Kaitlyn+Dowling

Kaitlyn’s interview: Evan: Let’s start with your name Kaitlyn: My name is Kaitlyn Dowling Evan: What year did you graduate? Kaitlyn: Um, 2007. Evan: So what was going on in Belleville, your years in high school? Kaitlyn: While I was in high school? What do you mean? In terms of…? Evan: Just something that sticks out in your mind when you think of high school that wasn’t necessarily just about West. Kaitlyn: Hmmm, wow. I remember, there was some kind of violent homicide on main street that year. I think two people were killed. I remember it being a kind of scary year in terms of Belleville safety. Evan: We’ll focus more on what high school was like for you. What was your favorite subject? Kaitlyn: Uhh, I liked English a lot. Evan: What do you miss about high school? Being away from it for a couple years now, what’s the thing you miss most? Kaitlyn: Well, uh, I don’t miss too much. But I suppose I miss uh, being around the group of friends I grew up with. I like college a lot more. Evan: Do you stay in touch with most of them? Kaitlyn: I would say only like four people. Evan: Were you involved much in high school? I mean with a lot going on? Kaitlyn: Inside of high school? No, I mean I didn’t have much school spirit or anything. But I was involved with band, theater, maroon magic, those kinds of things. Evan: You miss it? Kaitlyn: What I just mentioned? Evan: Yeah Kaitlyn: Um, yeah, I met most of my friends through those things, and I liked that kind of creative outlet. Evan: It seems like band and maroon magic in just those three years has changed a lot. I’m in maroon magic now, and we didn’t do hardly any dancing. We only did like one song. I guess that just shows the change from then to now. Kaitlyn: I was afraid of the change, not really afraid, but I was kind of nervous about the new teacher coming in. Evan: Ms. Moeller? Kaitlyn: Yeah, but Ms. Carter was a lot of fun. Evan: Not necessarily from you in general, but now for me, there is not a lot of school spirit, but was there a lot in your four years going through high school? Kaitlyn: It seemed like it, at the football games, that I went to rarely. And the uhh, Hobo day, it seemed like people were riled up, but there was a large group of other people who just kind of sat with their arms crossed and rolled their eyes. Evan: I dunno, it just seems like there is less and less school spirit. Kaitlyn: Yeah I could see that, compared to when my sister went to college. She was even more school spirited than me. She would even dress up for the Hobo days, and I would just ignore it. So I guess that keeps happening. Evan: I know now a days, teachers are all focused on school work and getting things done, and deadlines and everything. Was it easier to be social when you were in high school? Kaitlyn: In terms of like the work taking away time from being social? Evan: mhm Kaitlyn: Um, I found it harder to be social in high school, because you go to school straight 8 to 3, and then you have all this homework to do. And sometimes your parents make you go to bed by 10:30 like mine did. So if you are like me, and don’t work really quickly with homework, you don’t have much of a social life if you want to be on honor roll and get good grades. Evan: Were you an honor roll student? Kaitlyn: yeah, I mean I wasn’t valedictorian or anything, but I kept my grades up, As and Bs. Evan: There has been a lot of racial tensions brought up this year, with the bus fight and stuff. Was there a big racial difference, did you feel racial tension? Kaitlyn: Definitely, yeah I did. I was shocked with the video I saw, but um. In the hallways and things, you could see segregation in the cafeteria. So yeah, it was very prevelant. Evan: Did you ever feel it with teachers? Kaitlyn: How do you mean? Evan: Did you ever feel teachers favoring because of race? Kaitlyn: In a way, that’s a really hard thing to pin down. But I can remember white teachers pinpointing African American students for their dress code. I don’t know if that was based on fact, or not. It just seemed like mainly those African American students who were sent to the principal’s office. Evan: There’s been a couple of rumblings with that at school this year. There’s been a couple of teachers that students have pushed towards that direction. I didn’t know if that was a newer thing, or if it’s been there. Going through high school used to be more about preparing you for life, because average kids weren’t getting into college. Do you feel like it prepared you for college? The classes you took, and the way you did high school, were you prepared? Kaitlyn: I think what prepared me the most were my honors English classes. They were the only honors classes I took, and mainly those teachers would really push those students to write very professional and scholarly papers. You do a lot of paper writing in college, so that was the most beneficial thing. So yes and no. Evan: Is there anything looking back on high school that you wish could be different, not necessarily with what you took, but how the school handled things or treated things? Kaitlyn: Like policies? Evan: Yeah, is there something you wish they had done more to prepare you? Kaitlyn: A better variety of classes, like maybe different science classes. Something other than biology and