Dual-Interview conducted at the Field of Dreams Park in Salem, NH on 7/27/09

Jessica: Give me some general information about yourself- kind of like a Myspace biography. What would you say to someone who didn’t know you?

Blanca: I love to nap. I love the Jonas Brothers… you’ll hate me after that, but I love them!

Emilly: Hi, I’m Emily, and I can get pretty outrageous.

Jessica: Blanca, academically, what has your greatest achievement been so far?

Blanca: Passing calculus.

Jessica: I had a feeling you might say that!

Blanca: I really think that I put my heart and soul into that class. I hated it, but I succeeded and I feel like I can do anything after that. A lot of people still fail after the second try, but I finally did it.

Jessica: Now Emilly, do you see yourself as an aggressive or passive person?

Emilly: Aggressive, definitely. I don’t just sit around and let things go. It’s not like I attack people, but if I want something I will go for it.

Jessica: It’s good to know you won’t attack, haha. So Blanca, we too psych together, but what class at UMass Lowell has been your favorite so far?

Blanca: I hate all of them… bio., calculus… psych would have to be my favorite. That was the only class that I felt was possible (to achieve it). It was interesting to me. All of my other classes have stressed me out, but psychology felt like “I can do this.”

Jessica: Yeah, it was a lot easier than other things I’ve taken, too. What about you Emilly? What are your hopes for the future?

Emilly: I would like to be a criminal psychologist and work my way into the FBI.

Blanca: That would be cool.

Emilly: It’s intense and it will be interesting working with all of those criminals.

Blanca: It will be like “after you killed her… why did you bite a chunk out of her ass?”

Jessica: As for your future, Blanca, what made you decide to want to be a nurse?

Blanca: well, to do that I will have to get into the nursing program at UML and I need to raise my GPA, but a lot of people think I have the personality. I guess that I put people at ease and I care about them. I am not like a “fuck you” kind of a person; I genuinely like people and care about them… too much sometimes. Also, there is no med. school, which is nice.

Jessica: I can see that about you. Did you always want to be a nurse or did you have other plans?

Blanca: I once wanted to be a doctor, but doesn’t everyone at one point? There was a time when I was 7 years old that I wanted to be an astronaut… now that’s lame to me. I’ve just always wanted a heroic career. Being a cop would be the next best thing to being a nurse, for me.

Jessica: Moving on to pop culture, how did you feel about Michael Jackson, Emilly?

Emilly: You should ask Blanca that! Haha. I was shocked… just sitting at home getting texts. I looked it up and saw that it was true and I thought “WHAT?” I started texting everyone about it. You really should ask Blanca.

Jessica: Blanca?

Blanca: No, it’s okay, I’ll let her take that one.

Jessica: Well then, you love the Jonas Brothers, what makes people so crazy about them?

Blanca: They’re sexy… that’s just it. What drives people is that sex appeal. They don’t say that they are selling sex, but they are. All of their fans want to be in bed with them. The music drives me, but I also love Nick Jonas, and that’s rocking the cradle, but that’s okay!

Jessica: Now politics. Emilly, do you have an opinion on Obama?

Emilly: I’m not really keeping track of what he’s doing, but I was rooting for him during the election. I didn’t vote, but I supported him. He gets stuff done; he’s working- even if he can’t completely fix the country.

Jessica: among other public figures, who do you see as someone who promotes positive changes?

Blanca: Don’t say Angelina Jolie.

Emilly: I was going to! She’s the first that comes to mind. Mother Theresa was great, too. Leonardo DiCaprio does the whole “green” thing, which is cool.

Blanca: I think of Nick Jonas.

Emilly: Yes! He does great things for diabetes awareness.

Blanca: He has type 1 diabetes.

Jessica: Here’s a fun one for Blanca. If you could have one outrageous career, what would you choose?

Blanca: The first thing that came to mind was a hooker, but that’s ridiculous. I think that I’d be a professional BMX biker or car racer… some kind of a wheel sport. I want to do something that the body shouldn’t be doing, but can… like flying through the air on a bike.

Jessica: Emilly, if asked to do community service, what area would you want to work in?

Emilly: I’d work with children who are in need or have been abused. That was my first career choice. They need help and need somebody to be there for them.

Jessica: Blanca, what is one thing that you’d like to learn over the next year?

Blanca: I want to learn to stop caring so much about people so that they won’t use what I have said or done against me. I need to think before I speak and act. I also want to learn how to bake cookies. Jessica: Emilly, same question to you.

Emilly: I also want to learn not to care so much, but how to care more about the important things. That sounds like an oxymoron, like it contradicts itself, but do you know what I mean?

Jessica: I think so. You want to care about what’s important and let the little things go.

Emilly: Yeah. It’s hard to explain… I want to care enough not to forget what’s important, but I want to stop stressing and worrying so much.

Jessica: Blanca, tell me about your culture.

Blanca: You should ask Emilly that. She’s probably more cultural than I am.

Jessica: Haha, okay, will ask her after you.

Blanca: Well, Panamanians are very American in a way… we love white people. From living here, though, I see that Americans aren’t that great. They are more superficial than Panamanians with their obsessions over money and looks. No offense!

Jessica: None taken! That’s just the way the culture has become here.

Blanca: yeah, I used to get teased in sixth grade for my clothing and image. Panamanians aren’t like that. Also, we love food!

Jessica: Haha, don’t we all? So, Emilly, what about your culture?

Emilly: I am Brazilian, but I look very white… I blend in. I stereotype Brazilians a lot. We are very sexual and we eat a lot of heavy foods. We’re not into hot dogs and things like that… we like rice, beans, and things like that. I don’t hang out with a lot of people from my culture anymore.