A Dive into Jeslie Malena

In this interview I questioned Jeslie on her narrative as well as what makes her interesting as an individual. This interview took place over Zoom. The meeting was recorded then transcribed into the present paper. In Malenas paper she writes about her experiences with reading and how because of encouragement she grew to feel empowered in her literacy skills. She starts off by writing about her insecurities by reading in front of a large group of people. Perfectly expressing the feeling of being under the spotlight in a class setting. As well as the feelings of doubt and comparison that come with it. She then goes on to talk about how reading was not the only problem she encountered. This obstacle being comprehension. Fortunately, she recounts practicing with a lady in the office, and finally she grows to become confident in what she can do. While her paper describes her trials and tribulations, the reader can better understand her as a person through the interview, soon being able to perceive Malena as an extraverted artist with different experiences. 

N Q: What are three words you would use to describe yourself?  

J A: Yeah, a little bit hard, I would say. Spontaneous. Energetic. And outgoing. 

N Q: In your literacy narrative, it was like you seem like through immediately accepting help from the  office lady. Um, it seemed like you were like a really open person. You know, you’re like open to accept help and like just all that stuff. But, what’s one thing someone could do to lose that trust in them that you might have in this literacy setting.  

J A: So one thing that would make me lose trust. I think when people make fun of others for the way they read, if they study too much, if they’re too slow, I think that’s like a big factor where you can lose a lot of trust because you need like an environment that’s also open so you can learn in the way that you need to.  

N Q: I like your description of how you describe how it felt like because you were reading for so long when you were practicing to improve your literacy ability, you said something about  how your throat was like a fairy and cotton or something.  I like that description. Where did you come up with that? 

J A: Honestly, I just came up with that in my head, You know, kind of like a free flow. Because I do speak like that in person. I like making weird metaphors and stuff like that because I think it’s fun. So yeah, I wouldn’t say that it came from anywhere.  

N Q: Do you remember, the book that helped you better to understand and improve your reading or was it multiple books? 

J A: No, actually I don’t remember the specific book. However, yes, there was multiple books that I had read with her. So I don’t I really wish I did remember the book though, but it was multiple. 

N Q: Would you say like you are the person you are now because of like your experiences or like how you dealt with those experiences?  

J A: I think I am the person I am today because of both actually like the experiences and especially how I dealt with them because I was a shy little kid most of the time. So throughout all these experiences and going through them over and over again, I learned to become more confident.  

N Q: When did you start feeling confident? Like you know specifically around what time?  

J A: I would say around like 8th grade to 9th grade around there. 

N Q: Did something specific happen or was it just like a build up of experiences?  

J A: I think it was because I did go into therapy for social anxiety and working through with my therapist to get rid of the social anxiety really contributed on how I speak in classes in front of everybody.  

N Q: So is there a specific place where you get your inspiration from?  

J A: Umm,  I would say my specific place would just be like determination to be like others because you would see like somebody who’s like better at you or something. And it’s like, I want to, I want to be just like them. I want to be as good as they are.  

N Q: What do you find interesting about yourself?  

J A: So the three things that I wrote was number one, I have a nice way of describing feelings. Number two, the way I present verbally is engaging and like it grabs people’s attention. And number three was a lot of the things that I say seem to be relatable to a lot of people. Where I speak it out and they’re like, yeah, that’s exactly what I feel.  

N Q: What’s your number one goal in life?  

J A: My number one goal in life. I’m a little bit of an artist, so I’ve always wanted to make my own animated show, and that would include writing, animating and stuff like that. But I think the payoff would just seeing like, my own characters and my own show and maybe having people, like, really enjoy it. I think the payoff would be grand.  

N Q: What like shows do you want your show to be like? Like what kind of shows inspire you? 

J A: This this gonna sound really nerdy but like some animes because I do like more western shows, but I think anime the plots are very engaging and dramatic. 

N Q: Like specifically, do you have anything specific or no? (specific anime) 

J A: Oh, I don’t know. I don’t know what I mean. Maybe like I do like Demon Slayer and One Piece. I like both of them. One Piece is written very well. Demon Stairs animation is impeccable.