Semi-Structured In-Depth Interview Questions #2
Your answers will be kept anonymous
Age: 24
Ethnicity: White
1. What were your friendship relationships like as a child growing up?
I had a lot of friends. I have always been a very outgoing person with a big personality. I can talk to anyone (or anything, including a brick wall).
2. Please describe your relationships during high school. Were any of them serious?
I lost my virginity my freshman year to a senior. We both played sports and that’s how we crossed paths. We weren’t in a relationship or even really dating. It was more secretive than anything else. Over the four years, majority of my time was spent on the volleyball court with my teammates. I played school and junior Olympic ball. My friends were older than me so I would go out with them and live a life as if I was older than I was. That led to several “flings” (having sex) throughout those four years. I had 1 serious relationship my Junior year that lasted a little over a year. He was 21 and I was 16. He had a 3-year-old son. Our relationship was very different, I feel like, then other high school relationships. He worked on the railroad and was gone Sunday – Thursday. We would spend weekends together. I was juggling school, volleyball and (what felt like) a family of my own. It ended a little into my senior year.
3. Did you date during your college years? Was hookup culture a factor in your college experience? If so, please describe. Did you ever wish it could turn into something more romantically with any of them?
I really didn’t date a lot during college. I entered college with a serious boyfriend that I began dating towards the end of my senior year in high school. He was 27 and I had just turned 18. I joined a sorority my freshman year and spent a lot of time with our partner fraternities. Because my boyfriend at the time lived in Chattanooga and I was in Murfreesboro, I didn’t see him very much so over time it became a “out of sight, out of mind” kind of deal. We drifted apart and after a year, I called it quits. Between my sorority and me being a bartender throughout most of my college career, I had “flings” or “hook ups”. There were probably a few that I wish would have turned into more but for the most part, I stayed busy and didn’t really have time or wanted to settle down with one person. I was having fun and enjoying the freedom of being on my own. Looking back, it was neither safe nor smart but those weren’t thoughts going through my mind.
4. During college how did you perceive your peers attitudes toward sex? What did you think was happening with them in this area?
The guys that I hung out with in college were mostly fraternity or baseball guys. They weren’t the type that wanted to settle down. Sex was considered an action, with no strings attached. Hook-ups were normal and frequent in my friend group. For the girls, most of them were looking for their “MRS. Degree”. I’m sure they wanted more but were also having just as much fun as the guys were.
5. If you did take part in hookup culture what were your feelings afterwards (the next morning).
I feel like everyone thinks of sex differently and sometimes our feelings toward it change over time. For me, I was raped my freshman year of high school. I went through a lot of emotions. I didn’t tell anyone for a long time because I wrestled with the fact that I had sex with that guy before so; did I ask for it? Did I deserve it? Would anyone believe me? Etc.. After that, I would consider my feelings towards sex more like what I perceive a man’s to be. It was an act that physically felt good to me but had no emotions connected to it.
