An Interview

I interviewed Rachel Thompson-Smith on Jan. 26 in my journalism class. She is a junior at Liberty University from Northern Virginia pursuing a degree in Strategic Communications. While this major does not match her career goals perfectly anymore, she is too far down the rabbit hole to change it.

After she graduates, she would like to work in International Aid Distribution or another area of humanitarian work. This type of career would suit Thompson-Smith, as she's always prepared for the worst: equipped with a disaster kit that includes a solar-powered lantern, waterproof matches, and much more.

Thompson-Smith spent her Christmas break working in the Seafood department at Wegmans, a popular grocery store in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic United States. She has been at this job for five years and usually enjoys working holidays such as Christmas and New Year's Eve (the leftover baked goods are usually up for grabs after-hours). However, during this holiday season, management wouldn't allow the employees to take any.

This was disappointing for Thompson-Smith. Still, she enjoyed seeing her favorite customer: a gentleman named Steve. This man has brought her chocolate every week for the past three years.

It's visits like Steve's that make the job a bit more fun. The success of no rude customers in the Seafood department definitely helped as well. A true feat during the hustle and bustle of the holidays.

In our interview, Thompson-Smith also noted that she is a sock connoisseur. Having already bought herself a large variety of socks before Christmas, she had to specify that her mother shouldn’t buy her anymore this year. Instead, she received several new tools to add to her plethora of disaster kit items.

So, while Thompson-Smith didn’t have a very eventful winter break, it was the small, positive interactions that made it worth her while.