Today we ventured
out to the Omni Shopping center. I was hoping to get some interviews since I
hadn't been too successful and I did. Although I tried four businesses I did
get to speak to 2 of them. There was also a grocery store located inside the
shopping center so we were able to check the prices of milk, eggs, and cuts of
meat. 
Afterwards we headed
to lunch and then downtown to view some more skate shops. Unfortunately, we
weren't able to find any but I still count the day as a success. One thing I do
realize is that it's hard to find people who don't mind giving you 10 to 15
minutes, let alone 30 for interviews within the city's tourist areas. Majority
of my interviews have come from residential areas or areas of downtown that
isn't geared towards tourists.
We cut today short
and returned back to the school due to being tried, so today ended up being
short.
Day 5
Today we toured
Microsoft! Over and over again we were reminded that the company didn't grant
many tours so we should be considered special. Being Microsoft, we weren't
allowed to take pictures inside the building, which was to be expected. All
together we had four speakers who all spoke on different topics. The one that
stood out the most was the last one. The speaker, Stephan Howell, shared that one
of his children has a disability and he has actually used Xbox's Kinect coupled
with a simple coding software to design video games to help him learn. It's the
simple coding program that allows people from all backgrounds and ages to be
able to create games that can be used for anything. For example, companies have
used Howell's example to create programs for kids who are in rehab and need
motivation to exercise.
Howell's excitement
and passion for his job was evident. His children are clearly his passion and
he gets to create things that benefit them for a living. I walked away today
with the confidence to create a job for myself that is based on my passion and
not just someone else's vision.
