Time transcripts of DeGuireCaptioned

[00:00:00:00]	Q: Alright, we’re now recording, if you could give us your name and current occupation.

[00:00:05:25]	 A: My name is Adam De Guire. I am currently a student at the Ohio State University

[00:00:11:23]	 Q: What are you studying?

[00:00:13:04]	A: I am studying computer and information science

[00:00:15:06]	Q: Ok, Adam, do you have a story to share?

[00:00:17:16]	A: Yes, I do. My geography literacy story relates to when I was in eighth grade. 

[00:00:23:23]	There was this one kid in my class…  kind of a clown, liked to brag a lot.

[00:00:32:07]	 He was a fun guy. So, in eighth grade he was bragging to one of the teachers

[00:00:37:08]	that he could name all of the states and capitals.

[00:00:40:22]	 The teacher was like, “Yeah right.” So, she gave him a quiz. 

[00:00:44:15]	Turns out he only knew like twenty of them and none of the capitals.

[00:00:49:05]	But, that kinda has stuck with me because

[00:00:53:14]	I remember we studied the states and their capitals in fourth grade. 

[00:00:57:19]	 So, it had been a while since I had learned them, and I had mostly forgotten them. 

[00:01:04:26]	And, it struck me, like “Oh, people actually care that you know this stuff.”

[00:01:09:14]	It’s important to remember where Iowa is or you know. 

[00:01:15:03]	Ever since then, I think, is when I really started to pay attention to geography

[00:01:21:01]	and where things are in relation to other things.

[00:01:23:09]	I mean, I know where the states and most of their capitals are, but also like,

[00:01:28:02]	in my hometown. You know. I was paying attention to like, 

[00:01:31:09]	“Oh, this town’s on the West side, and that’s right off of this highway. 

[00:01:34:19]	And, oh! That’s just north of this other suburb that I know somebody lives in.”

[00:01:38:08]	I kind of made a point to be aware of what the geography of the area I’m in is. 

[00:01:47:03]	Or whenever I’m traveling, I want to know where I am in relation to things that I know are. 

[00:01:54:21]	So, if I’m traveling to a city in Indiana I’ve never been to, it’s like,

[00:01:59:15]	 “Ok, is that North or South of Indianapolis? Like, where is that? And, I know where I am in the state.” 

[00:02:04:20]	Q: So how is that kind of experience changed your experience of travel

[00:02:09:20]	in locating yourself on a map and reading roads signs. 

[00:02:14:04]	Is there any kind of distinct factor?

[00:02:17:05]	A: Umm, I think. Well, one of the other things is that I tie it in a lot with people that are there, in a way.

[00:02:25:29]	And that relates to high school. I had a teacher that was big on world geography. 

[00:02:32:18]	And that, in my mind I had connected the stuff we were learning in that history class with geography. 

[00:02:39:07]	So, if I were to travel to France, I would be thinking about like,

[00:02:44:03]	“Oh, these are the same people that had to deal with Napoleon.”

[00:02:47:19]	It’s not so much like, sure I’ll notice the roadmaps and stuff, 

[00:02:52:29]	but that just gives an idea about the historical background, the culture,

[00:02:57:08]	or what I should expect when I’m there. 

[00:02:59:21]	Or, to put it on a more local level, let's say I'm going to visit

[00:03:05:09]	A suburb that I know is really affluent.  That will change the way I interpret

[00:03:10:21]	what I see there. Like, "Oh man, this place really is nice."

[00:03:14:01]	or, "I kinda was expecting more."

[00:03:16:12]	Q: Ok. I want to revisit the combination of geography and history that you mention. 

[00:03:23:26]	So, when you were going to history classes,

[00:03:26:16]	do you know, when you were reading a textbook, for example, 

[00:03:30:25]	do you have a map going on in your head where if someone invades another country, 

[00:03:36:09]	you have that image in your head of map?

[00:03:39:16]	A: Definitely, definitely. Part of it was, this class was about European history

[00:03:44:08]	and part of it was the names get all mixed up, like, 

[00:03:48:04]	“Ok, why… why does it matter that this person’s invading here.” You know, so. 

[00:03:52:26]	One instance that I remember was… I can’t remember the name of the war, but, anyway, 

[00:03:59:26]	Prussia was invading France, or they were fighting for some reason. So it was like,

[00:04:04:06]	Ok, Prussia’s modern day Germany and France is… aren’t they kind of far apart?” 

[00:04:10:19]	But, no, they’re actually really close and share a border. But they seem so different. 

[00:04:17:16]	They speak different languages, different backgrounds...

[00:04:21:09]	Germany is a lot more mountainous. France has more farmland, more plains.

[00:04:27:21]	It’s less rocky and castles and stuff. More palatial and like luxury. 

[00:04:35:03]	But, Germany, always struck me as kind of forests, mountains. It’s a bit more of a harsh area. 

[00:04:43:02]	So you know it’s more practical. You do what you need to do to survive. 

[00:04:46:25]	So I was thinking about this particular war, 

[00:04:50:28]	and I just had to remember to remind myself that geographically they’re pretty close. 

[00:04:57:16]	So, despite the fact that their cultures are completely different.... there’s still some motivation.

[00:05:07:10]	So, it’s not like if the United States were to invade. Well, I guess it doesn’t matter so much now. 

[00:05:13:09]	But, you’re more likely to conflict with your neighbors.

[00:05:17:20]	So, if Prussia was invading Egypt, it’d be like, “What the hell is wrong with you people? 

[00:05:24:00]	You traveled through Italy across the Meditarranean Sea

[00:05:27:21]	just to fight a battle and gain some land? What’s the point of that?”

[00:05:32:08]	But, fighting your neighbor, that makes a lot more sense.

[00:05:37:01]	So you have to aware of where things are to make sense of things.

[00:05:42:16]	Q: Thank you for sharing your story. A: You're welcome.