Oral History Program Allison Tomas Interviewed by Nute Rands 9 August 2019 Oral History Program Weber State University Stewart Library Ogden, Utah Allison Tomas Interviewed by Nute Rands 9 August 2019 Copyright © 2022 by Weber State University, Stewart Library iii Mission Statement The Oral History Program of the Stewart Library was created to preserve the institutional history of Weber State University and the Davis, Ogden and Weber County communities. By conducting carefully researched, recorded, and transcribed interviews, the Oral History Program creates archival oral histories intended for the widest possible use. Interviews are conducted with the goal of eliciting from each participant a full and accurate account of events. The interviews are transcribed, edited for accuracy and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewees (as available), who are encouraged to augment or correct their spoken words. The reviewed and corrected transcripts are indexed, printed, and bound with photographs and illustrative materials as available. The working files, original recording, and archival copies are housed in the University Archives. Project Description The Beyond Suffrage Project was initiated to examine the impact women have had on northern Utah. Weber State University explored and documented women past and present who have influenced the history of the community, the development of education, and are bringing the area forward for the next generation. The project looked at how the 19th Amendment gave women a voice and representation, and was the catalyst for the way women became involved in the progress of the local area. The project examines the 50 years (1870-1920) before the amendment, the decades to follow and how women are making history today. ____________________________________ Oral history is a method of collecting historical information through recorded interviews between a narrator with firsthand knowledge of historically significant events and a well-informed interviewer, with the goal of preserving substantive additions to the historical record. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account. It reflects personal opinion offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable. ____________________________________ Rights Management This work is the property of the Weber State University, Stewart Library Oral History Program. It may be used freely by individuals for research, teaching and personal use as long as this statement of availability is included in the text. It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: Tomas, Allison, an oral history by Nute Rands, 9 August 2019, WSU Stewart Library Oral History Program, University Archives, Stewart Library, Weber State University, Ogden, UT. Allison Tomas 9 August 2019 1 Abstract: The following is an oral history interview with Allison Tomas, conducted on August 9, 2019, by Nute Rands. Allison discusses her life, her memories, and the impact of the 19th Amendment. Brooklyn Knight, the video technician, is also present during this interview. NR: Alright, so, today is August 9th at 12:21. The person is Allison Tomas. I am Nute Rands, on camera is Brooklyn Knight. Thank you so much for doing this with us today. So, to start, when and where were you born? AT: I was born in Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands in 1998. NR: Where is that? AT: So the Marshall Islands are right between Hawaii and Australia, and the island I’m from, Kwajalein, is a part of one of the Atolls. NR: I don’t know what that means. AT: So an atoll is a chain of islands, and it’s like the biggest atoll on Earth. It looks like a banana. NR: Were you raised in the military? AT: The island I’m from is an army garrison. The whole island is a base. I did see a bunch of military personnel walking around, but it was normal to me. I grew up like that. So yes, but no. My dad did serve, but he only did two years and that was before I was born. NR: So how did you guys come to the mainland of the United States? AT: After you graduate you’re not under your parents’ contract anymore, so you technically have to leave the island. So I always knew I was going to come, and I didn’t want to just stay in the Marshall Islands or just go straight to Hawaii, I 2 wanted to come to the mainland for opportunity and actually experience living here. And my sister actually came to Weber State and she graduated here, so I just followed her steps. NR: Can you tell us a little bit more about the contract, what does that mean? AT: The United States