Story Pitch

Are you being constantly reminded to excel in school? Do you feel like you are being forced down a path that you don’t want to take? Today, we will be interviewing a youth worker in this field to see if she has any advice for all those teens facing the dilemma of whether or not to listen to their parent’s dilemmas!

There are movies, books, shorts, and then there are voicers. This voicer is just another means of storytelling all through the power of sound. We decided to tell just one of many interesting stories about the process and challenges of immigration. 

The word FOB has been spreading around recently. With 300,000 immigrants coming to Canada in 2019, people have been using the word fob to describe people. But many people use it in different ways. So we went around our school to find out how people view the word FOB. This also gives you guys a glimpse of what kind of questions we will be discussing in our podcast. Hope you Enjoy!

Sounds affect us more than you’d think. It’s there in music, ambiance and even simple conversations. They make us feel a certain way when we hear them and every sound has a different effect on all of us. Being that our Podcast and website is all immigrant parents, we’ve decided to compose a list of sound effects that directly relate to this topic to help give us (and you) the feel of being with immigrant parents.

• Airport: obviously, the easiest and most reliable way for immigrants to move is via airplane and airports. The noises of jets turbines, metal detectors and sounds of foreign languages gives the listener visuals about times at the airport. Thereby painting a clear image for them.

• Sink Running: many a times, we find immigrant parents find themselves passing time at the sink. Whether they’re cooking rice or washing dishes by hand, these sound bytes are second nature to immigrant children.

• Conversation in foreign Languages: immigrant parents were born in a place where they spoke one single language. To go from that to a place where english and french is the main language poses an obstacle. We constantly listen to them talking in their native tongue to themselves and even to us too.

• Chopping: for asians especially, immigrant parents view food as a symbol of love and home. So when we as their children hear them cooking, we know that they’re making a meal familiar to them and expressing their love in that form.

• Locker Lock: we are teenagers. Teenagers go to school. School’s have lockers. Lockers have locks. Therefore, we associate often with locker noises.

• Bell Ringing: As students, we hear the school bells constantly every time. “The bell ringing is like my mom, she shouts at me when i’m doing something wrong” – Dax

• Asian Restaurant: Any immigrant or asian kid going to a brunch at a busy asian restaurant. This sound can give nostalgia and warm feeling about being with family.

• Luggage Pulling: Back to the airport references, another sound common to the airports are the sounds of people dragging their luggage on the floor. This again paints the picture of being at the airport and being an immigrant.

• Metal Door Detector: Metal detectors are of course a part of the customs at the airport where we find many immigrants passing by. The metal detectors are a pivotal sound when painting an image for the listeners.

• Foreign Music: Akin to language, many of the immigrant parents grew up listening to their own music back at their homelands. They usually bring it over here when they migrate and we hear it quite often.

In conclusion sounds are an important aspect in any podcast, movie, or video. It’s important to realize that sound informs us and moves us in ways visuals can’t, and can evoke sudden feelings lingering in our hearts. So next time your making a podcast, try adding sound effects that compliments your topic! It will be better!

Shower Thoughts is a platform geared mainly towards the discussions about immigration and the people related to it. This past November, the Canadian national headlines were booming on the subject of immigrants and the criticism of their choices. Don Cherry, longtime sportsnet host, sparked a nationwide controversy on the subject of immigrants which ultimately resulted in his downfall. He voiced his own opinion about Canadian’s (supposedly immigrants) and their habits of not wearing poppies to remember the soldiers that fought for our country. In the article published by “SportingNews” we were exposed to some of his bold statements about immigrants. 

We were dissatisfied with the article posted by “SportingNews”. The questions that were asked were too provocative for a specific answer as opposed to his true intent. We as a platform want to challenge them and ameliorate their questions by formulating our own. An example, “I don’t regret a thing”, vivid, a blunt statement that shows he doesn’t care. However if Cherry says he meant to say ‘everyone’ instead of “you people”, he does care. Everyone thoughts have layers, not just black white. The questions we pose evoke a deeper level of insight and understanding of people’s opinions. More specifically, a deeper insight on immigrants.

