ICU graduate Ariana King (June ’14) spent four years at ICU and was very involved on campus, both in the classroom and in the Global House dormitory. SInce then, she has maintained an active connection to both ICU and the Japan ICU Foundation.

1) How did you first get interested in Japan and the Japanese language?

My interest in Japan and Japanese language came about in a pretty unusual way. My mother is ethnically Korean, but was adopted into a white American family and lost touch with her roots. When I was young, Korean culture wasn’t on anyone’s radar, but Japanese culture (Pokémon, robots, and sushi!) was booming. Growing up in New York, everyone around me was trying to be unique, and ethnic identity was a huge part of how we defined ourselves. I looked Asian and that’s how I was perceived, but at the time no one knew a thing about Korean culture; not having grown up with it, neither did I. In the third grade we studied Japan for a unit. I remember sitting in the library looking for books to help me write my report on Mt. Fuji, but reading about the bullet train, Japanese schools, and udon-making was so captivating that I ended up reading all of the books on Japan! Japan was just so cool and different from what I had experienced, and I felt connected to Japan as an Asian-American. In the fifth grade I took an after-school Japanese culture class, and I enjoyed it so much that I decided to start learning the language. The teacher of the after school course became my private tutor and the rest is history!

2) Very cool! When did you decide to study abroad in Japan, and how did you choose ICU?

Japanese was what I excelled at during my years at LaGuardia high school in NYC, and I was considering career options that would allow me to work in Japan. I’ve always been interested in the arts and media, and at the time I was hoping to pursue a career in advertisement. The Japanese advertisements I had seen on YouTube were so bizarre and aesthetically appealing; I thought that working in advertising in Japan would be a perfect match for me. I didn’t think that I would be able to study at an all-Japanese university, but when an ICU representative visited my high school class and presented it as a bilingual liberal arts university in Tokyo, I was convinced that ICU would be the perfect stepping stone into my dream career in my dream city.

3) What was your academic major at ICU, and was it a challenge taking the Japanese Language Program (JLP) in addition to your required classes?

I was pretty set on a media-related career so I majored in Media, Communication, and Culture, and minored in International Relations. As for balancing JLP with major classes, JLP is one of those things that you really have to dedicate the majority of your time to. The JLP class time slot often overlaps with other classes and there’s usually a lot of homework. I definitely wouldn’t recommend taking too many major credits while still finishing JLP, but taking JLP doesn’t mean that you will be exclusively studying kanji and grammar by rote. One of the assignments I did in my JLP class involved writing a 3000 character term paper on a topic of my choice. So while I would definitely say JLP was a challenge, I would also say it prepared me well and never felt facile.

4) Did you live on campus or commute? Was it easy to get involved with on-campus extracurricular activities?

I was fortunate enough to live in Global House, the best dorm on campus! (Though of course all dorm students claim to be living in the best dorm). I loved Global House. Even though I spent most of my first year with friends outside of the dorm, everyone was always giving me the opportunity to get involved. I never felt pressured to participate, but they always made me feel welcome to all the events. After one term as dorm secretary and one term as dorm chairperson, I was elected the president of Global House! Looking back, I consider running for Global House President one of the best decisions I made during my time at ICU. There’s no better way to get to know everyone around you than to be in a position where it’s your job to listen to them in both English and Japanese and do your best to help them out.

I can’t really say much about other club and circle activities though, since I mainly focused on my dorm activities and part-time jobs. I think joining a club would have been fun, but I developed great bonds with my students during my time as an English tutor, so I definitely don’t regret my choice of extracurriculars. In fact, one of my English students is visiting me in New York now!

5) What were some of the challenges and rewards of being a four-year September student at ICU?

Of course no college experience is going to be 100% perfect, and being a September student, especially one of non-Japanese descent is not always easy. September students are definitely a minority, and a lot of events are planned with the April students’ schedules in mind. I often felt a cultural divide, as a lot of the rules on campus are a bit surprising to anyone who didn’t grow up in a Japanese environment. Many of the non-Japanese students I knew were upset about the idea of a dorm curfew and the restrictions for visitors. As an American I was also upset by some of these rules and procedures which felt overbearing coming from my cultural background, but at the same time it’s important to keep in mind that Japan is the kind of wonderfully safe place where you could leave your wallet in the basket of your unlocked bicycle, and find it untouched the next day. In retrospect, following curfew is a small price to pay for the cultural experience of a lifetime.

6) What have you been doing since your graduation this past June?

As my senior year of undergrad was winding down I decided that I wasn’t ready to settle into a full-time career, so I’ve been doing a few different things since graduating from ICU. I finished writing an article for ICU’s Educational Affairs academic journal (scheduled for publication this spring) and I’m currently in the process of applying to graduate school to study journalism. I’ve also been working at a Japanese restaurant that allows me to maintain my Japanese communication skills, and I’ve been doing some part-time work at the Japan ICU Foundation, focusing specifically on increased recruitment activities in local high schools in New York, New Jersey and Honolulu. A few new opportunities have started popping up for me since 2015 has begun, so it’s a little too early to say with certainty what I’ll be working on a month from now. One thing I’m looking to start working on is with PIKADON PROJECT, an initiative which works to support nuclear non-proliferation through art. After returning to New York, I was introduced to the project by a high school friend. Since arriving, I’ve been able to meet not only my friends from before ICU, but many other ICU alumni who have great words of advice and have provided me with an extended network of connections.

7) What are your goals for the future?

Though I mentioned earlier that I wanted to pursue advertisement, I actually had a revelation halfway through my first year that advertisement often did more harm than good, and I decided to shift my career goals away from advertisement and towards journalism. I’m hoping to work as a journalist with a strong sense of ethics, and I’m very much hoping to attend graduate school to study journalism in depth. Cultural and sociological issues and the arts are my passion, and I’d like to eventually move up to a position that allows me to focus on my topics of interest in writing and possibly even through documentary film.

8) What would you tell someone who is in High School here in the US and considering studying in Japan at ICU? 

Since I’ve been working with JICUF on recruitment activities, I’ve been speaking to a lot of high school students considering studying in Japan and I’ll say now what I’ve said to all of them. We’re currently living in a time in which a college degree is a prerequisite for getting a good job, but not an instant guarantee. If you are going to invest in an education, why not invest in something that sets you apart from the rest of your peers? If you are passionate about Japanese culture, or even if you just appreciate the scope of globalization and how valuable a skill it is to know a second or third language, studying abroad is a great idea. I think it’s safe to say that if you are interested in studying in Japan now, it’s not because you’re looking to ride the bubble economy wave, but because there is something more that attracts you to Japan, be it the culture, the food, or the World Heritage sites. As a college student, you would have an abundance of time to explore Japan, and amazing opportunities to meet friends you can keep for the rest of your life. ICU isn’t for everyone, but it definitely is what you make of it. If you put in the effort to make friends and get the best possible experience out of your time, you will leave with some really great memories.

9) Thank you so much, Ariana! Anything else?

I think that’s everything!

(UPDATE: Since this interview posted, Ariana was offered and accepted a full-time position as an Assistant Reporter/UN Correspondent for a well-known Japanese daily newspaper in New York City. Omedetou gozaimasu, Ariana!)