INTERVIEW SERIES: Mary

INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT [edited for clarity]

Mary: “I admire people that can say what they’re feeling and what they believe. I don’t know why, but I don’t really want to be like that; I just admire it in other people.”

Why?

M: “I wouldn’t want to be like that because I’d feel bad [for saying what I’m feeling]. I don’t know why. I like me, but…I don’t know how I’m feeling most of the time. That’s not a choice—that’s just the case most of the time. I’m not super open with anyone; I guess the only way I can really bond with someone is spending quality time together. That’s why I’m so close with my family.

Speaking of openness, you definitely seem to be open-minded and easygoing in general. Has that always been the case?

M: “I’ve gotten more open over the years to different kinds of people. Being at this school, being friends with people who I probably wouldn’t be elsewhere, has made me more willing to try making new friends outside of school with [people I wouldn’t normally approach]. Tess and Jack went through the same thing. My train of thought as far as accepting people is that people are born how they feel, and [since] I have things about me that no one can change, I get that everyone else does, too. People can live their lives how they want; it doesn’t bother me, ‘cause I’m living my life how I want, too. Their lives aren’t mine, so I don’t judge them.”