PLNU grad surfing in Samoa

Like many of the students that graduated from Point Loma last May, I had very little idea of what I wanted to do. I had two goals in mind: surfing and traveling. My search led me to the small islands of Western Samoa, a place some have never heard of and many could never point out on a map. I have embarked on a four-month journey, managing to delay the inevitable start of real life.

I earn $40 a week for nearly 80 hours of work. I am a surf guide at Salani Surf Resort; I help guests, who have paid thousands of dollars to get exactly what they came for: perfect waves. My bosses are from Australia and Ireland and my co-workers come from South Africa and New Zealand. The rest of the staff is native of Samoa.

My job description is simple: I surf. When I’m not surfing, I work extremely hard on anything and everything to keep the guests happy. I do all this knowing that I’ve been paid in full by being able to surf the best waves of my life on a daily basis.

Being a surf guide at a surf resort isn’t a job with an easy application process. You must be referred before your resume is even considered. Surf guide stints usually last no longer than four months and are rarely paid, relying almost entirely on the generosity of guests.

Although I’m paid close to nothing, the experiences I’ve had here have already proven invaluable. I’ve eaten lunch with the prime minister, played craps with the village chief, flipped a 19-foot boat and had a staph infection all in the first month.

It’s an amazing experience when you are forced to adapt to a new culture and expected to become an expert on it at the same time. Visitors need to be made aware of important facts: never sit showing the soles of your feet, there is a 10-pig fine for surfing on Sundays and the tallest women in the clubs usually aren’t women.

Originally, I was going to use this trip as an opportunity to network. I wanted to hear about a job that I thought I could be good at and, most importantly, enjoy. Yet, before I’m ever able to ask a single question of the 15 or so successful guests that arrive each week, they always ask one question of me: “How do I get your job?”