This Person I Met

Welcome back to this person I met! My name is Kayla, and this is the second part of Johnny Walker's story. As you may remember from the last episode, Johnny served 46 years and 13 days in jail for armed robbery, and a second charge, murder. Now, as the reentry specialist for A Brighter Way, he helps former inmates, who just like he did, struggle to find their place in the world after incarceration. In this episode, Johnny will share his struggles readjusting to a quickly progressing society and his search for human connection and humanity in our technology driven world. Johnny's episode, for me, was truly eye opening. Hearing how long his sentencing was, longer than my parents have been alive, is something that I can't even fathom. Still, I can't imagine the time that incarceration took from him, time he cannot get back and he can only heal from. And yet, Johnny has one piece of advice for this young generation.

Welcome back to this person I met. My name is Kayla, and the voice you just heard is Johnny walker. He's the community engagement specialist from A Brighter Way, an organization serving formerly incarcerated people, assisting them in the tedious process of reentering society. Johnny and I sat down in the downtown library on a cold february afternoon, where he generously shared his story and new life after not mere years, but decades of incarceration. Johnny, like many of us, grew up surrounded by a large community of family and friends, the most important to him being his mother. Despite her passing, her love still stays with him, a reminder that love knows no bounds even in death. In this episode, Johnny shares his battle with trauma and his emergence on the other side. Taking it one day at a time, Johnny says, is the most important step to healing and finding yourself again, no matter how impossible it may feel.

Welcome back to this person I met! You might notice something new in this episode, or someone new. As you all may know, Maya, the host of this podcast, is off to college. And that means someone new has to take over. My name is Kayla, and I, coincidentally, am her younger sister! For the next few years, I will be the new podcast host, and I am beyond excited to share my experiences with you all. The voice you just heard was Jennifer St. John, the social media manager and trauma informed peer led reentry navigator of a Brighter Way. From previous episodes, you may remember a Brighter Way as a nonprofit dedicated to helping those previously incarcerated build a better, stable life. In this episode, Jennifer shares her journey battling her trauma and finding herself again through all of it.

Hi, and welcome back to This Person I Met! Today's interviewee is Jen Peacock, the policy director for the Michigan Center for Youth Justice, which is an organization focused on ensuring that youth in the juvenile justice system have equitable access to qualified legal representation. To give you some background, Michigan has a “decentralized system,” which means that juvenile court services and programming are managed at the county level. This means varied application of practices and significant differences in treatment – “justice by geography.” And while the system for youth is not identical to that of the adult legal system, attorneys, administrators, prosecutors, and judges all still play major roles in influencing the outcomes of youth in the juvenile system. As Jen mentioned, one of the biggest things we can do as community members is educate ourselves – which I think applies both to juvenile justice, but also any topic, especially ones relating to social causes. You can find more information about MCYJ at miyouthjustice.org, or follow MCYJ online @mi.youth justice. Thank you so much for tuning in, and I'll see you next time!

Hello, and welcome back to This Person I Met! Continuing on with our series relating to the public education system, today's guest is Sara-Beth Badalamente. She is the advisor for Huron High School's newspaper (called the Emery), which I write and edit for! She's also the advisor for the yearbook (called the Enthymion), a soccer coach, and also works on the Ann Arbor Public School teacher's union bargaining team. All these things combined led her to have a very interesting perspective on the recent budget crisis in my school district. In March, my school district announced a budget deficit of 25 million dollars, 14 million of which was due to an accounting error. A vote from the school board authorized layoffs, starting with Community Service Administrators. This led to protests and rallies attended by teachers and students alike, but additional cuts continued to be made, including the elimination of world language classes in elementary schools, co-director hours in band and orchestra classes being reduced by half, and 141 more layoffs, which was about 6 percent of district staff. If you're curious, you can read more about this budget crisis at thehuronemery.com, where my peers and I covered the situation pretty carefully. Thank you so much for your support, and see you next time!

Hello, and welcome back to This Person I Met! This episode is the second part of my interview with Mr. Sumerton, one of the principals at Huron High School. In this episode, we discuss some surprising effects of technology on students' mental health, and other pitfalls of high school. It's funny – we'd only planned to talk for 15-20 minutes, but ended up talking for an entire hour. Be on the lookout for the next episodes in this school-related series - I hope you enjoyed this episode, and thank you for your support!