rents out islands in the Marshall Islands and Kwajalein is one of them. It’s like a contract, kind of like at Hill, how there are civilians working there, they’re under a contract. You work there for a couple years and if you want to renew your contract, you do that. And that’s what my parents did for twenty-ish years. NR: When you were a young girl, who were some women you looked up to and why? AT: I think I look up to my sister the most, just ‘cause you know, she’s my only sister. I have a half-sister, but I never see her. My mom didn’t really talk to me a lot, ‘cause she didn’t speak English. Now she does, obviously, but she wasn’t really a parent. Not trying to talk down my mom, but my sister was there for me more and she’s obviously still here for me. It’s nice having someone there. My mom... I’ll always be her baby, but I’m still her baby and it’s kind of annoying. NR: How did that dynamic come to be, how your sister was more of a parent, rather than your mother? If you don’t mind. AT: That’s fine. My sister just always had to babysit me, I always liked following behind her. And I still do that, I will always walk behind you and I think it’s because of that whole reason. I would just follow my sister around everywhere she went. It might have been annoying, but I love my sister. We literally look the 3 same, and we have the same personality, and everything, and I look up to her ‘cause she did everything that I want to do. Except for join the military. NR: So was your sister still here? You said she’d graduated before you came, right? AT: No. NR: Ok, so you came while she was still here? AT: Mm-hmm. NR: Did you have a career or education in mind when you first came here or were you just like, generals? AT: No, I wanted to do business from the start, but I think it’s ‘cause my dad just convinced me, but he just told me and I was like, “Yeah, sure I’ll do it. Why not?” NR: Were you pushed to pursue an education? AT: Yes. I’ll say yes. I feel like everyone back home is, they’re kind of pushed to go to a university. Not just to a community college, or any kind of college, it had to be a university. There was more push than joining the military. Like, when I joined the military, there were people back home, which is ridiculous, saying things like, “Oh, she joined the military because she flunked out of college, doesn’t know how to study, or anything like that.” And I’m like, “No, I actually wanted to join.” And they said stuff like, “I have people from my graduating class who joined. They’re just joining ‘cause they don’t want to go to college.” If I join the military, then I get it paid for. I don’t have money like that. NR: So, what challenges did you face, including when you joined the military, as you were pursuing your education? 4 AT: I think just the whole transition, knowing that I was going to be in the military. I was told that everything was going to be different when I came back and that was true and it was really sad and very hard. I’m so used to life and then just everything changes and I do some things differently now and I see people differently now and I miss seeing them the way that I used to see them. I don’t have a friend anymore. But it’s ok, ‘cause I accepted it. NR: So, speaking specifically on the military, do you have any stories of when you were going through bootcamp or tech school that you had pushback from other people? AT: I want to say yes, but I really can’t think of an example. Can you elaborate more on your question? NR: So being a woman, going into a male dominant career, like the military, there’s just a lot of times where there’s people who will push back and be like, “Why are you here?” Did that ever happen to you? AT: Actually, it didn’t. NR: Ok. That’s great. AT: And I’m a maintainer. I work on the jets, and there are a lot of men, and they talk. They don’t say anything, they just talk about like women, in general. And they sound like douchebags, but it’s really easy to be like, “Shut up,” as a woman. They’re like, “Ok, sorry.” NR: Do you think your choice of education and/or career would be different if you were born in a previous generation? 