Sunday, July 12, 2020
By:
To some extent or another, online shopping has taken over our lives. I’m not an exception, and I recently gave in to a particularly useful impulse buy. It was a fidget cube– a desk toy with six faces of buttons, clickers, and spinning parts. I’d purchased it because, like many others, I find virtual meetings to be approximately four times as stressful as the in-person equivalent, and my anxious hands need something to do. I’d found myself playing with the fidget cube during most zoom calls since it arrived, but this past Thursday, it really proved its worth. I was particularly nervous, because I was about to conduct my first interview.
I was interviewing one of the lead researchers on a study that I'm writing about. I’d already read through his paper and formulated a vague idea of a story, but the interview was necessary to fill the humanizing gaps between the science and clarify any of my own confusion. After rescheduling once (neither of us had noticed that we live on opposite sides of the world, so I’d accidentally agreed to a 4:00 am meeting) and waiting for the interview to start, I found my fidget cube an effective tool to distract myself from the clock.
That said, my nerves were for nothing; the interview went swimmingly! the researcher was friendly and enthusiastic, and he answered each question with a thorough story. When I later relayed the experience to Andrew, he smirked and assured me that many interviewees won’t give answers so easily. My fidget cube will come in handy in future meetings, I’m certain, but for now, I’ll celebrate the successful interview by writing a published story!
Samantha Creech