5th Bon Air Meeting

Going into this meeting, everything was the same as usual. We got in the facility easily, we gave our ID to the guard and he let us in. He did almost forget to search us though. The residents were already in the library, but this time the fourth resident Gamez was there. The long table was gone and a bunch of small tables were in its place. We split off into groups pretty quickly, unlike last time where we did not split into groups at all.

I paired with Gamez, which was definitely an interesting experience. I tend to be one who takes time to open up to people myself, so I felt that the story I told to Gamez was purely because I had to in order to give him an idea of what he had to tell me. I didn’t really enjoy this, as it felt incredibly impersonal and I feel like I definitely came off as someone who only wanted information so I can get a grade. I apologized to Gamez many times, and he seemed to understand, but that did not make me feel any better about it. I feel like if I had spoken to Eric it would’ve felt the same way. Going into previous meetings, we did not necessarily have a set goal. We were just there to tell stories and move on to talking about other things afterwards. Telling stories felt like more of an icebreaker. I did not enjoy having to be so pushy to get information from Gamez. I would’ve rather taken time to get to know him and for him to get to know me first, but of course this was not an option. I told Gamez about the project and he gave me some information about himself, but I am concerned because he really wanted something to be in the book but all I can really do is describe him based on what he said and what I observed.

When I got some information from him, we moved to a casual conversation. Although I didn’t really get to know Gamez, I was very impressed by him. He’s incredibly mature and he realizes he made a mistake. He says that Bon Air helps him because it makes him realize that he needs to change. He wants to either go to college and become an auto mechanic or to go into the military. He said that he’s all about getting his work done and being respectful to everyone. It definitely saddens me that I didn’t get the chance to know more about him, and that he didn’t get to know me. He seems like a great person and I wish I could’ve given a better first impression than just some pushy student who wants something for a grade.

When we were getting ready to leave, we got into a large group again and we had some final conversations. It was kind of awkward considering that we knew that we likely wouldn’t see each other again, but it was still nice to be able to talk to everyone as a group one last time. One thing that bothers me is that Eric said he hopes we all get an A. He also asked if we really wanted to do this. I worry this last meeting of us pushing for them to tell us some story may have hurt their perception of our meetings. I didn’t know what to expect going into Bon Air, and there were days I didn’t want to go, but in the end talking to them and getting to know them for more than the label society attaches to them was an incredible experience, and I would hate them to think that I cared only about my grade and not about them as people. I think they understood we were just doing what we needed to in the beginning of this meeting, but I worry that they may think everything was simply because we had to.