5 AT: I have no idea, to be honest, just ‘cause my dad said, “You should do business,” and I was like, “Okay.” I wasn’t really interested in anything and I think him saying that and then joining the military, it kind of helped me find what I actually want to be in life. And it’s still business, but I found a more specific thing. NR: Would you serve in the military if you were in a different generation? AT: I think so. I’ve always wanted to join, especially in high school. And it was more of my parents encouraging me. And I found out my dad served, and I thought that was cool, and then my oldest brother joined the Army, and then my other older brother joined the Air Force, I was like, “Ok, it’s my turn.” NR: So, how long have you been in the military? AT: I enlisted in February, 2017. And then I got shipped out in December, 2017. NR: And you went to where? AT: Yeah, to Lackland for BMT. So that’s in Texas. NR: Is there cool experiences you’ve done in the military thus far? AT: Yeah, for sure. So the F-35, those are the really loud jets and they’re the newest ones and they’re like a lot of money. It’s cool walking on the flight line looking at all the money that you don’t have. You think, “Oh, wow. If I hit this thing, that’s a lot of paperwork.” It’s just cool being up close and knowing things and seeing what some people don’t get to see and understanding how it works. I’m specifically Weapons, so I get to see all the weapons and it’s kind of scary but it’s a rush. I haven’t been deployed yet, but I’m actually excited for when it comes, ‘cause I get to work with like live bombs and I’m just excited for that. 6 NR: Awesome. Do you think you’re going to do a career with military or is it just going be a stepping stone to college? AT: Oh, definitely career. Like I want to go, I want to go further, like I want to become higher, I want to become someone’s mentor. Right now I’m trying to help my one friend, because he’s higher ranked than I am, grade wise, no, but time and service yes, and I want to help him. I want to learn more and help other younger people, because I know how it is when you’re joining and you don’t know what you’re doing. I have a bunch of friends who say, “I don’t know what I’m doing.” and I’m like, “I’m here, no worries.” NR: Do you think you’ll ever be an officer? AT: I’m still considering it. I know two officers, I was just at a TDY and I hung out with one the whole time. It was like really nerve-wracking. He’s an officer, but he’s cool, he gave me pizza. I like being enlisted because you get to do everything and the one officer that I was with, he was a prior server. He was enlisted and he misses doing it all, but he just does paperwork all day and that doesn’t sound fun to me. Maybe later when I’m ready. NR: How did your first job compare to your mother’s or grandmother’s first job? AT: I don’t even know my mom’s first. Like, if you ask me what her job was on Kwaj, I have no idea. I think it had something to do with supply, but my first job would be military. So I feel like her’s is a little bit harder ‘cause she didn’t know English. She had to learn and someone had to train her. But I don’t know if that person knew Marshallese to help her train, like to help her learn. That’s the language back home that she spoke. So I’m not sure but I think for her it was harder. But 7 for me, I knew what I was getting into, I knew how to act. I knew what to do, kind of. NR: What were some of your motivations for your education and career? Besides growing up in a military base thing. AT: Motivation? I guess myself. I guess my family too but not really, to be honest. They just pushed me to get where I was and it’s like, “Ok, you’re annoying.” I have a goal and I just want to reach that goal eventually. I don’t care how long it takes, I just want to get there and show my family that I did it, without you. That’s so mean, but, I joined the military to become independent from my parents and now that I am, it’s a struggle. And I’m here still trying to reach that goal. That’s ok. As long as I get there. NR: So, is independence the goal? AT: Yeah, full independence. NR: So when you say you were your inspiration, what do you mean? AT: I don’t want to give credit to my parents, they didn’t really help me growing up. They were just there giving me like a house and a home. You know, house and food. And like I never felt like I could go to my parents for anything. If I was sad, I never called my parents. I think the first time I ever called my mom when I was sad about a relationship was like here in college and she did not give me any advice. She was just asking why I was crying. I was like, “I don’t know, Mom.” NR: So as a woman, how would you define courage? AT: Courage? That’s hard, I think courage is when you’re able to step out of your boundaries. What do you think? 