Yaelisa Heredia: I am eighteen years old. I was born and raised in Holyoke, Massachusetts. I am a Hampshire College student and part of the James Baldwin Program. I am interested in studying entrepreneurship, business, and creative writing.
Catherine Freitag is my step-aunt. She is twenty-seven years old. She works at Baystate Franklin Medical Center in Greenfield, Massachusetts. She was born in Holyoke and currently lives in Greenfield. She is a CNA but she would like to go back to school to become a radiology technician.
Reflection: The interview went as smoothly as it could be. I thank god that I chose someone that I knew because I had some trouble with the recording on Zoom. I also know my aunt felt honored but nervous about being interviewed. Some of the questions I asked her she answered without detail because she could not say too much due to the worker’s confidentiality. Another thing is I have a slight fear of hospitals because they bill the hell out of you and also you can catch something while you’re there. I kind of thought if she explained what the hospital does to keep it sanitary, it would change my mind, but it did not. One thing that I found very interesting was that she explained that Baystate Franklin Medical Center is high risk because Greenfield is considered a small town with a decent-sized population. So, when another peak happens, the hospital would be full and over-populated; they would have to export patients to other Baystate Hospitals in another town.