accident but later throughout the day as the events unfolded we figured out that it was a terror threat. Katie: Do you remember what class you were in when you found out about September 11th? Brad: Actually, I was not even in class yet. (laughing) I was driving to school and I heard on the radio that the Empire State Building has been hit by two planes. And I though “Interesting, is this joke or is this for real?” and as the day went on I found out it was for sure. And by 2nd hour, construction class, we watched it on TV and didn’t do nothin’ else. Katie: After September 11th happened what were your feeling on America’s safety? Brad: I just didn’t feel like America was safe anymore because this happened once you know, for sure, that they’re going to try and do it again. And, I just still feel to this day that we are going to be bombed again because of the precautionary that people don’t take and they just get to comfortable with everything. Sooner or later when we let our guard down something like this will happen again. Katie: How did you feel about heading into the war? Brad: I feel like we should have just went over there and took them out instead of wasting all our money over there right now, and we’re still over there. Killing out troops slowly but surely. And I just don’t understand why we just didn’t go over there and take nuclear bombs and just get rid of them all. Katie: During your four year in high school, what could you say was the highlight, what was the major event? Brad: Uhm, I guess graduation. Cause it was probably about the best time of my life. Until I figured out that it was going to be moving on to college and I didn’t know what I wanted to do and wouldn’t see any of my friends and after that I had to get to the real world and get a job, which was not cool because I enjoyed just hanging out with friends and spending time with whoever I could. Now I actually had to make money. Katie: Overall, did you enjoy your high school experience Brad: For the most part, yes. But, there was some days that were intense of just having not studied for test. And I knew that if I didn’t pass a test that it would not be good and have sacrifice of not passing that class. Katie: You said earlier that you were part of the hockey team. Did you guys have a good record back then, knowing that now West’s hockey team isn’t all that great? Brad: We had, senior year was good. Sophomore, freshman year, and junior year weren’t so good. When that first hockey first came out, West went for the championship against Edwardsville. And, ever since then it just went downhill. And today it’s not very good team right now. Katie: Who was the coach back then? Brad: John Steer. Katie: What position did you play? Brad: I started out at defense and I moved to left wing. Katie: Did you score any goals? Brad: Senior year I had 15. ---end- Katie: During your high school hockey career what was your all time favorite moment? Brad: It was the last game of the season. We were in the third period and there was no penalties throughout the whole game and my buddy got in the faceoff circle and he goes “hey ref.” I was like “Oh, god Jeremy, please don’t say what I think you’re going to say” and sure enough he goes, “Hey, when are you going to take that whistle outta your ass tonight?” and he ended up getting a penalty. And the coach comes over to me and says, “What’d he say” and I told him. I said “he asked the ref when he was goin to that whistle outta his ass.” And coach threw the clipboard and we lost 1-0 on their power play goal. Katie: how do the gas prices of your high school years compare to those of today? Brad: When I first started driving, gas was about a dollar nine. And my senior year, we were, all us kids were having a fit cause gas went up to a dollar thirty six. But, now that I look back at it, I guess it wasn’t that big of a deal cause it’s three fifty… three seventy-five right now. Katie: During your four years at high school did you ever attend a play? Brad: No, I never attended any plays at west. Katie: Do you remember any of the plays that they produced… at all? Brad: I couldn’t tell you one play that they produced or even thought about producing. Katie: Where was your first job, and what did you do? Brad: First job was a Schnucks and I was a Deli clerk. Katie: What was your favorite movie during your senior year, or anytime throughout high school? Brad: My favorite movie was Miracle because it was hockey movie of course and United States won the world, or won the gold medal during the 1980 Olympics. They didn’t have the best players in the world against the Soviet Union they just stuck to a system, and stuck to their game plan and they accomplished their goal of beating the Soviet Union. Katie: Do you remember what your favorite field trip was during high school? Brad: I don’t think I ever got to take a field trip at all. If my memory serves me right, I don’t think we ever went on a field? Katie: What ty... what ki... what type of after school…. What type of after school activities did you participate in, other than hockey? Brad: I didn’t have any other after school activities. Just after school we went and had hockey practice, and just went and hung out with friends after hockey practice and went to bed. Katie: What do you feel was the hardest class you took during your four years? Brad: Mr. Hasenstab’s class because he was a very intense teacher. Not very many people liked him as a teacher. But, he was a pretty good teacher. But, I just never understood what he was trying to get through to me so… Katie: What would you say was your easiest class? Brad: Construction class Katie: Why do you think it was your easiest? Brad: Because we had to build anything we wanted. And I built a clock and I was done before everybody else so I just got to hang out the rest of the semester and not have to do anything.