“SportingNews” presented the tip of the iceberg of Don Cherries beliefs. “I believe everybody in this country should wear a poppy, and buy a poppy to support the families of servicemen, and that’s the way I feel.” he said. Our Podcast wants to bring into light that there are a deeper meaning behind the words we say. If you re-watch the clip of him saying his statements about immigrants, Don Cherry didn’t necessary focus on just immigrants. “I never said ‘immigrants’, I never said anything, I said, ‘you people’ and they could have been Scottish, they could have been Irish, they could have been anything, but that’s the way the world is today.” The misunderstanding of Don Cherry’s intent was a result of lack of knowledge as well as in-depth questions.

If Shower Thoughts were given the chance of interviewing Don Cherry we will want to ask like “If this was said by a person with a different ethnic background do you think they will meet with the same amount of criticism and backlash that you received?” This question, we believe will added a more in-depth answer from Don Cherry. It will also reveal his character on the matter. We know that Don Cherry’s intent was to raise awareness to immigrants that they should respect our soldiers and the traditions of our country. But “SportingNews” twisted his intent on their article to make it seen like Don Cherry he is not sorry for what he has said. “What made you voice your opinion bring your coach’s corner segment? Was it an encounter with someone? Or was it a thought that has been in your mind?” This is a perfect example of the questions that will show why Don Cherry did what he did?

Coming from 4 teenagers of immigrant parents, we believe that Don Cherry’s intent on the matter of purchasing poppies on remembrance day is correct. But the way he stated his believes on national television were not welcomed by viewers. Cherry’s use of “You people” could’ve definitely been better as media sources took this opportunity to twist his intent. People assume that “You people” refers to immigrants, people assume Don Cherry’s intent was to disrespect immigrants, but that’s all assuming. Jumping into conclusions like we did in the past made us misinterpret his words. Shower Thoughts is a media platform that reveals topics that have a deeper meaning.

What makes a great interview? Asking engaging questions? Writing everything down? Or maybe it’s having an engaging conversation with the interviewee. In the movie Shattered Glass we were exposed to a plethora of ways to conduct a successful interview. All these methods mentioned above are just the tip of the iceberg of conducting a successful interview.  But what’s under it?

• In order to know that you have just had a successful interview, you should have notes about the interviewees’ characteristics post interview. During the interview, the interviewer should be writing everything down; every quote, word, detail. It is crucial for the interviewer to have enough information so that when he shares his notes to someone else, that person should be able to picture the interview clearly in their heads. 

• There is a huge malicious act that goes against all writers and interviewers; assuming. As an interviewer, a valued rule is that they can never assume. It is the mother of jumping to conclusions and never ends well. The act of deducing things without any evidence will only lead you to a life of regret. The more you assume based on what the interviewee has said will result in lowering your credibility.

• Never lie! It is as simple as that, lying is the biggest no-no in the new-media world. Stating false information and stating it as facts just to make your interview juicier is morally wrong. Lying will only drive your reporting skills 6 feet under. If by some chance you were caught and exposed, you career in the new media department is over. No Credibility, no morals, no values!

• A fundamental skill to have when working in the new media world is the ability to fact check. There are a plethora of ways to fact check, from checking online to using personal relation networks to reaffirm the believed facts. In our modern day society there are plenty of ways to fabricate information and publish it with the sole reason to mislead others. To prevent this for happening to yourself, fact check!

• What do you do post interview? Shake Hands? Greet them off? These are fundamental ways of saying good-bye, but what you really should be doing is asking for contact information. Go through your notes and ask your interviewee if you can get some contact information to verify what they have stated. For every person the interviewee has recommended, ask for at least three ways of communication for you to reach out to them. The moral of the story is; get as much contact information as possible!

Interviewing is a skill that will require a long time to master, even for professionals. But there is one simple solution to get good at interviewing, practice. There aren’t any shortcuts in life but there are methods out there that can help you with your growth. Following these five interviewing techniques that we have highlighted from the movie “Shattered Glass” will hopefully guide you to conduct an excellent interview.

“There Is No Where Like Home.”

