For my Making It in NY story, I am going to interview my great aunt, Felicitas Bobrow. She was a biochemist who came to America in the 1970s. First settling in Hawaii and then California, she earned a living as a researcher. For five years, she worked in the biochemistry department at Rutgers University. During her time in RU, she was offered a research position at Columbia University. This was the beginning of her New York life.
My aunt’s life in New York starts at Woodside, Queens. After receiving the position at Columbia, an apartment at Woodside became her new home. It was also in Columbia where she met her husband, Elias Bobrow. Elias was medical student at Columbia when he met Felicitas. After their marriage, they moved together to a new apartment in Midtown Manhattan near Central Park. The Park plays a large role in her life because she spends most of her days there. She walks and does T’ai Chi almost everyday.
My plan is to follow a typical day in her life, from her apartment to a walk in the Park. I plan to also take her to Columbia University to get a sense of what her life felt like thirty years ago.
Wow. Your great aunt sounds awesome. I really like your idea. I also think she could help you with all three parts of the project. By that I mean, you could ask her what she considered “making it” to be when she was younger, if and when she felt she’d finally “made it” and what it feels like, looking back, to know that she’s made it. You could also ask her if her definition of making it has changed over the years.