Hello, and welcome back to This Person I Met! Today's guest is Mr. Sumerton, one of the principals at Huron High School. This episode marks the start of a series I'm hoping to do, which will cover common challenges that high school students in my generation face, from mental health issues, to unhealthy academic peer pressure. Mr. Sumerton discusses these themes in this episode, along with how his family life and personal experiences in other school districts contribute to his view of Ann Arbor Public Schools as a singularly unique school district. Stay tuned for the next part of this interview, where Mr. Sumerton explains how he believes reliance on technology contributes greatly to much of the mental health issues that high schoolers face. I hope you enjoyed this episode, and as always, thank you for your support!

Welcome back to This Person I Met! In today's episode, Jamie Tang talks about her relationship with the game of Go, an ancient Chinese board game that juxtaposes strategy, tactic, and culture.

Welcome back to This Person I Met! In today's episode, Jaime Tang talks about her relationship with the ancient Chinese game of Go, a timeless board game juxtaposing strategy, tactic, and culture.

Hello, and welcome back to This Person I Met! Last episode, Linsay Calka – the managing director of Groundcover news – spoke about how her newspaper is an incredible way to help low-income and homeless individuals in our community, juxtaposed with excellent journalism. This episode will showcase some authors of articles in past issues reading their own works. Bear Myths and Cultural Power by Cindy Gere reflects about the power of myths in preserving her Native American culture. Love is a Mighty Stream by Mike Jones explains the importance of love in present-day America.

Hello, and welcome back to This Person I Met! In today's episode, Lindsay Calka will be talking about something that you might've seen in action for yourself in the streets of downtown Ann Arbor. Groundcover News, the newspaper that she has managed for the past three years, works to provide a source of income for hundreds of low-income or homeless individuals in our community. As Lindsay explained, the Groundcover podcast is a way for the writers of the newspaper to deliver their stories in a verbal fashion. In the next episode, you will be able to hear a few snippets from this podcast, so stay tuned for that! As always, thank you for your support!

Welcome back to This Person I Met! As this podcast approaches its 40th episode (this being the 38th), I only get more and more amazed by all the incredible people I'm able to talk to. On June 26th, 2015, the US Supreme court struck down all state bans on same-sex marriage, which legalized it in all fifty states. This was a massive win for Jason – the University of Michigan Professor that I had the privilege of talking to today – and his partner, as well as all other same-sex couples. In this interview, Jason shares with us his journey with surrogacy, which was able to provide him and his partner two healthy twin boys, completing their family.

Welcome back to This Person I Met, and if you celebrate, Happy Thanksgiving!Now a physician scientist with a focus in breast cancer and women affected with aggressive breast cancer phenotypes, Sofia Merajver was once the only female out of 52 in her science class. But since then, she has become a pioneering Argentinian woman in academia, making breakthroughs in research and guiding younger generations of scientists. She is also professor of Epidemiology in the department of internal medicine at the University of Michigan.In today's episode, Professor Merajver shares all her incredible achievements and life journey in a most humble manner, along with her own, first-hand experience with cancer, the very disease she studies.

Hello! It's around the two year anniversary of This Person I Met now, and I just wanted to take some time to thank you for all your support, discuss some things we've been working on the past few months, and also introduce a new member to our team! We hope to keep doing this podcast for many years to come :)The link to the GoFundMe I mentioned is linked below! https://www.gofundme.com/f/raising-money-for-a-brighter-way?utm_campaign=p_lico+share-sheet&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer

Welcome back to This Person I Met! I've known Ari for quite a while now, but a few years ago, they moved to Indiana, while I stayed back here in Michigan. Ari is an amazing person and incredible artist, and has known that art is what they want to pursue since elementary school, which is something obviously quite unique. They have spent years creating a fictional world, complete with vibrant characters and a complex plot and a fully fleshed out map, all of which you can see on their Instagram: @arkyouu. Ari has also started their own small business (arikyouu.etsy.com), selling handmade items that all relate to their world and characters. They have also won a Gold Scholastic Key in art, and a Silver Scholastic Key in writing!My sister, Kayla, who is an artist herself and one of Ari's biggest fans, also joined us for this interview!

Welcome back to This Person I Met! If there's anything I've learned while doing this podcast, it's that preconceptions are almost always wrong, and this interview was no exception. Cindy Zheng, an advanced lung cancer patient for the past decade, was nothing like I'd imagined. Despite the brutal truths about her cancer, which steals the lives of over 130,000 people in the US, and only has a survival rate of 5%, she had an easy smile and laugh, and radiated positivity and joy. By the way, all the music in this episode is played by Cindy herself!

