For my second audio project, I knew I wanted to do a vox pop because the other audio styles besides interviews don’t really interest me, and I’d already done an interview for the class radio show. I also knew I wanted to do something about names. Why names? It seems like a stupid topic. But every week (and I mean every week, not exaggerating) I have another weird experience with my name. But my name isn’t even odd or unique. Multiple times I’ve gone into Starbucks and come out with my cup saying “Rachel”. I’m not quite sure why, since Bridget is not even remotely close to Rachel, but it’s actually a little funny because my mom originally intended to name me that. Just this weekend I went into a restaurant with my friends and put my name down and when our table was ready, they called “Brittany”, one of my more common pseudonyms. And I’ve never had anyone get the spelling right on the first try. I frequently get Bridgette/Brigid/Bridgitte, though usually I’m just asked if my name has two E’s and two T’s, to which I responsd, just one of each, please. My personal favorite is Bridgeit, kinda like a bridge that you walk over, plus “it”. I guess I should give people credit for trying to sound it out. But the more these things happened to me, the more interested I was in hearing what other people had to say about their own names, how they got them, and what they love or hate about them.

I did some recordings of people I knew, even though I knew it would be more fun to interview people I didn’t know. The reasoning for this was that with something as personal as your name, I wanted to be sure the people in it knew that I would be using it for a class project and have them feel better about giving me details. I didn’t think complete strangers would feel comfortable telling me their names and how their parents picked it and what their experience is like. I used Garage Band to edit my audio clip, and I found it to be extremely easy. Adding multiple layers here was so much simpler and user friendly than using Audacity, which I’ve decided never to use again – it was way too complicated and you couldn’t just drag things and do what you wanted. Another reason this was so easy to edit was that I knew I wanted to combine things that were similar – such as at the beginning, when I have all the names listed, and then later when people talk about how they got their names, and whether they dislike or like them and why. When I was all done, I was relieved to know most people feel the same way I do.

So, click here to hear what is so annoying (or fabulous) about being stuck with something all your life that you don’t even get to choose: What is your name?