8 BK: Me? AT: Yeah. BK: I think courage is being able to kind of go past the bounds of what you think you can do, or what you think is acceptable for you. It’s being able to push yourself past that limit of who you always thought you were or how other people think you are for the most part. Even though you don’t want them to define you, they still can. It’s like doing something that you may not want to do or you feel like you can’t do, and realizing that you can. You just need to actually have faith in yourself. NR: Realizing that you’re going to be able to keep going through the fear. Have you ever had courage through your life, do you think? AT: Yes. I would like to think so. NR: Tell me a story of that. AT: I can’t think of any. I think having to leave home, knowing that I’d be by myself. Even though my sister’s here, I only saw her, like, every once in a while. I was living by myself. I had roommates, but I don’t know them, they’re just random people. I think that was one of the times. I guess I’ve done a lot of things, I just don’t really think about it. Like, leaving home, coming here. Learning how to drive is something, they don’t have cars back home. Driving with someone else, that’s really scary. In this like, raggedy car I have. Joining the military. Just everything, really. NR: What other skills did you not learn until you got to the mainland? Like driving. AT: Other skills? 9 NR: Like, things that we would think is normal. AT: How to drive in the snow. How to dress in the snow. BK: I remember the first time it snowed, she’s wearing shorts and walking around in flip-flops, and we were like, “What are you doing?” AT: Yeah, I did not know anything. Seeing seasons was pretty crazy to me, like during fall I was still wearing shorts. I didn’t have any, like, jeans. How to take care of myself, ‘cause like, I would get sick and I’m just like, “Why am I sick? Oh, it’s cold. I have a cold. I have to go buy medicine and walk all the way to the store.” It was ridiculous. How to get to one place to the other, like using a GPS was so weird, I’m just like constantly looking down. Like, “I’m not even looking. Where am I going right now?” Just to trust the GPS. Just getting around big places, like school, like campus. It took me a very long time to figure out how this place is. I never came into the library until Brooklyn started working here. Like, “Where do you work? Drop a pin.” I just followed it, I’m like, “Ok.” I don’t know. Oh! Self-checkout. I didn’t know how to use that. Or when they got chips on the credit cards, I was like, “Wait, do I still slide?” I feel like there’s a lot of things I’ve asked Brooklyn, like, “Wait, what do I do?” NR: So, you didn’t learn to drive until you got here. So like eighteen-ish? AT: No, I didn’t learn until last year. NR: Oh. AT: Yeah, so I was twenty. And I’m still twenty. NR: What’s different that you miss from back home? 10 AT: I miss the ocean. Just like the sound. When you go to the lake, there’s no sound. It’s just quiet and it’s so weird and like the boats come by and it makes little crashing noise like a wave and I’m like, “Hmm. It’s fake.” Or like when I watched Moana and I just heard everything it just made me cry. I was like, “Oh, gosh, I didn’t know I missed home this much.” NR: So given that Utah is a giant mountain. Do you enjoy our mountain landscape or is it weird compared to where you grew up? AT: I thought it was really weird when I first got here. Especially when you’re driving like, down Harrison, you just keep going and it’s like different mountains every view. It’s like, “This is weird, this is ugly, I can’t see.” But now that I’ve been here—I think it was just ‘cause I really did not want to come to Utah and now I have to accept that I’m here, I really do like it. I like the hikes, I like the view. Where I work, you have a nice view of the mountain and it’s beautiful. Sorry that I ever hated it. NR: Do you work on Hill? AT: Mm-hmm. NR: Alright. Do you have other jobs as well? AT: I do, I have two other jobs. I work at Einstein’s and I work at UPS. NR: Are you National Guard? AT: No, I’m reserves. NR: Ok, sorry. Can I ask what it’s like to manage three jobs while trying to go to school at the same time? 11 AT: I didn’t do school this summer so I don’t know yet. But hopefully it’s ok. I’m already dying, but I’m still alive, that’s the only thing that matters NR: What does the term “woman’s work” mean to you? AT: Work? I just think that... working. NR: I love that response. AT: What do you think? Is it not the same? NR: To older generations, “women’s work” meant cooking, cleaning. Anything the woman would be expected to do that the men would be like, “That’s your job.” That’s “women’s