Name: Taylor Davis
Grew up in Natchez, MS.
What are the historical events influenced you as you were growing up, e.g. civil rights, Vietnam and how?
We heard about Vietnam but none of my immediate family members or friends were deployed and in my small town, it did not have a big effect on us. The civil rights were in full swing but again, in my small town, not much happened. You would always hear stories of things happening in bigger towns. There weren’t many problems in my town and not much actually changed.
3. What are the core values you feel are a part of your generation but not others?
My generation believes that you get what you work for. You put in full effort and a lot of work and you get more in life in return. Kids today think that they deserve something for nothing. They want everything to be given to them with little to no work or effort. We respected our elders more than today’s generation. We listened to our elders and respected their wisdom. Today’s generation think that they know best and don’t listen to their elders.
4. What was the family experience like for you growing up?
There were 7 children in my family. My parents were very loving and we were all very close. My parents both worked very hard to support the family and pay the bills. My siblings and I got jobs as soon as we could get hired but we did not mind. We all understood that it would benefit the family if we supported ourselves as much as possible. We also wanted to make something of ourselves so we worked hard to try to get ahead in life. We helped work a small garden in our yard and everybody helped whenever they could. If anyone wanted some specific vegetable, they got seed and planted it themselves. If anyone needed help in work, school, life, or anything, the whole family got together and helped.
5. How did you value education?
Education was very important in my family. My parents would always tell me to better myself and get an education. They said working the brain hard was just as important and working the body. My parents wanted my siblings and I to be the best at everything we did including education. The only way to do that was to learn as much as possible.
6. What was the school day like for you?
We woke up really early and walked to school most days. Class would start and the teacher would lecture and write on the chalkboard most of the time. I would always listen and take detailed notes. If we talked too much or got in trouble we would get a paddling. Our classes were small with desks lined up in rows with the teacher in the front of the class teaching.
7. What did you think of your teachers?
I loved my teachers throughout school. That helped my choose my career(teacher). My teachers lectured and tried to explain everything well. If I did not get something, all of my teachers would always answer any questions I had and if I still did not understand, they would stay after class and reteach until I understood it fully.
8. What role did extracurricular activities play in school day/life?
I never really did any extracurricular activities. We never had time to do them. I always either had to help with my family, the house, or garden or I would have to work. I don’t remember my school having very many choices of extracurriculars either. For girls, I just remember having cheerleaders.
9. How would you describe your work ethic?
I consider myself a hard worker. Like I said earlier, I think you get what you work for so I work hard. I have always worked two or three jobs at a time.
10. Who worked in your family? Why?
Everyone in my family worked. My parents always worked full time to pay the bills and support us. As soon as my siblings and I could get a job, we did because we were trying to help pay the bills and ease the burdens on my parents.
11. What was your view of respect for authority? Was this typical?
We were raised to respect authority and elders. That was just the way it was. My siblings all respected authority. Not everyone did, of course, but almost every person was respectful of not only authority but everyone in general.
12. What was your view of time at work, e.g. just making it through the day to get a paycheck and meant nothing, or your work was going to take you places and was meaningful?
I always loved my time at work. I feel like my job is important to other people and meaningful to me. I always knew there was not much room to get a promotion or anything like that but I knew that I am doing something important. My other jobs are helpful to people and help me play my bills so I enjoy my jobs.
14. How did you and your family balance work and family life?
As I said, we were a close, big family and we would all work and go to school. We would work as much as we had to and get our school work done but every night we would eat dinner together. Every Sunday and Wednesday, we went to church together. If someone needed help, everyone else would try to rearrange their schedule so that they could help whoever needed.
16. What was your preferred work environment?
My preferred work environment is a very structured environment. In all of the jobs I have ever done, I know exactly what is expected of me and there are set rules for what to do. There are deadlines and set goals. I like that environment.
17. How did you find a job?
In my teaching job, I got it by just applying to all of the districts around my town and went to a few different interviews. I went with the district that I felt matched my style. My other jobs are a part time and I just applied to those as I was walking through a store and saw that they needed help.
18. What assets did you bring to the workplace?
I am hard working and I get along well with others. I am a good team player. I am loyal.
19. What liabilities did you bring to the workplace?
At my age, I guess my age is a liability. In my younger years, I would say my only liability that I brought was that I sometimes care too much and get too involved in things that I can’t really change.
22. How did you interact with friends, e.g. phone, letters, etc?
I would always see my friends at school and that was mostly how I interacted. We would sometimes make plans to meet up on weekends or late at night. We would just make the plan at school and just meet up. We never really used the phone.
23. What was your view on:
a. Technology: We listened to the radio as a family and that is how we got our news and entertainment. That was all we needed. We just enjoyed the time together.
b. Communication: We had a community line telephone but we never really used it. We did write letters to family that did not live in town with us.
24. What is your view of retirement?
I am not ready to retire and I don’t really think I ever will be. I love my job and I just love to work in general. It gives me something to do. It makes me feel like I am making a difference in other’s lives. I guess I will retire when I absolutely have to. I just don’t see why I would retire if I can still be of use to society.
25. What were their education struggles and successes?
a. I saw it as a struggle to attend school. I went, enjoyed and found school important but it was not always very easy to get to school because of weather or sick family. I consider my graduating high school and college as successes
26. Who was your favorite teacher? Why?
My favorite teacher was my first grade teacher, Ms. Childress. She was always extremely kind. I will always remember her taking us to her house and making us snacks and telling us about her life. She would make us feel like adults.
27. If you could change one thing, what would it be?
The only thing I would change is that I would go back to school and get my master’s degree or maybe even further with my doctorate. It is just always nice to know more than I already do.