Welcome back to This Person I Met! This episode will be part two of our conversation with Ms. Anna Krushelnitskaya, a teacher, translator, blogger, and author. She has written three books, including one called Cold War Casual, a compilation of interviews translated from Russian to English, regarding the effects of the events of the Cold War. This fascinating book will be referred to several times throughout this conversation.Our interview with her was half a year ago, but still, the Russo-Ukranian war barrels on, stealing lives and homes. There is still no end in sight, but Ms. Krushelnitskaya's voice echoed the sentiments of the whole world. In this episode, she generously shares her opinions on the current war, government propaganda, her personal experiences as a Russian living in the US during this time, and more. As always, thank you for your support, and we hope you enjoy!

Welcome back to This Person I Met! Did you know that out of the more than 650,000 ex-offenders in the US who are released from prison every year, almost 44 percent return to prison within their first year out, and approximately two-thirds will likely be rearrested within three years of release? These statistics shocked us, but we were able to find answers to our questions in this final episode with Mr. Adam Grant, as he talks about his organization, A Brighter Way, and his own leadership role in it. Six months have passed since our interviews with Mr. Grant, and since then, his words have echoed in our minds often. There are so many people, like Mr. Grant, who do everything they can to make positive changes in the world, no matter how difficult. In our podcast, we want to at least raise awareness in our community of these marginalized groups of people. If you can, please get to know A Brighter Way and lend a helping hand in any way you can.

Welcome back to This Person I Met! We are so honored to have Mr. Grant back for a second interview sharing his loving relationship with his wife, Katie. If you were with us for the first episode, you know that Mr. Grant served a jail sentence for 27 years for an armed bank robbery. And now he is the director of "A Brighter Way," an organization in Washtenaw County, serving to help people who were formerly incarcerated. Today, we invite you to join us to hear this uniquely beautiful and heart-warming love story of Mr. and Mrs. Grant.Mrs. Grant was invited to this interview, but was unable to attend due to other circumstances. However, she asked Mr. Grant to bring both Zach and I key chains and dozens of stickers, each bearing positive messages. "What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny compared to what lies within us," one reads. "Each of us is more than the worst thing we've done," another says. In our next and final episode with Mr. Adam Grant, we will get to share what we have learned about his organization "A Brighter Way", and its impact in our society. Please stay tuned, and as always, thank you for your support!

Last summer, as we were planning our podcast for the new school year, an organization called “A Brighter Way” caught our attention. This organization provides help to individuals who were formerly incarcerated in Washtenaw County. As our podcast grew, we became more and more interested in underrepresented communities, and a few months later, we finally had the courage to contact their director, Mr. Adam Grant. Mr. Grant was incredibly warm and accepted our invitation to be interviewed right away. One interview turned into two, and we were absolutely fascinated and humbled to learn everything about his incredible life journey. The next three episodes will be dedicated to him and his organization, “A Brighter Way." There were so many shocking details in this episode, and one of them was his 53-page long love letter to his wife. Mr. Grant generously accepted our invitation to share his unique love story while incarcerated, which you'll hear in the next episode! As always, thank you for your support, and please stay tuned!

November 8th, 2022, We met Ms. Anna Krushelnitskaya in the Ann Arbor Public Library.It was the election day. Ann Arbor Public Library was full of voters casting ballots for all the issues and concerns in people's minds- inflation, abortion rights, student debt, you name it. On the other side of the globe, in Ukraine, Nov 8th was another day in the war. Fierce fighting continued in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions; President Zelensky declared not to surrender a single centimeter of the land, and four million Ukrainian people lost power that cold winter evening.Half a year ago, in the same room, we interviewed Melania, a Huron student who came from Ukraine. During an hour-long conversation, Melania told us a lot about her experience in Ukraine and what she knew about the war. The heaviness of the conversation stunned us, and we were saddened, puzzled, and somewhat haunted by the cruelty of the war's reality. We were eager to seek a second voice, a different perspective to talk about this war because so much we don't know about the history, the land, and the people from both sides.Luckily, we found the right person to talk to, Ms.Krushelnitskaya. She is a writer, translator, and scholar on Soviet topics. We were honored that Ms. Krushelnitskay accepted our interview invitation.

