The following interview is directly copied down from a conversation I had with our latest blogger of the month, Nikoo. Not only is she one of the most dedicated writers to our blog, but her casual writing style and witty remarks make her blogs an absolute treat to read. Enjoy.
N – Nikoo (BoTM)
A – Aaron (Myself)
N: Wait, so are you posting the entire recording?
A: No, so basically what’s gonna happen is…I’m going to record our conversation, and then copy it word for word as the “uncut” (doing air quotes) version of our interview. More than anything this will just be a conversation between you and I-
N: Yay!
A: -learning more about you, YAA, and your life. (table begins to vigorously shake) Woah why is the table shaking?
Barista at Euphoria: Matcha Latte and Hot Chocolate!!!
N: I think that’s ours.
A: Yeah let’s go get that.
(Proceed to leave recording on while Nikoo and I go and get our drinks)
A: (As Nikoo and I come back) Believe it or not, that thing is still recording.
N: Really? AARON!
A: Yeah I was too lazy to turn it off. (proceed to laugh)
N: This would be a fun recording to listen to!
A: It would if I didn’t shout any profanity during our interview, but I can’t guarantee that… Remember, everything we say will go onto this blog and onto YAA.
N: Well aren’t you wonderful Aaron. (dripping with sarcasm)
A: Yeah I know I am. So, is this your first time at Euphoria?
N: I think I’ve been here a grand total of once –
A: Here?
N: Yeah, like once, like several years ago. Some family friend was coming in town so my parents were like ‘let’s go hang out’, and then, I don’t quite remember how we got here, as we usually just go to McDonalds or something. But then, some friend suggested this place to my mother, and I tagged along, reading my book under the table. It was great.
A: Nice. Um, so, congratulations on blogger of the month!
N: Thank you! You guys are great!
A: So, let’s start with quickfire questions. I will give you a question, and you have to say the first instinctive answer that comes to your mind.
N: Alright.
A: What is your full name?
N: Nikoo Givehchian.
A: Where does Givehchian come from?
N: Iran.
A: Ok. (Proceeds to lose my questions on my phone.)
N: Ummm…
A: As you can tell I am well-prepared for this interview. Anyway, age?
N: 17.
A: Star sign?
N: Scorpio.
A: Where you want to go for university?
N: University of Toronto!
A: For?
N: Engineering Science!
A: When did you come to YAA?
N: This year.
A: Favorite Post?
N: Probably my first one.
A: Which was…
N: On Avoiding Exercise.
A: Why was it your favorite one?
N: Honestly, it felt really good to see it get promoted, which was a first for me, and it made me feel like “Wow I’m up there with the gods now!” It was great.
A: Favorite Subject?
N: Physics.
A: Partly why you are going to engineering?
N: Yeah.
A: Makes sense. Favorite Hobbies? Name two.
N: Reading? Procrastinating?
A: So with reading, favorite book?
N: Oh gosh, that is a really hard one…that is actually a REALLY hard one… The Martian? Or anything Dan Brown, like Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons?
A: Favorite Genre?
N: …that’s ANOTHER HARD ONE!!! (Nikoo looks at me wide-eyed while I am laughing uncontrollably) I guess it fantasy, I’ve read it since I was young, and I love it. I love books like Eragon because it is fantasy, but then I transitioned in books like Dan Brown with suspense, thrillers, and history themed novels. And also, things like science with The Martian, where the story is so full of complex calculations and the main character is a nerd, it leaves a lot of room for imagination.
A: Ok, nice! Now, beside procrastinating, which I consider to be more of a lifestyle, any other hobbies?
N: Drawing?
A: What?
N: Mostly realism through pencil sketching.
A: It is interesting to see with someone like you that your so interested in arts, yet you choose to enter a science major.
N: Well, the first job I ever wanted to be was an artist, and then I considered looking at being an author. I still want to publish my book in the future.
A: So, author is probably a long term goal. Any short term goals?
N: Well, I am hoping that I can actually start formatting my ideas for this book in the near future, probably in university.
A: So, I want to take a moment to discuss some of your blog posts, as I have had the great pleasure of reviewing them. Let’s start with your first one… “On Avoiding Exercise”. Why?
N: There were so many ideas that occurred to me, and I thought that my blog on procrastination would be the first, and then I thought about procrastination of exercise, and then I began to justify the reasons why I didn’t exercise, which created this blog post in my mind!
A: You mentioned the blog post on “Procrastination”, so let’s transition there. …I really don’t see you as a procrastinator, yet you have this post. What was the inspiration behind that?
N: Honestly, just like you don’t see me as a procrastinator, I also don’t see myself as a procrastinator. Since I was young, I thought I was physically incapable of procrastinating, and that was the mentality I had. Then I arrived in high school…and realized that, even while I am sitting in front of a computer the entire time, I may not be doing anything. I began to justify those actions, which created those blog posts.
