Mel's Milestone
After the week got off to a crappy start, it ended pretty darn good.
So, as many of you know, I got to interview Former President George Bush one on one Saturday night after he was recognized as an honorary member of the Singing Cadets. Check out the article:
Read My Article
I got to enjoy the concert with the rest of the media in the back row of Rudder, but as soon as the first half was almost over, Lane Stephenson, the PR guy for A&M, and I made our way backstage to wait for Bush to be honored. He was like a few feet from me at this point as he waited to go on stage. He looked so tired, and who can blame him? He just returned from Rome hours before.
Right after he left the stage, He was immediately ushered into a holding room where I was waiting for him. I was so nervous the whole time. I kept trying to breathe, but before I knew it, he walked in with Barbara right behind him as well as his posse. When he walked in, he made me feel at ease by saying "Hi, What can I do for you?" and had a huge smile on his face. So at least he wasn't annoyed.
I explained why I wanted to take a few minutes of his time and began asking him questions. The goal was to keep him talking for about 5 minutes. So, I had to do something I had never done before, and that was stick a tape recorder in his face and not write anything down. See, If I paused at any point, then he would have walked off.
I asked him how he felt about being an honorary member of the Singing Cadets, which he said was emotional,, pointing out that he has received many honors in his lifetime, but this was definitely special. I asked when he saw the Cadets perform for the first time, to which he replied he didn't remember. "I am 81 years old, I can't remember what I did yesterday," he said with a laugh as he lightly touched my arm.
Barbara then piped in, "Wasn't it at your library opening?" He thought for a second and said "Well, yeah I saw them there." But he still was not sure if it was the first time.
He then went on to say that the traditions at Texas A&M was one of the reasons he chose to house his library here. He loves the theme of patriotism that is present in all of them. He said he also loves the friendliness of the campus and how he can walk anywhere and always be greeted.
I then ask him some non-hard hitting questions, such as does he sing in the car? shower? does he serenade Barbara? To which he said he was glad I brought up the shower, because apparently the former president is a very good singer in the shower. He said he would have given me an example, but he was not feeling well.Awww. He said he really doesn't not serenade, Barbara but he was still romantic. He also explained to me that his mom dad and siblings were musically inclined, but there was a DNA change when it came to him.
But as Barbara pointed out, none of them were president.
"Life is not fair," the president replied. "It's a DNA thing." and with that quote he was whisked away. I told him thank you and he told me good luck at The Eagle.
I kinda stood there for a bit, and was like wow, that went really well. That was definitely a milestone in my journalism career. And I am glad it was something laid back and not economic related, or something like that. I went back to the newsroom and cranked out my story and tried not to act too excited. My mom and sister called me right after wanting to know how it went. My grandparents called me last night. I felt a bit like a celebrity.
The best part was that no other media outlet got to do this. It was me and the former president and his wife. Of course it was a bit intimidating, because all his assistants, secret service men were all standing behind me and I felt like I was in the spotlight. A photographer took a picture of me interviewing him, so I hope to get that soon.
Adam said he will help me digitalize my interview. So I can try to post that.
And on top of that I owned the paper on Sunday with 3 stories. So overall, the weekend was successful.
So, as many of you know, I got to interview Former President George Bush one on one Saturday night after he was recognized as an honorary member of the Singing Cadets. Check out the article:
Read My Article
I got to enjoy the concert with the rest of the media in the back row of Rudder, but as soon as the first half was almost over, Lane Stephenson, the PR guy for A&M, and I made our way backstage to wait for Bush to be honored. He was like a few feet from me at this point as he waited to go on stage. He looked so tired, and who can blame him? He just returned from Rome hours before.
Right after he left the stage, He was immediately ushered into a holding room where I was waiting for him. I was so nervous the whole time. I kept trying to breathe, but before I knew it, he walked in with Barbara right behind him as well as his posse. When he walked in, he made me feel at ease by saying "Hi, What can I do for you?" and had a huge smile on his face. So at least he wasn't annoyed.
I explained why I wanted to take a few minutes of his time and began asking him questions. The goal was to keep him talking for about 5 minutes. So, I had to do something I had never done before, and that was stick a tape recorder in his face and not write anything down. See, If I paused at any point, then he would have walked off.
I asked him how he felt about being an honorary member of the Singing Cadets, which he said was emotional,, pointing out that he has received many honors in his lifetime, but this was definitely special. I asked when he saw the Cadets perform for the first time, to which he replied he didn't remember. "I am 81 years old, I can't remember what I did yesterday," he said with a laugh as he lightly touched my arm.
Barbara then piped in, "Wasn't it at your library opening?" He thought for a second and said "Well, yeah I saw them there." But he still was not sure if it was the first time.
He then went on to say that the traditions at Texas A&M was one of the reasons he chose to house his library here. He loves the theme of patriotism that is present in all of them. He said he also loves the friendliness of the campus and how he can walk anywhere and always be greeted.
I then ask him some non-hard hitting questions, such as does he sing in the car? shower? does he serenade Barbara? To which he said he was glad I brought up the shower, because apparently the former president is a very good singer in the shower. He said he would have given me an example, but he was not feeling well.Awww. He said he really doesn't not serenade, Barbara but he was still romantic. He also explained to me that his mom dad and siblings were musically inclined, but there was a DNA change when it came to him.
But as Barbara pointed out, none of them were president.
"Life is not fair," the president replied. "It's a DNA thing." and with that quote he was whisked away. I told him thank you and he told me good luck at The Eagle.
I kinda stood there for a bit, and was like wow, that went really well. That was definitely a milestone in my journalism career. And I am glad it was something laid back and not economic related, or something like that. I went back to the newsroom and cranked out my story and tried not to act too excited. My mom and sister called me right after wanting to know how it went. My grandparents called me last night. I felt a bit like a celebrity.
The best part was that no other media outlet got to do this. It was me and the former president and his wife. Of course it was a bit intimidating, because all his assistants, secret service men were all standing behind me and I felt like I was in the spotlight. A photographer took a picture of me interviewing him, so I hope to get that soon.
Adam said he will help me digitalize my interview. So I can try to post that.
And on top of that I owned the paper on Sunday with 3 stories. So overall, the weekend was successful.