"Anne Geyer" by Alhanof Alhudibi

Anne Geyer is very friendly woman in the ELC. She is very nice and kind woman. When I came to the ELC for the first time, I talked with her, and she made me feel nothing is impossible. She has worked there for 22 years. That is very impressive. She likes to work with students.

Anne grew up in Ohio in the middle of the country. She went to Ohio state university, where she got her degree in nursing. wWhen I know that about that I was really shockedm, but I know now why she makes me relax when I talk to her.

     Anne Geyer worked as a Navy nurse for 2 years because the Navy paid for the university. She worked in the navy hospital in New York, so she had very big experience from a small town in Ohio to the Big Apple; New York. She enjoyed her life there. After that, she got married, and she lived in Seattle WA with her husband.

     After her husband graduated from his university bachelor’s degree, they thought that was a good time to take trip. Then they went to Europe and visited England, Italy, France, Germany, and Denmark.

     Anne had 3 children, so after that, she stopped working for 15 years to take care of her children. I think that is very generous of her to do that with her career for a very long time. She thought she should have kept working a little bit not every day , just one or two days in a week but she had full time job with her kids .

     After 15 years with her kids she thought it was good time to get back to work life. Because she didn’t work for a long time, she had to study again, so she studied in Old Dominion University. After that, she worked in the ELC. When she worked to the ELC she went to Japan and Korea.

     Anne really likes the life she has had. She likes her job, and this is the fun time. The responsibility of children is gone, and now she has good time with grandchildren. I think she is amazing grandmother. She has very exiting life.

     I am very happy to know these things about her. She is very nice woman to know and take with. I think if I have another chance to do interview with her I will do it again.

     I am really thankful for her to let me do this interview with her. I ask her a lot of questions about her life and her job. She was very helpful with me, so I felt comfortable in the interview.

Alhanof Alhudibi

Valentine's Day interview with Jane

How Valentine´s Day Is Special For My Teacher

By Alberto Nájera

        

Valentine´s Day?  This day is celebrated on February 14 in the United States, and it is a custom to give gifts including roses, poems, or chocolates as a sign of affection, appreciation, or respect for the person we love. A romantic dinner is also a good choice when it is used to express our thoughts and to say how much we love each other. 

What is different about Valentine´s Day today than in the past?  How do some teachers celebrate from English Language Center of Old Dominion University (ODU) in Norfolk?  To know more about this, I invited teacher Jane Hirsch, a woman  from Alabama with 35 years of marriage and who has two twin daughters. She has 23 years of teaching English at ODU and knows a little of other languages like Spanish, Portuguese and Italian.

When asked, do you celebrate Valentine´s Day?  In a firm voice she replied “of course it is a special day and it is a romantic day for me.  Adding too, that Valentine´s Day is every day too.  She remembered when she was younger receiving gifts and to this day continues to receive them, but different ones such as a cards or an invitation to dinner. Today it is more common for a nice gift card.

 

Professor Jane in her office at Dragas Hall in English Language Center at Old Dominion University.

She adds that this day as a young bride, Valentine´s Day was a little different in that it was not as commercial as we see today with gifts and predominantly red decor in the stores since January.  February 14 was more romantic, special, and full of feelings and expression of details.  This is a day not only for the couples, but also for friends and family.

What special memories do you remember about today?  When asked, Professor Jane replied, “yes, I remember when one of my daughters was in school and prepared a heart on Valentine´s Day and brought it home to me as a gift.  That was special to me.”

For Professor Jane, this is one day to be happy and for following some of the traditions. She receives cards form her husband and daughter and celebrated this day with a special dinner. So continues the celebration of Valentine´s Day with expressions of emotions waiting to be repeated every day of the year and not just on one special day.  Professor Jane hopes that expressing these feelings of love for our spouse, friends, or family can be 365 days of the year, or in the case of Leap Year, like 2012, then 366 days of the year.

For Greg

Greg

    In the first time I thought about this project, the only person that came in my mind was Greg. He was the first one I met when I came here for the first time. He is a very gentle person. He makes everybody around him laugh .He has worked here for 7 years. He works with the money for ELC. He likes his work because he loves the student. I am really happy every day in the morning when I see him and ask him,’’ How are you?’’ He always says ‘’wonderful’’. That makes me feel my day will be wonderful. For that, I asked him to do my interview. He was very happy to do it with me. I asked him some question about his life and his career life. He was very generous with me to let me know a lot about his life. He has a very interesting life.

      Greg was 45 years old he was married and has 2 kids. When he was 20 years old, Greg went to the Navy for 15 years. He also had a lot of travel. When he was in the Navy he visited a lot of countries. He has lived in Norfolk for 22 years 15 years in Navy the other 7 years in ELC. When he was in the Navy, every weekend he was went to the White House .I think that’s very exciting.

       My man likes sports too. When he was in high school he played baseball .He liked it a lot. Now, he likes to play golf in his free time. He also likes football. His favorite team in baseball is the Rockies, I really like this activity.

     Greg doesn’t have something disappointing him in his life. He just says ‘’everybody sometime is sad, but not disappointed’’. Ten years ago he stayed in Maryland and lived in small town. When I hear that, I think God he came here. Honestly, I am very happy to do my interview with him because I was very curious to know about this happy, gentle, and kind person.

       I asked some of his friends to say something about him. Christina, who works with him in the same office, said ‘’the day is boring without him ‘’.   I also asked Anne, who also works in the ELC. She said ‘’ we always joke about Greg, make fun of him, and give him hard time, but actually he is very important person in the operation of the ELC. He answers all questions. He is very friendly, and he really likes to be around students. He does a good job. We can’t operate without him .I will be not much fun without him ‘’. For these things I did my first interview with him.

       I wish when I work in some place, I will be like him: very popular in my work and happy and make the people around me feel comfortable. Greg is a symbol for the people who work in ELC. Everybody there is very friendly and nice. For that, I choose this place to study: to be good in English and know good people like them.  

Naif Mohmmed

Advanced I students interview Jane!

Advanced I students interview Anne

Advanced I students interview Bettye!

The Advanced I students interview Laura