Interview with Jennie
I have known Jennie since I was five years old. We went to elementary and middle school together, and ended up going to the same high school, too. We have known for a long time that we would be debutantes together, as our grandmothers--who are friends--always told us how excited for us they were. I wanted to interview Jennie to see what she thought of all of it after-the-fact. Jennie is one of the six of us debutantes who were actually born and raised in San Francisco. The rest of our 21-girl class either was born here and has since moved, or has never lived in San Francisco. Like I mentioned in in my interview with my Grammy, girls are invited to be debutantes because they are descendants of a certain family, not because their family necessarily still lives in San Francisco.
MB: What did you think of Cotillion before being a part of it? Jennie: I didn't really think too much about it before I did it, because I never really had a choice. I mean, I did--I could have just refused to do it and that would have been that. But it meant so much to my grandma so I guess I kind of wanted to do it. MB: Least favorite part and favorite part? Jennie: I didn't really like all the stuff that came before the Ball. We had to go to so many of those luncheons last summer for all the girls. It was nice to meet everyone and spend some time but they got a little repetitive. But I think meeting all the new people was one of my favorite parts. All the out-of-town girls, I mean. I would never have met them otherwise. |
MB: Was the Ball what you expected?
Jennie: I didn't really know what to expect. It was overwhelming--there were so many people. And I wanted to do my curtsy right and not trip or anything for my grandma. But after all of that was done I had fun. I really liked having our [high school] friends there. Yeah, it was a fun night. MB: In retrospect, would you do it again? If you have a daughter, do you think she'll do it? Jennie: I would do it again for my grandma. I did meet some new people, and I had fun, but at the end of the day it's still just about the tradition she wants me to be part of. I'm grateful she cares enough to want to share that with me. The whole thing is definitely kind of intense, but it was a family affair and it is kind of cool to be a a part of. Maybe I will keep in touch with the girls we met. My brother was an escort two years ago and when he is home from college he will see the people from Cotillion from time to time. I kind of just look at it as one more group of people you can now spend time with. If I have a daughter she can do whatever she wants. I won't make her do it, but if she wants to I will support that too. I know some girls definitely wanted to do it and have been looking forward to it for a while. MB: Will you come back to watch in the years to come? Jennie: I'll definitely come back next year, after that we will see. |