work.” AT: Oh. Oh yeah, no. BK: To an older generation. And as we’re speaking to the younger generation, they’re like, “It doesn’t exist,” or, “It’s just women working.” AT: Oh, whoops. BK: No, that’s perfect. It’s a good step. It’s becoming so obsolete it’s not even being taught into essential phrases. AT: I just think it’s women working. Like you should work as hard as anyone else does, doesn’t really have to be a man. You should always be putting your best into whatever work you’re doing. Even if you hate it, you should always put 110%. And that’s what I think, it is to me. It’s not specifically women’s work, it’s just work. Like if you want to put a gender on it, then it’s women working as hard as a man. 12 NR: Beautiful. So backtracking a little bit, after you came here to the United States, did you ever have times where people treated you differently because of your ethnicity? AT: No, not my ethnicity, but just not being from the mainland. They’re just like, “Do you know how to do this?” And like, and to me, it wasn’t insulting, it was just like, “Yeah, I really don’t know, please help me.” So, like I have a couple friends that are like, “Do you understand how to use this?” And I’m like, “No, do it for me.” But I’ve never been like profiled or like anything like that. Thank God. I don’t know what I’d do if I was. I would be very upset. NR: It’s really awesome that you haven’t. AT: I know. And I hear stories like, my boyfriend has and like my friends have and I’m like, “Man, that sucks. I’m sorry that happened to you.” NR: How do you think women’s rights are going to change going forward? AT: I think it’s going to definitely progress, everything’s going to work out for us. I don’t think it’s going downhill. Everyone, it’s 2019! Everyone is starting to understand everyone. I literally say that at work, “It’s 2019, what do you think you’re doing?” But I don’t see any problem, I really hope there’s no problem. I just think all good vibes here. NR: So if you got to go back to the women’s rights/LGBTQ movement back in the 1960s and 1970s, would you do the same thing they did? AT: What did they do? NR: They fought for women’s rights, they really pushed every boundary. It’s the same era as the Civil Rights movement. 13 AT: Oh, yeah, why not, you know? Sounds like a good time. Maybe not. Maybe yes. Maybe. Good experience, I meant, not a good time. “Good experience.” It’s like joining the military. It’s not a good experience, but it’s a good experience. NR: Yeah. It’s a worthwhile experience. AT: Yes. NR: How would you change women’s rights for future generations? AT: I don’t know. I have no idea. NR: So like, if you were to have a daughter, how would you push her to pursue education, career, how to go for independence? AT: Dang, that’s hard. I really don’t know how to answer. NR: How do you think women receiving the right to vote shaped or influenced history, your community, and you personally? AT: I think it’s cool, because I feel it was like a stepping stone. My community in Utah? NR: Well, specifically Utah, but in general, just how did it change your life back home, how did it change you here? AT: Back home, I don’t really think it really changed anything. Like I know it was a thing in the states. My mom still had “women’s work” and on different islands it was still that way. So maybe like I didn’t really see it happening, but I know it’s like a thing here. I feel like in the mainland or here, I think it kind of helped with the whole women’s work slowly disappearing and giving us more opportunity to join or do anything. Or, not do anything, but to do more things. It’s kind of like the same back home. 14 NR: So is the Marshall Islands a protectorate or are they a part of the United States? AT: We’re just renting islands. So no and yes? We have nineteen-ish islands. I could be so wrong. I don’t know the actual numbers. NR: So do you get American citizenship if you’re born on the Marshall Islands? AT: Only if you’re born on the specific islands. Like, if you’re born on the islands you’re renting out, there’s only like one you can be born on. You can’t be born on the Marshall Islands anymore. If you’re pregnant, you have to leave. NR: What? AT: Yeah. Like I’m pretty sure my generation, or like my year, was the last. We’re like the last babies born on Kwaj. So yeah. I was born abroad, I have like a “born abroad” birth certificate and I was like, “Oh! I didn’t know that was a thing.” NR: So are you a citizen technically still? AT: Mm-hmm. BK: Are you a duel citizen? Can you go back and go to any of the others? AT: Uh-uh. NR: Do you have to get a passport to visit home? AT: Mm-hmm. Yeah, my passport just expired actually. BK: And you have to be invited. So she has to have someone sponsor her to go back to her island. AT: Yeah. Like I could go to the other islands that aren’t like U.S. NR: But to go home you have to be sponsored? AT: Yeah. NR: Does your family still live there? 