An Interview With A Boy By Jamie Rubin

Recently, I interviewed a boy. For the sake of privacy, we will call him Peter. In one brief discussion that lasted approximately ten minutes, I got to know him a whole lot better. This is probably because things got DEEP.

Peter has an odd relationship with his family. He cherishes his mother but despises his father.
His dad, who we will call Mark, is very abrasive, harsh, and, honestly, pretty scary. However, he is no match for Peter. When Mark gets out of hand, Peter stands up to him and if his mom is ever upset he makes his best effort to comfort her. This is why he considers one of his greatest accomplishments to be when he makes time to spend with his mom (along with keeping up good grades, of course).

"It feels like we are one," says Peter, after describing how much they have gone through together. One of his best memories was when he went on a cruise with his family in 2013. All of a sudden, he got extremely sick and was throwing up constantly. That day his family had booked an excursion to swim with dolphins; his mom wanted to do this more than anything on the entire cruise and had been looking forward to it for the longest time. Selflessly, she stayed with Peter and took care of him. This meant the world to him because it showed how much she loved him. They have also gone through seemingly endless hardships together, but despite that, Peter's bond with his mother is stronger than ever.

Although Peter's family life is chaotic, it has shaped him into the amazing person he is today.
He is caring and compassionate. He considers his best quality to be his ability to make people laugh and cheer others up. As his friend, I can guarantee you that this is true. He possesses the natural ability to make people happy. Because he is very concerned with the well-being of others, he aspires to become an environmental scientist so he can make an impact in reversing climate change which would improve the entire planet significantly.

Along with becoming an environmental scientist, Peter wants to move out of New Jersey as soon as possible and eventually raise a family. If he could choose, he would have one boy and one girl. He would love to move to the south- preferably South Carolina- in order to be closer to his siblings. However, he doesn't want to leave his beloved mom alone in New Jersey.

All in all, Peter has grown up to be a very lighthearted and joyous kid with great aspirations even though his family life is rather arduous. From my interview with a boy, I learned that family is extremely important and that even ones who you would least expect have to deal with struggles and hardships.