My name is JiYeon Yoo, and I am going to graduate ICU in March 2015. This is my last year at ICU after one year exchange at Yonsei University in Korea. I was born in Seoul, South Korea and I moved to Osaka at the age of 11 first and then moved to Tokyo. I am also a ICU High School graduate.

I am happy to be in ICU mostly because of two main reasons. First, under the liberal arts education, I am able to decide my major and minor after experiencing other fields – I have chosen Business and Media Communications & Culture as my focus. The act of experiencing before choosing a major is important, because it allows me to learn by doing and not have to make such a big decision – like choosing a major – with only a little information on the topic.

The other reason I am glad to be at ICU is because of its international environment. During freshman year, the main focus of study is how to learn how to critique and express our opinions in English. This is a very significant element of communication that will help me to be an active participant in the world. At ICU there are also many opportunities to communicate with students from different countries on campus, especially if you live in a dorm!

Some of my interests are dance, travel, outdoor activities, movies, IT and  marketing. I like to stay active both on and off campus and try new things. I belong to dance club on campus and have volunteered with Samsung’s Marketing program and at the IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings. Currently I am working on creating a TED talks at ICU that will be called TEDxICU.

Through Japan ICU Foundation Global Link program, I had the great opportunity to intern in marketing at PM+CO. It is a marketing, branding, and design company that has had Loacker USA and HBO for Game of Thrones as clients. Next year after I graduate, I will work at a sales and marketing department so this was very useful experience professional and interacting with customers. In addition, my colleagues were from different part of the world, such as India, France, Switzerland, and of course States. Designers and marketing work at the same office, so it was very interesting to intercommunicate with both of them. One day I hope to work abroad so I can continue experiencing so many different cultures.

I would like to thank JICUF for giving me this great opportunity. It made my last summer in university all the more precious!