Approaching strangers in a new city might seem daunting, but for many cherubs, it became second nature. In hundreds of interviews, Evanston residents eagerly shared their stories as this year’s group of 90 students completed their assignments.
“They didn’t know much about me, yet they were so willing to devote their time to talk to a student on a journalism assignment,” said Samantha Yee of Sacramento, California. “A lot of times, they thanked me for interviewing them.”
Some interviews took unexpected turns.
Aadhya Yanamadala of Dallas was working on her street react article about the TikTok ban when she saw a woman on a park bench and approached her to ask a few questions.
The woman told her that she was a fortune teller and she predicted that TikTok would get banned.
Though Yanamadala didn’t quote the woman, she said the experience was still valuable.
“It was definitely a crazy encounter that wouldn’t have happened if I didn’t do the street reacts,” she said.
Some interviews weren’t so simple to acquire.
Satvika Ramanathan of Ann Arbor, Michigan, spent days chasing a retired newspaper delivery driver for her trend story. After an “emotional roller coaster” of emails and cold calls, she reached him.
“We ended up having a 40-minute phone conversation,” she said. “He was a really sweet old man, and I enjoyed talking to him.”
Though not every person cherubs talked to this summer was quoted in a story, each experience helped them learn something new.
Stella Bleiweis of Bethesda, Maryland, said she grew more confident after her first successful interview with a man at Sweetgreen.
“He was a great interview,” she said. “After that, I thought, ‘Okay, I can do this.’”
