Stephen Roach, a graduate from Georgetown College, discovered the difficulties of being a grown up when college was ending. Nothing was working graduate schools weren’t calling and the job market was decreasing. He was beginning to hit rock bottom. Little did he know his journey would take him to the heart of disaster. He kept his mind occupied with “Fear is the mind killer” as he read in the book “Dune” during his long flight to Japan.
He is a graduate student with a major in History. The only things under his belt are a plethora of college classes, a four month trip to China, and a list of dead end jobs. He may not be an award winning author, or a scholar with many works to his name, but he is a grown up who is discovering the world across the Pacific Ocean.
“I had experienced many other cultures in Asia before, but this job was going to be a totally new experience. I would have a good job, and that was about all I knew. I didn't know what my living arrangements would be like, and I had never seen a picture of Tahara. I didn't know what my job would be like, and I didn't know what kind of people I would meet. I had cast my lot into the wind and now I had to prepare myself for the outcome. A mantra that I had been repeating in my head the whole time was something I had borrowed from Frank Herbert's ‘Dune.’ ‘Fear is the mind killer.’ This may make me seem like a huge nerd, but I had no room or time to be afraid. All I could do was go,” said Roach.
Japan was a difficult place to adjust to upon his arrival, considering he knew little to no Japanese since he had only been studying the language for a couple of months. After hearing about the job opportunity to teach English to Japanese students of middle school age from a college friend, he contacted Georgetown and was granted an interview.
Roach picked up and moved from the little town of Mayfield, Kentucky, all the way to Tahara, Japan, in order to teach middle school age kids conversational English.
“I was walking to the bank when the city-wide PA crackled to life. I can never understand what they are saying, and it happens enough that I just kind of block it out. This time was different though. It was a countdown. "San, Ni, Ichi." This countdown made everyone in the street freeze. I mean everyone. It was then followed by an alarm that I hadn't heard until then. It sent chills up my spine. This was totally different from tornado sirens in the US, but just as chilling. People at this point immediately went inside. I went to the bank. The sirens didn't stop though and I knew something was going on,” said Roach.
On this particular day of March 11, 2011, not only did a 9.0 earthquake strike the northeast coast of Japan, but waves were sucked back into the ocean, leading to an unexpected tsunami 30 feet high, which struck the coast of Japan just minutes after. Even though Roach lives over 400 miles down the coast from the site, it still shook the country and affected everyone around him.
“Stephen is a strong person. To leave his family, and go to an unexpected place proves the kind of person he is. I thought he would be pack his bags and head home after everything happening on this island, but he stuck it out and is sticking with the job he came to do,” said Edo, a new friend of Stephen’s.
“Fear is the mind killer.” March 11, 2011, was a day that filled the nation with fears of radiation and losing loved ones. Luckily Stephen was hundreds of miles down the coast from the tsunami, but not from an earthquake.
"San, Ni, Ichi. This time my whole apartment lurched. It was big, and the weirdest sensation I have ever felt. I could feel the ground beneath me rise and fall and everything was rattling. It lasted only about 45 seconds and wasn't very powerful, but it was enough to set off car alarms and wake the neighborhood. I didn't sleep that night,” said Roach.
With the past few weeks behind him, Stephen did not change any of his plans of staying in Japan. He plans on staying where he is for the next three years with the repetition of “fear is the mind killer.” “The more you know, the more you can do,” said Roach.
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