Tag Archives: Work

In my previous post, I already talked about how fast August flew by. Literally, disappeared right in front of my eyes. But before the month ended, August managed to squeeze in a few surprises – lots of firsts. First time in the White House Press Pool. First time covering the hurricane. First time on the Coast Guard rescue boat.

There is absolutely no need to panic. I did NOT need the rescue boat because I fell in or anything like that. After all, I am afraid of open water, and I always make sure I’m far far away from the edge of the dock.

Instead, I went out on the rescue boat armed with my camera and my tripod to see what it’s all about.

Despite the early wake up call, I drove out to Menemsha to meet up with the Menemsha Coast Guard members for their morning check-up. The crew checks the Motor Lifeboat (MLB) and insures the boat is ready to go at all times.

With the response time of under 10 minutes, the crew runs out to the dock from the Coast Guard station, gets into their positions and maneuvers the MLB out for a search and rescue mission in just a blink of an eye.

Next up, hurricane. Oh yes, we all know journalists are crazy enough to drive toward the storm or the wildfire as everyone else frantically flees the scene. And of course, we have all seen reporters doing stand-ups while wind knocks them over multiple times.

Well, get excited. It was Yoojin vs. Irene. Enough said.

Perhaps the most exciting, the White House Press Pool! I’m still new enough in the industry to act like a kid in a candy store about this, right?

President Obama and his family came to Martha’s Vineyard for the third year in a row for a leisurely 10-day working vacation. This also meant the White House Press Corps visited the Island as well. Honestly, I was more excited / nervous about being around the national media than to be around the President of the United States.

So when my editor asked, “Would you like to be part of the rotation in the pool?” my response came immediately, “Yes.” Duh! Who would say no to that opportunity?

Basically, as part of the local media, I had my day in the pool as the pool reporter. Of course when I first realized what this meant, I sent an SOS e-mail to my BU professor. What do I do? What do I bring? What do I wear? Oh my, questions did not end.

Thankfully I am blessed to have great mentors around who talked me through everything. Then Tuesday snuck up on me. The day involved a lot of sitting around on the giant yellow bus, but even that was exhilarating. I took the opportunity to talk to other reporters and photographers there. I asked about their start in the industry. I took pictures. I simply soaked in the moment.

Obviously I did not slack in taking video and sending out reports of the POTUS move of the day. He went biking with his family… then a nice lunch on the beach… then golfing.

I’ll post my pool reports in a separate post soon.

And here’s something I’ll cherish probably forever – or until I get to wear these regularly. 😉

Thank you August for bringing all these wonderful memories and experiences. So long!

ps. Obviously, more videos by yours truly, on the MV Times YouTube channel.