A: Yeah, I was going to say, the first line of your blog post is: I remember once in my grade nine year that my teacher assigned an essay to our class, and while the class was slow and blah blah blah, but you really got on top of that kind of stuff. That was a wonderful post.
N: Aw thanks!
A: I think… with most of your posts, which are based of anecdotal experience… most of your posts are categorized as “life” posts. Not all of them, but the quirky nature of your writing often does follow those lines. Specifically, a lot of your posts follow the ideas of emotions and physcological experiences…among other…special ones.
N: Hehehehe, tea.
A: Yeah. I guess, what I’m asking is, what do you write? How would you define your “Nikoo” style?
N: Well, if you look at “Nikoo”, it means “nice”, which is not always true. When it comes to address a certain theme, most of it is based off of my thoughts and opinions, and I hope to get other people thinking about the various matters that I think about.
A: Another post that I want to ask about is a post that I love so much, I actually sent it to one of my teachers, and asked him to share it to his class: Empathy. It is, beyond being one of the lengthiest posts I’ve seen, one of the most elaborate in terms of development and idea. What came about this post, and why did you put so much into it?
N: Ah, yes. Well, this post was started long before it was published, and every time a new idea came to me, I would add it to this post. More notably, the reason why this post took so long to make was because I felt like it was going anywhere: it simply didn’t have a clear direction, and often sounded like me rambling incessantly for thousands of words. As a result, I kept editing it, which made it more substantial and “postable”.
A: Looking through this post (scrolling through post), something that I find very insightful: “There will be some tough questions, but the reality is, we have to all be aware of how exactly we are acting if we want to achieve a positive, caring society.” What I find is interesting about this line, and post, is that you are…in many ways, controversial. Were you intention in doing that?
N: Well, I thought I was just being honest, just someone giving their opinion. And, more than anything, I wanted to address the assumption we make with certain connotations and expecations of language and action.
A: Alright, that’s fair. Now. Tea.
N: Tea.
A: I fondly remember the Monday evening when I edited this post, expecting something deep and motivational from you, only to face… Kom- (Nikoo and I start to giggle) Kombucha.
N: Yeah.
A: This was, one of the most jaw-dropping pieces I have ever seen. Let’s start with a few questions first: Why do you like tea so much?
N: It’s funny, huh?
A: Like currently you are drinking some sort of tea coffee right?
N: Uh, no, this is a tea latte.
A: (Proceeds to pic up mic) Future Aaron, note down TEA LATTE, not tea coffee. Ok sorry. (We both laugh) So anyways, where does your love of tea come from?
N: Well, I am Persian, so we drink tea everyday, it just seems to happen. My mom was a self-declared “tea addict”, where she wasn’t actually an addict, but she loved it so much that it became a joke. And I wasn’t really into tea when I was young, but I really liked the idea of bringing a mug to school every morning-
A: Wait stop for a second, the reason that you got into tea, was not from the contents of the mug, BUT THE MUG ITSELF?
N: Well…the idea of a warm mug was really interesting in itself…(I’m virtually dying of laughter)…OK IT’S GRADE 7 ME I’M SORRY!
A: (In an abnormally high pitched voice) You liked tea because of the mug (laughter)? What do you meeeeeeeean?
N: Grade 7 Nikoo was inspired by the idea of a warm mug of tea on a cold morning, ok? And then, high school projects and assignments took medium addiction to tea to 5 tea bags being refilled from 12 a.m. to 4 a.m. level of tea addiction.
A: To be quite honest, I see, from posts like these, a writing style that I really can relate to, looking for the explosive, unexpected moments of life. So, what inspires posts like “Kombucha”?
N: Well I bought it, and I never had it before.
A: Yeah, here it says it was $5.43. (Nikoo proceeds to fake sob a bit) Well, for the people reading this, what was your opinion on Kombucha again?
N: It was ok. If I could make it at home, because of all the good probiotics stuff, I probably would. But, other than that, I might have it when I crave it. It’s expensive, and I thought it would be 3$ or something like that, and then I get to the cash register and I’m like “Woah Woah Woah Woah Woah, WHAT!?”
A: Something incredible that I just noticed is that, for both your “I love Tea!”, and “Kombucha!” posts, you start the exact same way. Guess how you start it.
N: … I love tea?
A: Yeah, I love tea.
N: Wait, do I actually start each post with “I love tea?”
A: Yeah (proceeds to show Nikoo both of her posts).
N: Oh wow, I didn’t even realize!
A: Yeah neither did I, and I edited both of those posts. I think that’s all I’ve got. That was really fun!
N: Yeah that was really fun! Thanks for having me!
A: So, to recap, this entire recording will hopefully be translated onto digital blog text, and then hopefully uploaded in April. Knowing me, this will come out in late July, but I’ll try my best. Also, I want to take a few more photos, are you busy afterwards?
N: Oh no, I’m just transiting to the University of Calgary for a class later.
A: Alright, let’s bounce.
N: Ayyyyyyy.
(End of recording)
Once again, congratulations to Nikoo Givechian for April’s Blogger of the Month! Very well deserved.