So as this semester has come to an abrupt end due to unforeseen circumstances, it is now time to reflect on my free inquiry project that I was working on throughout the course of this semester.
Overall, I would highly recommend an inquiry project like the one I did. Although I didn’t get to dive too deep into my family’s genealogy like initial planned, I learned so much specifically about my grandparents that I would never have learned in another situation. If you read my past blogs you will find out pretty quick that everyone I interviewed lived extremely different lives and I got to learn about all of what I wrote, and so much more just because of this project.
The thing I enjoyed the most was the pure excitement all four of my grandparents showed when I was asking them questions and learning about their lives. Just by showing them interest in their past careers and hobbies they could not stop smiling. If you ever have the opportunity to do a project like this make sure you interview your grandparents, they would love it more than anything.
Also there were numerous websites and apps that I could have used to dive deep into my past relatives in generations before me. However, as the project progressed I found more fun in learning about my family who is alive, mainly because I found that it is extremely important to cherish those who are with you in the moment.
Some possible things people could do if they want to take this project a but more in depth in relation to the style of learning about relatives who are alive could be interviewing siblings (I do not have any), aunts, uncles, or cousins. All in all it really depends on how much effort and time you want to put into a project like this. What I learned is that it is really how much you put into this type of inquiry is what you get out of it.
The most interesting and eye-opening thing I could say I learned form this project is that it really made me see how important verbal communication is during the era of phones we live in. Just taking the time out of your day to have a face-to-face conversation with someone who you care about goes so far, especially in the eyes of the elderly. I know this because as soon I wrote the blog posts about all 4 of my grandparents they all asked for their own individual copies so they could print them out and put it on their fridge.
I know my grandparents are quite odd and different then most, but everyone wants to have their story heard. I recommend this type of inquiry to everyone and anyone who wants to give it a try!
Riley
