Swayed by Spam
Senior Autumn Schoolman was a vegetarian when she left for Okinawa. Now she's a Spam aficionado.
In my college career, I’ve taken multiple reporting classes. I’ve been told the usual tips on interviewing such as, “A good interview is a good conversation.” But what no one ever taught me was how challenging it is to conduct an interview in the middle of the ocean, speaking little of the language and clutching your underwater camera for dear life.
My beat in Okinawa, Japan, is coral reefs. I’ve talked to environmental activists about the current state of coral and what is unique about them. I’ve talked to coral experts about nutrients flowing through tides. I had to see this with my own eyes.
My morning started with a panic because my GoPro would not stay charged, almost as if it knew that today was a day I’ve dreamt about for years. Luckily one of my classmates had a portable charger that I used to charge the camera with on the way to the boat.
Other than that, I believed I was prepared. I’d done my research, I knew what I was looking for, and I had my questions translated for an interview. Then we actually got there, and the madness began.
Apparently, I was already late. I had no idea. They rushed me to the changing room, where I put on what became another layer of skin, aka a wetsuit, and put me in a tiny truck to the boat. I jumped onto the boat and threw on my life jacket. The tour guide rinsed my goggles off in the ocean water, and we were on our way to the spot.
I have always been enamored with the water. My parents used to call me a fish when I was younger because I would jump into the pool right after it was filled with freezing hose water. My final form is a mermaid, and this was my way in.
I had spent the whole week resisting the urge to jump into the ocean whenever I got even a slight glimpse of it. With that being said, I basically canon balled off the boat into the water. I was in, but it wasn’t until my tour guide told me to look down into the water that I saw it.
I dunked my head under the surface and saw an entire ecosystem from above. Symbiotic relationships between puffer fish and coral, parrotfish pecking on coral, fish swimming inches from my face. I was in heaven.
Keep in mind that this wasn’t purely for fun. Did I have fun? Yes. Did I still have a job to do? Absolutely. So, I got to work taking video and photos of the universe that seemed to only exist when you have your head underwater. From above, you would never guess that a place like this exists.
Choking on saltwater every other word, I asked my tour guide what I was seeing below. He told me about the fish and coral that was growing and thriving, apparently very healthy. It was definitely the most unusual interview I’ve done to date.