15 AT: No. NR: Where do they live now? AT: Hawaii. NR: Ok. AT: Yeah. BK: So do a lot of the Marshallese that leave Kwaj go to Hawaii afterwards? Is that just kind of like a norm there? AT: Yeah. There are other states and they’re kind of random. Like, Arkansas is one. There are a bunch of Marshallese there. Other people are like, if you just find them in the state, they’re usually adopted. But yeah, I think Hawaii is one of the biggest one, and it kind of sucks ‘cause Hawaiians don’t like us. NR: Why? AT: I don’t know. The Marshallese are messing up over there, doing some crazy stuff. I feel like that’s why. NR: So what’s your family dynamic? Like, where’s your mom from, where’s your dad from? AT: So my mom’s from the Marshall Islands and then my dad’s from the Philippines and he moved to Hawaii when he was like super young. So he understands Filipino and my mom still speaks and understands Marshallese, but she didn’t teach us, because we were going to school, an English-speaking school. And she said that they asked her not to speak Marshallese in the house. And I was like, “Well, thanks.” So yeah, I think only my oldest brother like somewhat 16 understands it, but not enough to listen to my mom, and have a whole conversation. NR: Why did they ask her not to? AT: So our English would be good. NR: So, given that your mother was told not to speak the language, do you still try to live up to some of the culture that you were raised with on the island? AT: Yes, but it’s so strict, that no. NR: Can you explain? AT: Yeah. So women aren’t supposed to cut their hair, and I cut my hair. They’re not supposed to dye their hair, I dyed my hair. Like, everything’s supposed to be very natural. You’re not supposed to show your shoulders or your knees, and I’m obviously doing both right now. Like, when I go visit the other islands, I have to wear a skirt. And they go down to here. They’re kind of cute, you can get them at Guam, another island. And then you have to wear like a t-shirt, and usually your hair is down or you put it up in a bun if you want to look like you’re from the island, but people can tell that I’m not from Kwajalein. It’s just crazy, because we all look the same, but they can just spot me out and they’re like, “Oh, you’re not from here.” One time we had a basketball game and they were like throwing rocks at us because they knew we weren’t from that island. And I wanted to throw a tree. I was like, “Throw another rock.” That’s one of the things, like when you’re pregnant, you’ve got to do some things, with some plants and some places and I’m not going to do that. My mom said she did it to me. When you have a newborn baby you have to do something. She’s like, “Oh, yeah, you see 17 this? I mushed it up and I put it on you and it worked!” I’m like, “What the heck are you talking about?” I was like, “No! I am not doing that.” But yeah, I don’t know a lot of things. If I was visiting I would respect the culture and do everything, but I’m here in America. NR: So, ironically, you were more culturally pushed back by your own culture, than by outside cultures. AT: Yeah. NR: Do you have any stories, like the ones with the rocks? AT: This is when I was super young and you can wear shorts ‘cause you’re young, you’re not a woman. But I was younger, I was wearing shorts and I was wearing a t-shirt with my hair down. So they can tell that you’re not from the island, they can tell that you’re from Kwaj. This kid came up to me, he was like asking me for a penny. Like, just any kind of change, and I was like, “Why? Go away.” And he was like, “‘Cause you’re not from here!” And I was like, “What?” And I just ran to my mom and was like, “Do you have a quarter?” I’m like, “They said that we’re not from here, so we have to give them a quarter.” And she was like, “No. You’re from here.” You’re not supposed to cut your hair and I did that when I was a senior. Because my hair was ugly. I had dead split-ends. So I trimmed my hair and my mom was like, “You just killed the spirits.” And I was like, “The spirits? What?” She was like, “You’re not supposed to cut your hair, the ancestors are going to be mad.” I was like, “What are you saying?” NR: