Reflection: Parent Project



I tried to relax knowing I was the next person to perform and needed to “become” my dad in a matter of seconds. Unlike my dad, who is relaxed and speaks slow and deliberately, I have a very energetic personality and speak very quickly. Our difference in personalities was probably the hardest part to master when I performed. “My favorite childhood memory was going on vacation...” As I practiced reading my monologue, I realized this contradiction in our personalities showed. I was reading my monologue at least three times faster than he had spoken. When I walked up to the front of the room, I knew I needed to transform my speech. I took a deep breath and slowly started my monologue, stopping about every three seconds for a pause and articulating every syllable of every word, just like my dad. After only a few seconds of slowly delivering my monologue, like my dad, all my nerves were calmed.

My monologue was about my dad reminiscing about his vacations with his family. While I was speaking I tried to imagine that I was my dad. Even though I had never seen Alexandria Minnesota, where he had gone on these vacations, I created an image in my mind of what it may have been like, based on my experiences and pictures. I remember him telling me about going fishing with his brother early in the morning and how they were the only people out on the glassy lake. I called these images to mind as I talked.
The rest of my monologue was about my dad’s vacations out West. As I performed this part of my monologue, instead of creating an image in my mind of what I thought it may have looked like, I reflected on my own family vacations out West. I remembered when we went hiking in the mountains and how relaxing and peaceful it had been. This was the easiest part of my monologue to relate to because my family has had many of the same experiences as my dad had with his family as a kid.

Even though neither of my parents came to the final performance, I performed my monologue in front of them numerous times. After performing my monologue in front of my dad the night before, I regretted not coming more out of my comfort zone. I choose to relay in monologue experiences that weren’t as emotional or deep as the rest of my transcript had been. This was because I was nervous to perform in front of the class. If I could go back and do it again, I would choose a more in-depth part of my transcript to perform, either about my dad’s relationship with his parents or his brother having severe asthma. After listening to many students perform their monologue and after performing my own monologue, I wish I would have taken more risks and gone more out of my comfort zone.

When the class was assigned this project, I was worried about performing in front of the class and the extra work it would involve, but after a few days of starting to formulate questions and getting ready for my interview, I realized this wasn’t just a school project. It was a way to learn more about my dad and some of the experiences he has had. My favorite part of this project was interviewing my dad. It was really interesting hearing about some of the things he had done when he was a kid that I never knew about. This project opened my eyes to my dad’s past and gave me a chance to learn more about him.