Each year, about 13.6 million units of whole blood are donated in the U.S. Another 53.5 million units are collected in the form of plasma — a liquid element in human blood containing vital antibodies and proteins. Through some privately owned manufacturers, American donors provide 94% of the plasma used around the world. The reason is simple: unlike whole blood donors, the majority of plasma donors in the US receive compensation. For a growing low-income population, giving plasma is more than a good deed to save lives. It has become an economic coping strategy. Ms. Analidis Ochoa, a doctoral candidate from the University of Michigan is with us today to share her findings about the industry, its regulations, and its potential impacts on the vulnerable and under-represented community in the US.

Thanks for coming back for the 2nd part of Mr. Zach Damon's story.I first learned about cerebral palsy through reading a book in elementary school, called Out of my Mind. The main character was a little girl who was born with the disorder and was also incredibly bright, most likely a genius. The book has stuck with me all these years, although it was fiction. Our guest today Mr. Zach Damon is a prime, real-life example of a brilliant mind in the disabled community.In the last episode, Mr. Damon talked about how he carried his dream throughout his teen years and became a professional broadcaster working through our local cable channel and social media outlets. Today, he shares what it takes behind the scene to make any show happen.

To start our new season, we invited a very special guest. He is a broadcaster, actor, public speaker, media project manager, supervisor, director, filmmaker, and producer. He hosts “Ann Arbor Tonight”, Michigan's first late-night live audience, televised show. Born with Cerebral Palsy, he is also a lifelong activist for the local disability community.It was a little nerve-wracking to talk with someone with so much experience in something we're just starting at. But talking to our guest turned out to be super easy because with him being there, there was never a dull moment.So, let's roll out the red carpet for our guest today, Mr. Zach Damon.

To start our new season, we invited a very special guest. He is a broadcaster, actor, public speaker, media project manager, supervisor, director, filmmaker, and producer. He hosts “Ann Arbor Tonight”, Michigan's first late-night live audience, televised show. Born with Cerebral Palsy, he is also a lifelong activist for the local disability community. It was a little nerve-wracking to talk with someone with so much experience in something we're just starting at. But talking to our guest turned out to be super easy because with him being there, there was never a dull moment. So, let's roll out the red carpet for our guest today, Mr. Zach Damon.

Our podcast is one year old! We are thankful for our wonderful guest interviewees to share their stories, and each one of our listeners and every download that makes our work so worthwhile! Special thanks go to the Fifth Ave Studio from Ann Arbor District Library for being our backbone. Mrs. Baker, our first interviewee/long-term supporter is back with us today to celebrate this small milestone and share her thoughts on our podcast. As always, we are in search of interesting stories. Please feel free to contact us with feedback or potential interviewees at thispersonimet@gmail.com.

Do you know July of each year is Disability pride month? 32 years ago, on July 26th, the Americans With Disability Act was signed into law, and since then, discrimination against people with disability was prohibited, and more and more people with disability find advocacy and support from society. To celebrate this important month in the history of disabled rights, we are honored to have a very special guest with us today, Mr. Gossage, the director of the Ann Arbor center for independent living. Mr. Gossage will share with us… the history of the independent living movement, its driving philosophy, and what it takes for people with disabilities to be independent. If you are interested in the independent living movement and want to know more about this history, Mr. Gossage recommended a documentary: CRIP CAMP: A DISABILITY REVOLUTION, that he thought would be a good introduction to this topic. We would love to extend our gratitude to the Fifth Avenue Studios in Ann Arbor Public Library, who helped us connect with Mr. Gossage and many wonderful guest interviewees in future episodes.

Half of the summer is over. We had so much planned, but so far nothing has been accomplished. Our friend Victoria sure had a better summer. She spent three weeks in Germany as an exchange student, with host parents and host siblings. Right after she landed back in Ann Arbor, we kidnapped her to share her adventures.

Have you ever wondered: what exactly makes me a person? We'd never questioned this before we came in contact with Professor Peterson, who introduced the concept of personhood to us. Not until June 24, 2022, when Roe Vs. Wade was overturned, did we start to realize how the concept of personhood lays the groundwork for debate about women's and fetus rights, and its significance to this country in this time period. We felt that it would be the perfect time to produce and release this episode.

