As you may know from our Humans of Stall Catchers series here on this blog, we LOVE hearing from our catchers, and learning more about them!! Today I present an interview with Carol -- known as Carol aka Mema by other catchers, a veteran catcher, one of the expert catchers to help you out on the chatbox (note the ★ on her username! ;)), and, at the time of writing, #7 in the All time catchers leaderboard!
1. Where are you from?
Carol: I grew up in Gary Indiana and now live in Roanoke Virginia.
2. How did you discover Stall Catchers?
Carol: Hubby showed the game after seeing it on a documentary.
[PBS documentary "The Crowd & The Cloud" in April 2017 -- watch in here.]
3. Was it easy to grasp how to play?
Carol: Overall yes, I looked at it as a hidden object type of game. (my favorite!)
4. Why do you play the game? What's your main motivation?
Carol: After doing some research on why the game was developed, it struck a nerve with me. My motivation is to help get this beast of a disease either under control or cured.
5. What's your catching "recipe"? :) Any (secret) tips for other catchers?
Carol: In the beginning looked at it like the typical hidden object game- find the black dot/bar, but after learning and understanding and getting the "hang" of it, I now know what to look for real quick. The more one plays the better they get.
Sadly no, I don't have any tips or tricks. I still miss at least 2-5 a night! Just depends on how tired I am.
[And that's totally OK! This post explains how we measure catcher sensitivity in real time, to make sure tiredness and other factors don't affect the quality of data, and you can contribute meaningfully regardless!]
6. Do you have any links with Alzheimer's? If so, has it been part of your motivation?
Carol: No, I don't know anyone with it.
7. What's your background? Do you feel it is in any way related to the game?
Carol: I am just a grandma, have been a stay-at-home mom for over 35 years. No, my life doesn't relate to the game at all.
8. Do you participate in other citizen science projects? If so, what are they, and how do they compare with Stall Catchers in your opinion?
Carol: I have done a couple of other projects before but can't remember the names. A) transcribing old records, documents, etc. into a data base. B) reading medical reports to determine if they were true trials or just on paper.
I gave them up because...I could not devote enough time, energy and brain cells to do them justice.
9. What do you like best about the game? What do you like the least? (don't worry, won't get offended.... probably....)
Carol: Best...that I am not in direct competition with anyone. (like grandson's Mario Cart ugh!), that i try really hard to outdo my score from the day before. The feeling that I am helping, even if it's just a dot on the map.
Least....my misses, I feel like I let myself and others down. The techy stuff...slow loads, freezing pictures, etc.
10. How do you feel about the community of catchers? Do you know any other catchers in person?
Carol: They are a great group of people. Sadly no, I don't know anyone personally. I do have a couple of friends via the chat box. :)
11. If you could have one feature in Stall Catchers tomorrow, what would it be?
Carol: Oh Gosh, I haven't a clue! I don't know anything about science so I don't know how to answer.
12. What are your hopes for the project? Will we cure Alzheimer's disease? :)
Carol: That "we" free up the researchers to find a cure. I hope and pray we do soon. In doing the research since starting this, I have read stories about this horrible disease and it has truly broken my heart.
13. Anything else you'd like to share... ?
Carol: That if a country grandma can do this anyone can, and we need all the help we can get!
Thank you Carol, for telling us more about you, your dedicated catching and encouraging other catchers!! 💜
It's feedback like this that keeps us moving forward!! And the desire to beat this, in Carol's words, "beast of the disease", of course!
Stay tuned for more "Humans of Stall Catchers" stories..:)
