Emiko Imori is an ICU student spending her junior year studying abroad at the University of California, Berkley. She is also one of four students to receive the JICUF’s Study Abroad Scholarship, which was inaugurated this year.

This is part two in a four part series highlighting the Study Abroad Scholarship recipients. The scholarship is intended to support ICU students studying abroad in North America and was awarded to four students who are respectively spending one year at Rutgers University, The State University of NY, University of California, Berkley and the University of Pennsylvania.

JICUF: Thank for agreeing to do this interview, Emiko. Let’s start with your academic background.

Emiko: My major at ICU is business and I chose to come to University of California, Berkeley because I wanted to take more courses on Corporate Social Responsibility and learn how to do good things for society through business.

JICUF: That is a wonderful goal. How did you get interested in this area?

Emiko: At ICU I took Professor Miyazaki’s courses. His main focus is on accounting, environment, CSR  and he is interested in environmental aspects.

JICUF: What else did you get involved in at ICU?

Emiko: In terms of outside activities, I belong to the debating society at ICU. Even though I’m a beginner, I have participated in the International ICU tournament and I manage that club. You may know that we received financial support from the Alumni Association! I am not debating in California though I got accepted at International House here and I facilitate events.

JICUF: Really! The Japan ICU Foundation has strong ties to the International House in New York. How have you enjoyed your experience at Berkley so far?

Emiko: I took a course on Corporate Sustainabilty last semester. We were assigned to a company that exists in US and we did some actual consulting. We worked on research and created a plan for a real company. It was a very inspiring class because real world experience is invaluable and the students were so impressive with their high motivation and skills. We all talked about our futures and what our next steps were outside of the class as well.

JICUF: That sounds great! Have you experienced any obstacles or particular struggles since you arrived in the U.S.?

Emiko: Struggles? Oh – a lot! I had no experience living and studying abroad before and this is my first time being a ‘minority’ in a country. I struggle with my language and speaking English.

I needed to create new relationships and new connections when I arrived so I had to learn to talk more and actively create plans instead of waiting. I just continued to be nice and thankfully they also responded in kind.

The U.S. finally feels like home now and like I can relax though every one in US still seems like a genius and so much smarter than me. I didn’t know how I could contribute on the same level but, by asking advice from peers and professors, I gradually came to understand what I can do to become better and what I needed to do work harder on.

JICUF: That certainly does sound tough, but it seems you have made the best of a challenging experience! What else have you done during your time in the U.S. beyond school?

Emiko: During the one month vacation for winter break, I explored both the West and East coast. I met up with Mari Ohgushi who is an ICU student studying abroad in New Jersey at Rutgers. Mari and I went to high school together and were also friends at ICU. Later, she came to visit me in San Francisco for a small reunion.

I went to Boston for the Career Forum and met a lot of ICU students. ICU students are so active and involved!

JICUF: They certainly are! So, what are your plans for the future?

Emiko: I don’t know yet. Everything I thought I knew is changing at UC Berkley.

In the long term, I would like to get involved with an innovative business that contributes to society. Short term, it might be more important for me to do a basic business foundation and get “real world experience” in the corporate sense. I’m not sure though and am open to different paths.

JICUF: Why did you choose to study abroad?

Emiko: Curiosity mostly. It is good for academics, but it has also been my dream to study abroad for a long period of time. Thanks to foundation I can have the experience without having too much expenses and I get to meet many different people.

JICUF: That’s great! Do you have any advice for other ICU students?

Emiko: If you’re considering an experience abroad, definitely go! Before coming to UC Berkley, I talked to many people who had studied abroad in the past and they were very helpful. I never met anyone who regretted it. Everyone said that the difficulty and struggle was a good experience too.

JICUF: Thank you for agreeing to do this interview and sharing so much, Emiko.

Emiko: Thank you and the rest of JICUF for the support. Nowadays, I am really proud of being an ICU student. Without attending ICU, I would never been the same. Thank you again to the Japan ICU Foundation for not only supporting me, but also supporting ICU and making it such a good university. Please let me know of any alumni interaction opportunities!