During my second year of Mount, I completed a year of service at he RISE Boys and Girls club. Here is a brief synopsis of my experience there.
G is for Going to Japan
If you know me or have read through the few post I have on this pseudo-blog, you have probably come to realize that Japan holds a place within my heart. So it should come as no surprise that I plan to do the full academic exchange program to Japan. I originally had planned to go my 3rd year; however, due to some issues with my schedule this past semester I ended up falling behind for the language requirement for the application. Although I was disheartened at first, I’m glad that I have to wait until my 4th year to finally go. This gives me the chance to take the intensive Japanese course this summer and catch back up to were my peers in the program are next year. Since I also recently switch my primary major, I can complete much of my new course work for the major before I leave. International Studies fits better into study abroad than education did, so I am able to take some of my remaining senior year courses while in Japan. Of course with waiting a year I have a chance to save more money for the trip. If things work out according to plan, I will only be back in the US my 4th year just to graduate. There is a chance I may need to take one extra semester after coming back, but I’ll cross that bridge when it comes.
While education will be my main focus while in Japan, I also plan to do missions work there. I plan to partner with Chi Alpha International, a campus ministry through the Assemblies of God, and help sent up other ministries on college campuses across Japan. There is at least one Chi Alpha established over there but I hope to bring one to whichever college campus I end up attending. With partnering with the AG to accomplish this, I can also get part of my trip over there covered. This wasn’t my motive to join with them, as I truly believe in most of their doctrine, but it is a nice bonus.
Of course I’m most looking forward to finally be immersed in the language I’ve been trying to learn. I’m very much a person who learns better from immersion and observing so Japan is the perfect place for me to study. Actually, I hope to work in Japan after I graduate, or at least work with Japanese businesses and government, so I can use my study abroad experience to also network with potential employers. Look out Japan, here comes the last person you’d expect to be there!
I Survived Another Fall Semester (Kinda). Now What?
Before I entered college, I always thought that my first fall semester and my final senior semester would be the most difficult and transformative semesters of my college career. Man was I wrong! Since this past spring I had considered switching out of my education major but keep telling myself that I needed to wait until I told FEEP this fall; for those of your that don’t know, FEEP stands for First Education Experience Program and you basically shadow in a school for a semester in the educational field you want to pursue. Not even halfway through my FEEP experience, I realized the educational field was not what I wanted in a future career. The problem though, was I realized this after I could drop classes so I forced to finish the semester in something I started to view as toxic. SO… I lost interest in my academics for a bit and just stopped caring. Then after being home for Fall Break, something finally clicked: why don’t I switch my major and work hard to finish strong so I could enter my new major with good grades (and actually keep my scholarship). Once I came back from break I switch my major. Now I major in International Relations & Diplomacy and Japanese.
I wish I could say that the rest of the semester was smooth sailing because of that, but that would be a lie. There was so much drama outside of my academic life that was taking hold and influences quite a bit of what happened this semester. First there was trying to buy my own house. Back in September the bank told me I had been approved for a first-time home owner loan, but later in November (when I had switched loan officers) it came to my attention that the approval was made with forged numbers and therefore leaving me unable to buy a house. Of course this stressed me out since I had to sacrifice so much time to go tour houses, meet with realtors, call home improvement companies, and spend time finding a place that fit my criteria and left less time for me to study or properly function. Of course then I had to figure out on the fly where I was going to live since the on-campus housing application had closed and all the apartments that were in my price range (and in bussing distance to campus) had leases signed already. Thankfully one of my aunts is letting me stay with her rent free next year so that’s less stress on my mind and wallet.
There was also that fact that I was dealing with two pseudo-relationships (ok, more like one guy who kept leading me on and another who refuses to think anyone cares about him) that were taking up much of my mental processing and I starting going to see a counselor about all of what was going on. She was able to help me process and put everything that happened this past fall semester into perspective: the house, my major, the guys, even my time management. This semester was not smooth sailing like I hoped it would be. Would I trade it for a better semester. In the grand scheme of things, no. This semester forced myself to do much more self reflection and correction. I thought I was good at handling difficult situations, but this semester showed me that they can arise in different forms and thus different tactics can be used to handle them. So as Spring 2018 semester starts to crawl up in the coming weeks, I know I’ll be able to survive just a bit better.
Who is Hannah Justice?
Hannah Justice is in her second year at The Ohio State University double majoring in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) and Japanese. Within her first year on campus, Hannah was involved in Mount Leaderships Society, a Morrill Scholar, a Chi Alpha Campus Ministries at OSU member, works as a Student Center Mentor in the Undergraduate Admissions and Buckeye Link offices, a member of Japanese Student Organization, and played for the up and coming broomball champs Broomyonce. In her second year Hannah is still highly involved in Mount, is now a leader within Chi Alpha, has also joined おしゃべり会 Japanese Conversation Club, and is participating in a STEP fellowship. Between classes and studying Hannah can be found still working in the Buckeye Link office, shopping at Tensuke Market, or star gazing on random spots on campus. The goals she plans on achieving this year are studying more affectively, determining when she will study abroad in Japan, and finally finishing the books she keeps telling her self she’ll read in her spare time. Here’s to round two at OSU!
G.O.A.L.S.
[ “G.O.A.L.S.” is a place where students write about how their planned, current, and future activities may fit into the Honors & Scholars G.O.A.L.S.: Global Awareness, Original Inquiry, Academic Enrichment, Leadership Development, and Service Engagement. For more information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio. Delete these instructions and add your own post.
Global Awareness: Students cultivate and develop their appreciation for diversity and each individual’s unique differences. For example, consider course work, study abroad, involvement in cultural organizations or activities, etc .
Original Inquiry: Honors & Scholars students understand the research process by engaging in experiences ranging from in-class scholarly endeavors to creative inquiry projects to independent experiences with top researchers across campus and in the global community. For example, consider research, creative productions or performances, advanced course work, etc.
Academic Enrichment: Honors & Scholars students pursue academic excellence through rigorous curricular experiences beyond the university norm both in and out of the classroom.
Leadership Development: Honors & Scholars students develop leadership skills that can be demonstrated in the classroom, in the community, in their co-curricular activities, and in their future roles in society.
Service Engagement: Honors & Scholars students commit to service to the community.]
Career
[“Career” is where you can collect information about your experiences and skills that will apply to your future career. Like your resume, this is information that will evolve over time and should be continually updated. For more information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]
The Beginning of an Academic Career
I plan to go into translating for Japanese once I graduate. It catches many people off guard and they ask me, “Why translating and Japanese of all languages?” These guys (pictured below) are the reason why. They are the members of Spyair, one of my favorite bands from Japan. Long before I started listening to them, I knew a language was going to be apart of my degree in some way. Of course then I thought it was just going to be a minor because a foreign language is a practical minor and skill to have. Then I started to listen to Spyair during the summer leading up to my senior year of high school. I came to learn that many Japanese and Korean bands were trying to come to the United States to make a name for themselves here, but many have been unsuccessful due to not knowing English well. That’s when I realized I wanted to help: I would become a translator. If I hadn’t started listening to this one band, I may not have made the academic plans I have so far. 