My long-term goal with Japanese is fluency, and I feel that having the opportunity to study in Japan would not only accelerate the learning process, it would be imperative to achieve the level of fluency I desire. One of my future career options that I have been considering would be to either teach English in Japan or to work as a translator in some regard. For this, I feel that not only is fluency necessary, but being more connected to and understanding the culture I would be working with is crucial. Being in Japan, I will have the chance to immerse myself in the language completely, as well as constant interaction with the culture. After graduating from The Evergreen State College, I am interested in exploring graduate programs at colleges in Japan and more focused language school certifications. With this in mind, I believe that being associated with more universities in Japan would be exceptionally advantageous, so I’m setting my sights on TESC’s student exchange program with the University of Hyogo. I will be participating in the program this upcoming Fall and in Hyogo, I will be able to create even more meaningful connections in an entirely new region of Japan and experience local customs to broaden my knowledge of Japanese Culture. During the program, I will spend a year in Japan studying the language, participating in club activities, attending cultural events, as well as taking classes in the University’s global business course.

Overall, my brief experience with study abroad through the University of Hyogo was an extremely positive one. I made many friends and was able to further my studies in the Japanese language, even if only for a short time. When I was there, I took 6 Japanese courses that were full of diverse people from many backgrounds. Ranging from intermediate Japanese to upper-intermediate and advanced Japanese courses, I feel like my time at UH helped me to solidify my understanding of the language. As well, given where the university is located, there were plenty of chances to practice speaking Japanese around Kobe, Osaka, and Kyoto. UH has a beautiful campus, and its location gave me many opportunities to travel and experience traditional culture. A personal favorite trip of mine was when one of my friends from the university took me to Mie Prefecture. There, we traveled to Ise Jingu and saw the oldest shrine in Japan. From there, we headed south to see parts of the Kumano Kodo Iseji pilgrimage. It’s very unfortunate that I needed to leave so early, but I felt that my time at the University of Hyogo was well spent, and that I was able to achieve many of the goals that I set. I feel more confident in my Japanese abilities in reading and speaking, and I feel much more knowledgeable about the culture and people of Japan. From now, I'm going to continue studying Japanese by myself until graduating from the Evergreen State College. Afterwards, I am planning on looking for employment opportunities in Japan, not only as a career, but also as the next step in my Japanese Language journey.