Random Interview
Mona S. Concepcion, South Seattle Community College
[The Chronicle of Higher Education, 16 August 2002]

By RICHARD MORGAN

Another in an occasional series that offers a slice of
campus life based on an interview with a randomly
chosen student. Ms. Concepcion is a second-year
English major from the Pacific island of Saipan, a
U.S. territory.

Q. How often do you call home?

A. I call my mom once a week. I miss her. I think
about home, about Saipan. America the mainland is so
different than America on TV.

Q. What's America on TV?

A. America on TV is great. Everyone's smart.
Everyone's funny. And, here, it's not like that. I
used to watch Three's Company, and I wanted to be just
like Janet because she was so smart.

Q. What about Terri? Terri was smart.

A. Yeah. She was smart. Smarter than Chrissy. But she
came later on. I dunno. Some people think I'm just
looking for a green card or I came on a boat. People
ask, "Are there planes in Saipan?" And I say, "No. I
came on a kayak, you know, at high tide."

Q. What advice does your mom give you?

A. She tells me to watch out for -- be careful with
your money. I'm 19. And I'm the youngest. So that's
like double stress: her baby out here.

Q. Where's everyone else?

A. My brother's in Hawaii, and everyone else is in
Saipan.

Q. Do you have a boyfriend?

A. Yeah. He's a sweetheart. He's a bundle of
happiness. And he's just a sweetheart. But he can be
[a jerk]. He's considerably older: 30.

Q. How'd you meet him?

A. I met him on the Internet. Three years ago. I have
a Web site of prose, chock-full of creativity. He said
he liked it. And we started talking.

Q. Are you going to write one day?

A. I write now. But, yeah, one day. A fabulous novel.

Q. About what?

A. If I knew, I'd write it. I don't know. As long as
it's fabulous.

Q. What do you write about now?

A. I write like I'm 19. Lots of sex. Stupid gore.
Someone's always bleeding or having orgasmic delights.
And I want to move out of that. Anyone can watch Pulp
Fiction and copy that, you know? I want something more profound. And that's where my fabulous novel comes in.

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