Eli D., Senior — Interview conducted by Angela Wang
Monday, March 6th, 2023, 12:35: We're sitting at the bench before the bulletin boards haunted by Mr. Tucker. I click record. "Welcome, Eli." The interview has begun…
Angela: All right, let's get started. If you could choose only one song to play every time you walk into a room for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Eli: Probably "Nights" by Frank Ocean. It's, like, 10 out of 10.
Angela: Are you a Frank Ocean fan?
Eli: Yeah.
Angela: Nice. What's his fan base called?
Eli: Hmm… It doesn't really have a name.
Angela: Would you choose your own song if you could?
Eli: Probably not being honest, just because I've heard it so much that it's overplayed.
Angela: Yeah, that makes sense. What is something unique about you that your classmates might not know?
Eli: Well, I'm pretty just introverted in general. I like hanging out with my friends and everything. But you know, I don't show up to everything. And they're all like this, and I was just like, just in my room doing nothing. And they're just like, Oh, that's so weird. And so I guess yeah, they don't really get it.
Angela: There's no way they're all extroverted.
Eli: Well, no, they're not, but you know, a lot of them are.
Angela: Is it the soccer team?
Eli: Mainly the soccer team. Those kids who are just walking down right there.
Angela: I see. "Kids"?
Eli: I call everyone kid.
Angela: Looking back at your experience at CPS, what is something you're never going to forget?
Eli: My Econ class has been pretty awesome this year. I took it just because I thought that it was a good life experience and stuff that everyone needed to know. But I've actually kind of discovered that finances are super interesting to me and that I kind of want to pursue it somewhat if I can and just focus on that. It's like it's what my dad does too.
Angela: Oh, interesting.
Eli: So I guess I don't know. It runs in the family.
Angela: So I'm going to ask you, what is it about finance that interests you?
Eli: I don't know. It's just like knowing how money moves and how the whole financial system works is really cool. And then how I can take advantage of it to make money, obviously.
Angela: So you like investing?
Eli: Yeah. We're in the middle of the stock market project, which I'm sure you've heard a lot about. That's pretty exciting. We're in sixth right now. We used to be in second. Then downhill, but it's okay.
Angela: *laughs* Are you a bit bitter about that?
Eli: No, no.
Angela: So it's a group project?
Eli: Yeah, it's me and Kate Lawson.
Angela: Oh, nice. What are you looking forward to in the future?
Eli: Well, I'm hoping to stay creative, keeping like writing music and everything. And I had I have finished setting up a home studio in my room. And I wanted to still use it a lot because I've spent so much time putting it together. Yeah. And so I was like this summer. That's kind of my plan is just to have my job and work 40 hours a week, but then like, instead of doing homework on top of that, I'll be doing the production and songwriting and everything, so it'll be released.
Angela: Are you considering taking a gap year?
Eli: Yeah, yeah. There are these doors you can rent out, and it's just like, you're surrounded by musicians. And I'm looking into that, just as a gap year, and I wouldn't be living at home. It would be like, I'd be doing my own thing, and it'd be super fun before college.
Angela: What do your parents think about it?
Eli: They're hesitant, but, you know, if I'm going to take a gap year, they want me to live with them still.
Angela: Oh, really?
Eli: Yeah. I don't know. They just think it's—I'm still in high school. That's kind of their mentality. But yeah.
Angela: That's interesting because my parents really support a gap year for me. I attended the gap year common classroom. And they're basically talking about how if you do take a gap year, most likely you'll be happier in college.
Eli: Yeah, and I thought that was very appealing to me.
Angela: Yeah. Just one year to do whatever you want. You should go to Nashville.
Eli: Nashville? I thought about it. It's kind of I'm applying to a couple of schools there. But obviously, I don't know the decisions yet. They haven't come out. We'll see.
Angela: I hope you got in.
Eli: Thank you. Yeah.
Angela: If you can say thank you to one room and CPS. What room would it be?
Eli: The music practice room?
Angela: Right. The one in the back with a piano?
Eli: Yeah, no. Amazing. Too much time there.
Angela: There's no such thing as too much time.
Eli: Yeah.
Angela: The last question is, what do you feel like you've accomplished?
Eli: I don't know. I feel like I've accomplished the athletic side of it. I feel like it's there with soccer and then the creative side with music and just like being a successful student at a really hard school. I feel like it's an accomplishment that I've just kind of made it this far. So yeah, I would probably say that. But I'm excited about what else I can do with the music.
Angela: I wish you the best of luck with your music career.
Eli: Thank you. Yeah, thanks for fitting me in.
Angela: It's all good. It was nice to talk to you.
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