I hope you were with us two weeks ago and heard this voice from Melania. Melania is a Huron High School student in Ann Arbor, who came from Ukraine two years ago. On February 28th, 2022, war suddenly broke out in her hometown, and her life was turned upside down. Everything changed. From afar, Melania spends a lot of time communicating with her family and friends and following all news about the war. During the interview, she went on non-stop, for about fifteen minutes, sharing various horrifying and graphic war crimes that she learned of. Be cautious: this content contains extremely extensive descriptions of crimes that were committed. Conversation with Melania was the heaviest and yet the most eye-opening we have done so far. We dedicate and honor this episode to all of the victims of this and other wars, who sacrificed their lives to defend freedom, those who died, and who lost their family and friends. To those who have been forced to leave their homes or witnessed the evil side of human nature, we wish that someday we are able to return faith to the humanity we once knew. For Whom the Bell Tollsby John Donne No man is an island,Entire of itself.Each is a piece of the continent,A part of the main.If a clod be washed away by the sea,Europe is the less.As well as if a promontory were.As well as if a manor of thine ownOr of thine friend's were.Each man's death diminishes me,For I am involved in mankind.Therefore, send not to knowFor whom the bell tolls,It tolls for thee.

Her name is Melania, and she came from Ukraine.Melania is a junior at Ann Arbor Huron High School. Recently, she wrote an article for the school's newspaper about Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Later she was told to remove a portion of her writing due to the censorship policies that the school enforces.But, Melania had words to say. Likewise, we wanted to hear.So, on a beautiful sunny day, Malania sat down with us in the downtown public library. She talked in depth about what she knew of the war - a combination of history, memories, tragedies, and emotions. The events she describes are often times graphic, and her tears were heartbreaking.The whole purpose of our podcast is to provide a platform for anyone and everyone to share. We are seeking multiple voices and perspectives to build our understanding of this very complex war, and we start the conversation today, with Melania.

Do you still remember the 2020 lockdown? Masking and social distancing policies became the norm while businesses, schools, and offices went quiet…more than two years into COVID, we have now learned to live with the virus, somewhat. However, in the Chinese city of Shanghai, the definition of “lockdown” is brought to a new level by people in power.In March of 2022, Omicron sneaked into Shanghai, the biggest city in China. The city mandated an extremely strict Covid lockdown, affecting the lives of more than 25 million people. We had a long talk with a resident in Shanghai to tell us her first-hand experience about what the lockdown means to her, and those around her. The persistence and displays of the humanity of the Shanghai citizens in the midst of this quarantine are incredible. To protect her from the possible censorship in China, we changed her voice and masked her identity in this interview.

In the last two episodes, we had a special guest sharing some of his past, difficult experiences, as he left home and landed in the UK all by himself at age 17. He spoke no English at the time. We wish we were able to give you a brief recap, but his story is so captivating and beautifully told. Please listen to the previous two episodes we have dedicated to him. We start today's episode with his reflections on his experience growing up with his parents and the influences from the extended family.

In the last episode, you heard the monologue of a young man, who left home at the age of 17 and had struggled and survived alone in foreign countries ever since. Not only are we fascinated by his story, but many audiences also contacted us to express their compassion and inquire about his current condition. If you missed the last episode, we highly encourage you to visit it before coming back here. In today's episode, he will share more of his ups and downs in the UK. His struggles didn't end in the UK. They were carried into his life in the US for a decade more. Is there a way out for him? We are waiting for his answers. Thank you so much for listening. If you like his story, make sure to subscribe or follow for more.

Our guest today is a young man who went to the UK, as a high schooler, without speaking any English, and later came to the states for college.We interviewed him to explore what it was like to grow up alone without parents by his side, and his relationship with them. But his story was so complicated that we realized the interview was not able to present the things that he experienced. His journey is so far away from our own lives, and we once again realized how limited our mindsets are. Because of this, we decided to turn the microphone to him and let him narrate his own story in the way he saw best.We would like to extend our gratitude to the guest today for his incredible trust and generosity to share his memories. We plan to dedicate 3 episodes to him. Please subscribe and follow us if you don't want to miss his story!