L. Frank Baum

Dynamics. Immigrant parents operate in many different ways. We know of course that these ways refer to the methods in which they parent their own children. Naturally, every parent is different because of their upbringing, personal experiences and their ethnicity. An example of this could be how Caucasian parents have different expectations from Asian parents. Caucasian parents may accept an 80% as a good grade while Asian parent will demolish you for having an 80% (stereo-typically of course). Being that we as a group focus mainly on immigrant parents, the only big differences noticeable in terms of parenting dynamics are the ethnicity and upbringing of the parents. The Ethnicity of the parents greatly affects the morale that the parents raise their kids on. An example shown, it’s a fact that Filipino parents are mainly religious to the Catholic religion. Therefore, many of the Catholic morals are embedded in the Filipino parents which could lead them to raise their kids with Catholic morals. 

Causes. Because we see the manner in which the immigrant parents act, it’s now vital to target how this affects the kids. So whether or not the manner in which the parents, it could challenge the kid in a good or bad way. The kids have the option to listen to their parents, understand their teachings and adapt from them. An example of this, one parent might tell their kids, “An 86% is not good enough, you need to try harder” (this obviously referring to the previous subtopic and still pulling on the stereotype). Now the child might take this statement and learn from it. He could think, “I need to listen to my parents because they know what’s best for me. Also, I don’t want to disappoint them and I want to make sure that they can be proud of me in the future. This is why I need to get my grades higher”. Or the child might think, “I don’t want to listen to my parents, they always belittle me and it annoys me so much. I don’t care if my grades are low and I’m not going to put the effort in to make them better” As you can see, the things that parents say or do could cause the child to act in different ways, whether or not they’re good.

Effects. Just as the causes of the child could be different, good or bad, the effects on the child could be good or bad too. Let’s take that same example of the considerably bad grade from the previous subtopic. The first child who decided to change his grades might end up doing really well in school. He might be getting into a good university and eventually a good job. On the other hand, the stress of trying to get good grades might collapse on him, and he might suffer from clinical depression. The second child might also end up on a bad path in life, always on the low end of the class, and not getting a great job. However, he might find a passion in a hobby he loves and pursue that as a career, who knows if one day he might be successful doing what he loves. What I’m trying to lean onto saying is explaining the stereotype of getting a stable job through good grades and education. A typical immigrant parent will bombard their children with words such as, “Arts is not a career”, “You need to get a stable job”, “Your only choices are the faculty of Engineering or Sciences”. This pressured situation may often lead the children to be stressed, depressed or end up working a career that they hate doing. 

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Growing up learning, being disciplined, and being taken care of by immigrant parents makes us unique compared to other kids that grew up with western parents. There are some good differences, and bad differences. But what makes us unique is our experiences and relationships we have with our immigrant parents. I know many immigrant children can relate when you hear your parents say “You should be like them.” Always being compared to a family member, friend, or even a celebrity. And this can affect you in how you interpret it. As “I’m not good enough” or “I should strive for that” This is only one example from many on how our experiences with immigrant parents define us.

What we experience from the ways of our immigrant parents are not a surprise. If you ever feel like your parents are always disappointed in you, then maybe they feel that you can do better and they just want you to succeed. If you feel like they are so strict, maybe they don’t want you to go on the wrong path because they worked so hard for you to be successful in this new country. And I know a lot of immigrant children can relate when parents say: how privileged we are to be in these good situations and they had such a hard life in their homeland. Maybe they’re trying to say not to take things for granted because we had way more than they ever had growing up. So what am I trying to get to? What I’m trying to explain is that the things we experience from our immigrant parents are so valuable because of what it teaches us. These experiences help define our core values and how we perceive life. That’s what makes us so unique, is how our parents were teaching us how to be good citizens without us or even them knowing.

All in all, We should treasure our experiences with our parents and learn from them. All they want is us, their immigrant children to succeed in a life where it is possible. We have many more opportunities than our immigrant parents could ever had growing up. And these experiences will give us the qualities to achieve that. Yes, growing up with immigrant parents can be difficult. All the rules, comparing and punishment from them can impact us negatively. But they don’t intend that. They just want what is best for us. So to all my immigrant pals that are going through this right now, don’t worry. You are in the right hands.

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