As I thought about a story only I would be able to tell, I immediately thought about me and my family. When I decided that I wanted to talk about my parents losing their jobs I only had a vague sense of where the project was going to go. But, as I started developing my ideas everything seemed to line up exactly how it should. This is a story that is close to my heart in a very personal way. I only realized how much of myself I was putting out there, until long after I could possibly change my idea.
As I started editing the clips of my mom and dad explaining what happened, I realized how difficult the five to seven minute constraint was going to be. There was so much more information that I would have included, had that time constraint been longer. But, I also think that my audio profile is so much better because I only had the option to include the crucial information that conveyed the “so what” that I intended. But, I also used every single second I was given. Audition was fairly easy to use, and I enjoyed using it. But saying that, I am not an expert in the slightest with using the program, but I think I did fairly well in having the different sounds flow together. My favorite part of the entire project is the silence, because I feel like there is so much more being said than any words possibly could.
What occurred shaped me into the person I am, and the family that I am part of today. There are parts of this audio profile that I only found out while interviewing my parents. I had no idea that my sophomore year of high school every Christmas present we were fortunate to have received came from a complete stranger, and the only reason is because my age and gender were written on a little tag hanging from a Christmas tree. I took a similar tag this Christmas for a four year old little boy, and I hope that as much joy as I had that Christmas morning he also felt. I hope if anything, you realize that there isn’t truly a “safe spot” to be in America and there are many people struggling everyday.
Notes
My mom and dad both agreed to help me with this project and they are the two that tell the story so thoroughly.
The project starts with the sound of electricity flowing and then being shut off, which I got from freesound by Lugarshz.
In the background of the entirety of the audio profile there is the song Ephemeral (As Time Goes By) by The Karmic Interloper.
There is a broadcast from the day my parents both lost their jobs from the Joy Cardin Show which I took off the NPR internet archive.