chemistry. Evan: We actually got one this year, there’s a new ecology class. Kaitlyn: Oh, interesting. Yeah, like my sociology class was really a big joke. That can be a fascinating subject, and I noticed some discriminative things the teacher would say towards some groups. In a sociology class, that kind of bothered me. Evan: Yeah, understandably. With the group of friends you had in high school, was it socially acceptable to go to school events? I know now the ones that attend them regularly are looked at as the odd kids. Did you guys go to a lot of school events? Kaitlyn: No, no we didn’t. If I went to a football game, I would definitely feel very out of my element. Evan: What were the concerts like, like the band concerts? Kaitlyn: Well they were all very formal. Dr. Birkner was a great director. I dunno, what do you want to know? Evan: I mean like, the way we’ve run them, seems like it’s changed, because we’ve run like three or four bands together at a time, and it seems like all the bands are playing less music. Kaitlyn: Oh, really? See yeah, In my senior year when the No Child Left Behind Act got passed and really changed our system, I remember I couldn’t take band, because they made you do marching band my senior year, and I was busy doing dance outside of school, so I couldn’t participate in the big orchestra for the hour classes. I could only do the half hour jazz band playing the piano, which wasn’t my main instrument. So yeah, I was very disappointed, because it seemed like a lot of music in school was disappearing my senior year. Evan: Did you feel the effects of no child left behind outside of music? Was there a major change, and a shift in policies when no child left behind came out? Kaitlyn: I mainly noticed it in music, just the sadness of music students not being able to participate. Evan: I’m trying to think of what major events were going on while you were in high school. I know hurricane Katrina was while you were in high school. I know a lot of schools kind of shut down for mourning, did anything like that happen at west? Kaitlyn: Not that I remember no. Evan: Was there pressure from administration to make sure you are keeping up your grades? It seems like it used to be only your teachers who put pressure on you for their classes, now they put pressure on you to do homework for all your classes. Did you feel pressure from all of your teachers to do all you could? Kaitlyn: Yeah, yeah. For the most part, yeah. Some teachers were less strict about that, and I think the kind of strictness to get your work done is beneficial, for the most part. Evan: Since you said you didn’t do much in terms of school events, what DID you do? What was a typical weekend like? Kaitlyn: Oh, okay. I would generally hang out with a group of three other people. They were involved in the same hobbies as I was. We would do silly things, like host different themed parties. No alcohol, but themes. There was an African party, a French party, a rave party, no alcohol, not that kind of party. Just fun dancing, and strolling in downtown Belleville wearing silly vintage outfits. Evan: Did you hang in downtown a lot? Kaitlyn: Yeah, that was definitely a fun place to go. We would go to different restaurants downtown, walk around, take pictures of us doing silly things. Evan: See it seems like downtown has kind of been closed off to most teenagers now a days, because a lot of the music venues have closed down. It is open, it just seems like things have closed down. I mean Stephanie was down at the ground floor every weekend, so I know it used to be something that was a lot more accessible to teenagers. It’s good to see some people go to hang out there. I know in passing periods today if your not moving towards your classroom your constantly breaded with where you goin why are you goin there why aren’t you goin to class was it as strict then to be constantly moving in the right direction? Kaitlyn : ya well I didn’t really socialize in the hallway I just kinda went to my next classes but I remember the insane traffic in the hallways and I don’t know if that’s decreased at all but they started I fell like either my freshman year or sophomore year they started trying to get students to be more uniform like walking in straight lines don’t walk in clumps. Evan : well they still do that. I don’t know if you have had experience with this I was in foreign language for 2 years dud you take foreign language? Kaitlyn : 2 years as well Evan : were you ever around foreign exchange students? Kaitlyn : No, no I never got to. No not really no. Evan : because this year there were a couple of german students who came that I got to be acquainted with. They made a pretty large gathering here when they came most people knew them. Kaitlyn : ya there was 1 foreign student that I fell like everybody knew and loved but, I didn’t get to close to her. Evan: TV had been getting negative reviews or teenagers. During your time was there as much emphasis on not watching TV. Did you get much of that at school? Kaitlyn : To not watch TV? Evan; It seems like we are moving backwards. Did they have the big TVs when you went there that they have ESPN on. Kaitlyn : no Evan: well they 6 six flat screen TVs on the walls of the cafeteria now. Kaitlyn : wooooo, like during lunch