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What's the single biggest risk that you've taken?
Risks are an everyday part of working in this type of industry. In 2008, I traveled to the conflict areas of Southern Thailand with a journalist friend of mine to get a more complete understanding of the conflict there. We stayed at a hotel that had been partially destroyed by a truck bomb and met with a wide range of people: separatist sympathizers on one side and victims of bombing attacks on the other. One man had recently lost both legs in an attack. While interviewing a Thai Special Forces soldier, a bomb exploded close by us and killed a Red Cross worker. Very sad.
Do you see yourself as being unique among your peers?
I certainly don’t think there is anything I've done that others could not have also. If I am unique it is because I had family that opened up my childhood to a number of experiences and locations that challenged me to think differently and see the world from not a middle-class white kid perspective.
Perhaps it's a simple willingness to work as hard as I can at something that I take a very personal interest in. While at University, I used to walk past the 8-Hour Monument. It states every man should be legally allowed eight hours of work, eight hours of recreation and eight hours of sleep. I am not happy with having just eight hours to express myself.
Where do you see yourself at age 40?
In many respects, I see myself as doing much of the same work that I do now -- only better. I would like to have gained experienced in a number of other countries and perhaps a stint in Washington, D.C. or New York
for a change of scenery. But, honestly, other than a bit more study, I think I am quite unique, as I am happy where I am career-wise.
How much of a motivation is financial reward for you?
I don’t think this is an industry that will ever make you obscenely rich, although some have managed to do so. If financial reward is the major motivating force or even somewhat of a force, then I wouldn’t recommend a job
in this field. It is certainly possible to make a good living, and the experiences will stay with you a lifetime.
How big a role did school play in your career?
It was not just school itself, but also the location of schools. Coming back from Malaysia, I found myself in between the U.S. and Australian school systems. Instead of repeating Grade 10, I waited a few months and began Grade 11. While this would make me a little younger than my peers, it meant that I was at home for long periods of time with only a little home schooling to pass the time. At this time, the aerial bombardment of Kosovo had begun, and so I quickly found myself glued to the television and watching this war played out. I had not paid too much attention to this type of thing before, but now that I was seeing it, I knew that working in these situations is what I wanted to do.