If you have been with us for a while, you probably have heard the story of Mrs. Yam, talking about how she and her family fled from the Cambodian genocide in 1979. That was the first time we touched on the topic of refugees. You can find the links to those two episodes at the end of this description. These days, the refugee crisis is rising again. The conflict in Ukraine has highlighted the crisis of displaced people globally who are seeking safe haven. More than half a year ago, the Taliban took over Afghanistan. 76,000 Afghan refugees fled from their homes to seek shelter in the U.S, 300 of them settling in Washtenaw county. Ann Arbor's Jewish Family Center is helping to shelter these refugees and provide necessities for them. One of the volunteers willing to go the extra mile is Mrs. Semra Koknar, a Forsythe middle school social studies teacher. Today we had the opportunity to interview Mrs. Koknar about her work in helping to support the various needs of the refugees. Every step they take in a new country is a challenge. The scenes that Mrs. Koknar described of the difficulties that the refugees had to face were heartbreaking and horrific. We were humbled to learn how much time and effort she puts into her volunteer work, while still being a full-time teacher.-------------------------------------------------Mrs. Yam's story:S01 E04 - I Came from Cambodia, 1979https://rss.com/podcasts/thisperson/308775/https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-person-i-met/id1584722816?i=1000540344724https://open.spotify.com/episode/2oytJRspwZ9ce3oQ4dQzo2?si=115197ffbd68426dS01 E05 - A Non-American Dreamhttps://rss.com/podcasts/thisperson/319251/https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-person-i-met/id1584722816?i=1000542032884https://open.spotify.com/episode/38i2n0D0Ho50d83YgQ0Lea?si=3af840bf70494c60

Since the last episode, we have been working hard to fundraise for Athena and her family. Because of your kindness and generosity, we have reached our goal of $1,000. For those of you who don't know, each episode we have produced so far takes huge amounts of editing. But this episode we are presenting today provides the raw, authentic, unedited voices of our peers around us. We are working on a big episode that will be produced in about a month, that involves the delicate relationship between parents and their children. It'll be a striking story that you definitely don't want to miss, but that interview raised the question we are asking everyone in this episode: What is one thing you'd like your parents to know about you? You'll hear their extremely genuine responses in the next few minutes. To the interviewees: thank you and we appreciate your contribution!To the tiger moms and dads out there: have a splendid day! :)

The guest we're having today is a girl we met right before Christmas. It all began with a friend's mom. In that season of “gifting,” she commented ruefully on how we were ungrateful for living such a privileged life. Then she shared with us the story of this girl. This girl is our age, lives in our town, goes to school daily as we do, but the home she goes back to is a shelter.We contacted the girl, hoping to know more about her life. So here comes this episode. To protect her privacy, we will hide her real name, and silence many others appearing in the conversation. For these reasons, allow us to borrow the name of Athena. Athena was originally from Detroit, and now she lives in Ann Arbor with her Dad and brother.After hearing her story, we started a GoFundMe fundraiser, hoping that one day, when she moves into her new home, she and her family can enjoy a housewarming gift. $1000 is our goal. Please click the link below to donate; any contribution helps!https://gofund.me/120606e6THANK YOU!

Music has always played massive roles in both of our lives, taking up large portions of our afterschool time, but we're definitely not alone. In fact, more than 40% of high schoolers in the US are active music learners. Derek Wu was no exception. Even after leaving home for MIT and eventually landing a job as a software engineer at Google, he remained extremely committed to music. Instead of doing a quick google search to find 100 benefits that music has to your brain, we choose to talk to Derek, a great aficionado of classical music. Today, he's answering our “soul searching question:” why we are learning music, and what it takes to stick with it, enjoying a lifelong relationship with it.

After our last interview with Mrs. Hilton about her son's Spina bifida, we hoped to learn more about what science can and can't do to lessen the chance of or prevent birth defects. So, we turned to Maya's Dad, Professor Fu for some answers. But due to our severe lack of knowledge, the interview with Professor Fu was . . . traumatizing, to say the least. We were completely burned out trying to ask smart questions, or trying not to ask stupid questions……but at the end, the answers we got were definitely worth the effort.

Sometimes the hardest thing to do and the right thing to do are the same. One would never need to think about making a decision like this until it comes to you.Today we have Mrs. Hilton with us sharing critical decision-making moments for her son, Carter. Mrs. Hilton is a teacher at the Thurston Elementary School in Ann Arbor. Seven years ago, Mrs. Hilton was a new mom expecting her first baby. During a routine ultrasound exam, doctors brought her and her husband the unexpected bad news: the baby had a rare and severe defect. A revolutionary surgery in her womb might bring hope to her baby. However, that surgery had never been performed in the state of Michigan. Stay with us as Mrs. Hilton narrates hers and Carter's ongoing journey with this birth defect.

