Oral History Interview with Phareda Be

Oral History Interview with Phareda Be

In this oral history interview with Phareda Be, she describes her experiences of graduating high school in 2020 at the height of the global coronavirus pandemic. She recollects how she felt about the transition to virtual learning in her last quarter of high school, the cancelled senior trip to Turkey and Saudi Arabia, and her first virtual semester as a college freshman at UW-Milwaukee. She also offers her perspectives on the Black Lives Matter protests and the violence towards members of Asian communities. Born in Thailand and raised in Milwaukee, Be is Asian American and Muslim. She describes her own encounters with racism and xenophobia and emphasizes the importance of education in understanding people of different cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Other topics in the interview include dealing with stress and anxiety during the pandemic, hopes for post-pandemic academic success, and a brief sojourn into the wondrous world of young adult fiction.

Jamee N. Pritchard

April 29, 2021