Reflective Essay: An Interview With Terri's 'Wisdom'

Learning Wisdom

The thing that I have learned the most from Terri that has shifted my perspective the most would be to have faith. It is so easy to get side tracked by the challenges that life brings, and to let them overwhelm you and become sources of stress. No matter what challenge Terri faced she maintained her sense of faith that God would give her strength and carry her through it; all-the-while maintaining faith in herself to be able to accomplish what she was called to do. If doubt creeps in, soon follows a decreased willpower, and possibly failure. I will carry forward with me this wisdom most of all. That I can accomplish anything that I set out to do. I also have gained a newfound understanding to the famous saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” When I first met Terri I was actually clueless about everything that she had been through in her life. She lives an ordinary life, spending time with

It was imperative that I approach this interview with the utmost respect and dignity for my subject, Terri. I had to remain nonjudgmental and objective with expressing her experiences without inferring my own biases. I found that every time we sat down, she would be more comfortable with bringing up more of the difficult stories of her life. It wasn’t until the later part of out interviewing process that Terri was comfortable telling me about her cult experiences. Initially she wanted me to leave those years out of the paper, but then after talking with her, I explained that it was not anything that she should be ashamed of and that it was out of her control. I was able to comfort her in that moment and let her see my intent to handle her story with dignity. I came to the realization that sometimes in order to get someone’s honesty, you have to listen intently and build a trusting relationship before that can