March, 2019

I found this reading from Elise Wu, “Out Patients” an interesting read. In the reading, Wu discusses her struggles with Factitious Disorder (FD), a disorder where people feel the need to lie about their health for the sole purpose of seeking attention. Like Wu’s writing, “House of the Homeless” by Ivana Nikolic started with a personal story, but unlike Wu, Nikolic dived straight into her study after a brief personal story. I liked Wu’s research more than I liked Zollos and Nikolics because she was able to relate to the people who suffered from either FD or Munchausen. Her writing style is also unique because she starts by sharing her personal experience with FD; she then begins her research on chatrooms. After being on chatrooms, Wu continues her study where she realizes she needs to put an end to her FD and concludes the piece by showing her efforts to end her disorder by talking about it to others. I also really enjoyed her article because I felt that her style was more like a conversation. She might have written in a more conversational type of way because she is writing about something she struggles with, which is very personal to her. While her writing was like a conversation, Zollo and Nikolic separated their studies into sections which made the audience feel distant from their papers. Some might disagree and think that the separation helps because the title summarizes what the section will be about but for me, I think it is an easy enough reading to understand what Wu is discussing without the subtitles; however I do feel like a conclusion summarizing all of her thoughts could have made it stronger. This piece was also more interesting to read because I was learning about something I had no prior knowledge about.

February, 2019

I have been friends with Ines Bouchaar for a few months now, and she is one of the most beautiful people I have ever met. Her height of 4’11 and her chunky cheeks might make her look young and innocent, but that is deceiving because she is a tough ball of fire. Being Ines’ friend before the interview has some perks. In the time spent so far, we have realized how alike we are. We are both November babies, so we often joke that the similarities come from  Scorpios, even though neither of us takes zodiac signs seriously. Some other things we have in common are, neither of us has any interest in reading, we lost touch with writing, and we both currently live in Queens, NY.

Despite our similarities, we have different upbringings, Ines was born on November 6th, 2000 in Queens, NY to her hard-working parents from Algeria. Her parents are her real inspiration for succeeding. When asked to describe herself in one word, she chose the word determined because “If I put something in my mind, I will complete it no matter what. I think that is why I am so stubborn.” She continued by saying that her parents struggled a lot when she was a young child, by coming to a new country where they did not know the language to give their children a better life. This is one of the reasons she values family over everything else. She is super close to them and is never embarrassed by them, which is sometimes uncommon with the generation we live in today.

In a more personal conversation with Ines, I was able to see a different and opened side of her. I asked Ines if she had ever been betrayed in her life and she said yes, by many people but she has since grown from those experiences. She defines betrayal as not wanting someone else to succeed. “They just have a bad vibe, when I am around them I get a gut feeling that they will bring harm or hurt into my life,” she claims. On a happier note, I asked what made her happy, and without even thinking, her answer was her mother. “There is nothing like seeing my mom happy. If my mom is happy, I am happy,” she states. Other things such as shopping, her pets and hanging out with friends bring her joy too, but her mom always holds that number one spot.

In previous conversations with Ines, she has made it clear how she wants to live out the rest of her days. Ines went to a high school called Academy of American Studies, which is a Social Studies High School. Since high school, Ines has changed her mind about what she wants to do career-wise. “For my career, I would like to own a line of family hotels around the world like Hilton” she mentions. She chose City College because of the excellent Business Administration Program it has. Ines’ father is a manager of a hotel in Brooklyn, and because of his work, he has the opportunity to travel the world constantly, Ines would love to follow her father’s footsteps. She loves embracing different cultures. For example, she had gone to France when she was a kid, and now French music is one of her favorite genres to listen too. Other life plans consist of “being that cool single aunt that is out traveling the world.” She eventually wants to get married and travel with her husband, but as of right now, she does not plan on having children. I asked her if she had won the lottery, what would she do and she said she would donate a portion to charity then head off to an island in Greece where she will be by herself.