Meet Alicia, our second guest sharing their high school experiences. She gave a powerful and inspiring speech at her high school graduation. We hope you enjoy our conversation with her as much as we did!

As you may know, both of us are new high schoolers. Life is changing for us. There are so many sports and clubs to explore, new friends to make, and other new responsibilities. We're both juggling so many commitments, and sometimes, begin to question the purpose of our busy lives.We, therefore, invite a few University of Michigan students to this podcast to share their high school experiences. Some focused on sports, while some took time to explore various possibilities in a young life. They all navigated through their own uniquely different paths, but all came to (or stayed in!) Ann Arbor for college. We're hoping to gain more insight as to how to traverse through these young years from people with first-hand experience. Our first guest Selina is a freshman at the University of Michigan. She is multi-talented in music and an outstanding athlete who has spent thousands of hours on the ice in her high school years. She holds the Guinness World Record of most figure skating sit spin rotations in one minute!

If we, Maya and Zach, have one thing in common, it's that we're both dog lovers. Maya's beautiful Havanese dog, Allie, has been with the family since Maya was nine. Today we brought Allie to her birthplace, up north to Alger, Michigan, where Connie and Tom Diehl live in a secluded home with a separate lake, cabin . . . and lots of teeny tiny, wriggly, freaking adorable puppies.In today's interview, Connie will be sharing the ins and outs of dog breeding: her relationship with her dogs, and what a huge responsibility it is to be a dog breeder. Out of love and continuous learning, the business has grown into more than just a business, but a loving home.

Welcome to part two of the interview we did with Kim Yam! Ms. Yam is a survivor of the Cambodian genocide, and now runs a bakery called DJ's Bakery in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Today, we're going to be talking about how she appreciates the life she built in America and her donut empire. Her answer about American dreams might surprise you, so grab your donuts and coffee, and enjoy the episode.

Right now, we're in DJ's Bakery, enjoying the smell of fresh donuts. We're interviewing the bakery owner, Kim Yam. Mrs. Yam grew up during a time of horrific war and mass murder: the Cambodian genocide.The Cambodian genocide happened in 1975, which was the systematic persecution and killing of Cambodians by the Khmer Rouge under the leadership of Pol Pot. During that time, any educated people were slaughtered, and even children were forced to work in rice fields. This resulted in the deaths of 1.5 to 2 million people from 1975 to 1979, nearly a quarter of Cambodia's population at the time.In this episode, you will hear how Kim Yam and her family fled from the country when she was only seven. After escaping to the U.S. as a refugee, although the family-owned nothing, she was still grateful for everything that she did have.

There is freedom waiting for you, On the breezes of the sky, And you ask "What if I fall?" Oh but my darling, What if you fly?~ Erin HansonRecently we talked to my neighbor Patty. She is a mom of three young children, just like any other mom you meet every day in a suburban neighborhood. But what surprised us was we found out that she had an adventurous life when she was young in the '90s. Patty shared stories of how she flew airplanes as a hobby in the old-time without a GPS and other dangerous activities she challenged. She took full advantage of being a young person, knowing that you're only young once, and being so is a privilege. She understood that there are so many things to do in the world, and leaped at any chance to try something new. I've been flying to say this to you: oh for flying out loud, time will simply fly by. So please, buckle up. We're ready to take off...

Today, we're interviewing none other than my dear old mother, Yangwei Situ. She left her home in China to come to Boston when she was only in middle school. Later, she would receive terrific musical training from the New England Conservatory of Music, and become a piano teacher. She wants to share several stories I've never heard before from her childhood, all relating to the importance of being vulnerable and asking for help. We found them fascinating, and can't wait to share them with you guys!

Meet Mrs. Baker, our writing teacher. She's a Princeton, Harvard, and Michigan graduate who lived in China for several years and is entirely fluent in Mandarin. She's extraordinarily kind and compassionate, but one of the traits you'll notice immediately about her throughout this interview is the fact that she believes family to be the most important, which is something that influenced many aspects of her life.

Meet us, Maya and Zach, as we start our journey with "This Person I Met." In this intro episode, we'll share how this all started, and you're invited to walk, run, or jump along! We'd love to be the people you meet today, so welcome and stay awhile!