Friends and Family

As my last class period at school wrapped up, I realized I had some free time and decided to pay a visit to Union Station for a little while.

Walking into the station, I saw a woman sitting with some lunch, and decided I might try to spark up an interview.

Her name was Emma, and as we started talking, her friend Naomi sat down with us and joined the interview.

They both work locally as mental health counselors, which they love, and they were just grabbing some lunch together.

I asked what motivated them to start up in that line of work, and their answers had two slides.

On one hand, they remember having good experiences with similar counselors in the past, and they appreciate that they can offer the same experience to others.

On the other hand, they know of people who have had poor experiences in the past with counselors, so they like that they can prevent that from happening to more people.

Outside of work, Emma said she is an avid pickleball player, so much so that her team even won the championship in her local league.

Naomi’s hobby was equally cool – she collects various decks of cards from all around the world, and her favorite stack is one from Switzerland!

Meet Emma and Naomi

What brings them joy?

As for their sources of joy, they were not too dissimilar, which is likely what makes them friends.

Emma told me that she loves laughing with friends, and Naomi gets joy from quality time with loved ones.

One of Emma’s favorite TV shows is Love Island, which she loves watching with her friends, and it usually comes with laughter.

Naomi explained that one of her favorite places for that quality time is local parks, simply because you just get to hang out and enjoy being outside.

In both of their cases, they get a smile from those around them; even having lunch together is an example of that!