hours? Bizare. Ya that dosent make sense. I can remember the media bringing out statistics about too many teenagers are watching TV and how that’s hazardous to their health but I never got that from school authorities no. Evan : It seems contradicting because teachers talking about how you need study do your work read do toher things other that TV but then they put 6 big flat screen TVs Kaitlyn : I wonder whats the purpose of that would be. Evan : What were sports like? Were you friend with many athletes? Kaitlyn : Oh no I think the closest to a friend that was an athlete were the golf players but they never got much attention as athletes. Evan : were clubs more involved with the school because now it seems like there are 1-2 clubs that do 1-2 things a year. You just don’t hear much about clubs doing anything with the school I mean occasionally there is a bank sale fund raiser or dance groups dancing or singing but it seems like from what I have heard from other people in former years there were a lot more club involvement and club pride. There were more thing going on in the school. I mean regardless of your involvement in the clubs was there a lot of involvement from clubs coming into the school? Kaitlyn : you mean clubs that were in the school? Evan : ya that’s what I meant I misspoke they were in the school doing things for the school? Kaitlyn : the theater group had lots of activities. We used to play these games and get to know each other thing like improve. I mean that’s what I was involved with I didn’t see to many other clubs I’m sure they existed Evan: you know there was one or two here or there. What are you majoring in right now? Kaitlyn : Theater. Acting. Evan : were you in the plays and musicals at west? Kaitlyn : ya ya particularly my freshman and sophomore year I mean I still did the musicals my junior and senior year but I dedicated more time to dance outside of school, but ay I did at least one thing every year. Evan : Did you do one Acts? Kaitlyn : ya I did those are fun. Evan : I did not get to them I had to many other things going on. Which ones were you in? Kaitlyn : I was in the freshman one act called smart TV. I was Annie Em in the Wizard of Oz plus a munchkin and a flying ape. My best role was Susan the Silent who was like this little ballerina dancer in Finnian’s Rainbow and I was a courtesan dancer in the Forum. Evan : it seems like theater is always changing which isn’t necessarily a bad thing but do you like how west did there theater? Kaitlyn : ya I defiantly like how we had the banquet at the end of the year. The group of theater people were our own group and it was a nice quirky group to indentify with in high school. A very impressive amount of shows from a high school not many high school that hear about from my peers do as many shows as West did when I was there and particularly the spring musical it would always attract so many people and we were generally pretty darn good for a high school production. Evan : So what was this banquet? Kaitlyn : All the faculty and all the student in little theater organization would meet at I think it was the Shrine for dinner and we would all dress up and we would have our family with us and it was like a mini Belleville Academy Awards like best Actress best Actor and best I don’t know best technical person. Ya it was just talking about our achievements and speech teams achievements. Evan : were you part of speech team? Kaitlyn : I was for 2 years. Evan : Speech lost one match if even that this year…were you guy that good? Kaitlyn : No we weren’t like I didn’t participate my senior year but the senior was the year Belleville West started taking over and I was sop surprised because we never place that high it was always like Harrisburg or Benton that would get first place and then all of the sudden Belleville West dominated. It was awesome. Evan : Was the any teacher who left a major influence on you? Was there anyone who helped influence what you wanted to do? Kaitlyn : yes should I say who? Mr. Loodle he was always very encouraging about my acting but he supported how I dedicated myself to dance but that acting was the thing I should look into and I ended up in acting in college and hes a great teacher too Evan : What university do you go to? Kaitlyn : South East Missouri University SEMO Evan : Did anyone influence where you went? Kaitlyn : A counselor encouraged me for SEMO I mean I didn’t have very good ACT scores so that was the main reason I went to SEMO. Evan: What was the ACT process like> I Mean did they just block off the top floor and you just tested. Kaitlyn: Ya I think so ya and they offered courses to prepare…I should have participated more in that. Evan : So to end this I wanna hear one memory of high school. Kaitlyn: My favorite memory would probably be just the memories of practicing for the spring musical before the shows for Finnian’s Rainbow I can remember being inside the band room with everyone and just the first time you would join with the pit orchestra band it was like magic it was so much fun finally adding our voices to the music Evan: did you ever play in the pit? Kaitlyn: No I never did I was always on stage I thought it would have been I really neat thing to do though Evan: Thank you for your time and patience Kaitlyn: Thank you