The Interview

The Interview

       So I conducted an interview with my mentor, which is my dad, and I transcribed it below. It goes in depth as to why I think that he is a good fit for the job of being my mentor. Also, you might want to keep in mind that although my dad was being serious during most of the interview, he still had his random bursts of rather humorous sarcasm, so you might see a little bit of that in the interview.

Q: First of all, what is your name and occupation?

A: My name is Tosh Johndreau, and my occupation is a paramedic... I save lives for a living.

*Also, as a side note, I would like to add that my dad has a phone and tablet repair business, called Mobile Device Medic. So if you have a broken device, don't be afraid to hit him up. Sorry, I just had to get in that promo for him.

Q: What started you on becoming a paramedic?

A: Well, you see, the year was... Actually I don't know the year. Um, I always wanted to be a chef, so I got into the restaurant and hospitality business. With one of the restaurants I managed, they wanted the managers to get their first responders. So in doing that it got me interested in furthering my education in the medical field. I went and talked to a counselor about becoming a paramedic and they told me I should become a firefighter first, because I would get burnt out with being a paramedic and I needed something to fall back on. So I went and got my firefighter and EMT basic. While I was working as a firefighter, I decided that I really liked the medical side more and wanted more understanding of it so I went on to become a paramedic.

Q: What level of fitness did you have to be in to go through fire academy and be a firefighter?

A: During fire academy we had to run a minimum of a mile a day and did an average of 2-3 hundred push-ups a day. It took a lot of motivation, effort, and not only pushing yourself, but others. We were tested before fire academy for our physical fitness and then after fire academy to see how much we improved. I improved significantly by the end of fire academy and was able to go from running one mile to ten miles, along with more push-ups and other exercises. 

Q: Do you feel like the skills that you have acquired make you a good mentor for my project?

A: I feel like it could make me a good mentor, but also motivate me to be where I need to be physically.

Q: How exactly will you use those skills to guide me?

A: All it takes to be physically motivated is to mentally motivate yourself first. So I think working together we can be a motivation for each other. Maybe get some others in the household to jump on the little bandwagon too.

So I think that this interview kind of shows why I chose my dad as my mentor. He not only has the experience of being healthy physically, but he also has experience in motivating others and helping them push themselves. I think that my mentor will be a huge motivation and help for my project.