What do you mean not cut your hair? Like, at all, ever? AT: Yeah. 18 NR: That’s a lot of hair. AT: Yeah, do you want to see how long it used to be? And this is when I trimmed it. NR: So, when you got your bangs, how did your culture react to that? AT: I’m Asian, so they were like, “Oh. She’s Asian.” I’m not even kidding you. Yeah, oh my gosh, I was the only one with bangs. NR: Did you mom get mad at you for doing that? AT: No, my mom did the bangs. I don’t even understand that either. NR: So what was the culture difference between her cutting your hair and giving you bangs compared to you cutting your hair and letting the spirits go? AT: I don’t know, to be honest. That honestly makes no sense. I have no idea. I think my mom just wanted me to be cute, but you can’t cut your hair hair, but you can cut your bangs? It makes no sense to me. NR: You can shape your hair, but you can’t cut it. AT: Yeah. NR: So if you could live anywhere in the world, where would you be living right now? AT: I don’t know. Not back home, maybe somewhere with an ocean and like good hikes. Not Hawaii. I know I’m just telling you where I don’t want to live. NR: I mostly just wanted to know if you would go back to your home, so that’s why I asked. And you said no. AT: It’s just too small. NR: Had you never seen a car before? AT: I mean, they have like trucks specifically for work. And they have like golf carts. There are a lot of golf carts, for like going and just chilling. But, yeah, I had no 19 idea where they got gas. Like, I would see trucks and be like, “Where do they get gas? I have been around this whole island and have never seen a gas station.” And they’re like, “Haha, gas stations.” And I’m like, “Is that not where you get gas?” Yeah, so... like I didn’t know how to start a car when I first tried. I tried learning in like 2016 with my dad and that was not a good idea ‘cause he’s rude. And I was like, “How do you start a car?” And he was like, “You don’t know how to start a car?!” And I was like, “Where am I from?! Have I ever been in a car in the driver’s seat? No!” And he was just yelling at me. And I’m like, “You’re rude. You know who I am. You raised me.” I don’t know. Brooklyn has experienced like all my first experiences, and this is a little embarrassing. Remember when we went to Walmart and we saw all the cereal and I was like, “Look at all the cereal!” And I was like, “Cereal in bags?” Like that’s just so weird, why are they in bags? It’s not weird? Ok. NR: Like, I was born and raised here, so I was so fascinated. AT: Or when I saw a horse for the first time. Or like a cow. I still get excited when I see cows, ‘cause you know, it’s like my spirit animal. NR: So have you ever done anything in the snow? Have you ever gone like skiing or sledding? AT: Oh yeah. I hate skiing. I went skiing... sledding is really scary. Just going down a hill not knowing how to stop. There’s probably a way that I don’t know. NR: No, there’s not. You just go until you hit something. AT: You shouldn’t have told me that, now I don’t want to ever do it. But yeah, I’ve gone skiing, I did not like it. I’ve gone sledding. I liked it ‘cause I was with 20 Brooklyn and it wasn’t scary ‘cause they were small hills. And what else? What else did we do in the snow? I made a snow angel. That was really cool. BK: We went ice skating. AT: Oh, yeah, we went ice skating. There’s an ice skating rink in Hawaii, which is so weird. So I’ve gone ice skating before, I’ve only gone once here in Utah. NR: Like it’s just weird to me, all these things you’ve never experienced that are just kind of norms for us. AT: What else? I can’t think of anything. First road trip was really fun. It was with Brooklyn, actually. And it was fun, but it was so boring. I can’t believe you just sit in a car and do nothing. Sitting in a plane is fine, ‘cause like, you’re in a plane, you can’t do anything. But in a car? You just sit there and just listen to the same music and listen to the same people talk, and your butt hurts. Like, I sit in a plane for twelve hours, ok? And I stand up and my butt doesn’t hurt. When I stand up from a road trip... it sucks! Like, why does it hurt so much? And what if you have to pee? BK: We didn’t even go on that long of a road trip. It was nine hours. AT: That is long. NR: Is there any other stories that you would like to share? AT: I can’t think of any. NR: Is there anything you came in here thinking we were going to ask you, but you didn’t get asked? AT: No, I had no idea what I was going to get asked. NR: Ok. Well, thank you for coming in.