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Year in Review
This year so far has been a little bit of a roller coaster; there’s a new level of independence and, for lack of a better term, “adulting” present as part of being a college student, and yet there’s also a feeling of comfort and insulation. I think that both of these work nicely in tandem, as the comfortable environment enables a good place to practice that newfound independence. Personally, I’d say that most of my growth so far has been socially. In high school, even though I had a great group of friends with whom I loved to hang out, I wasn’t really comfortable being out all the time. I liked to have plenty of personal time to balance out the requirements of accommodating others and contributing to a positive social setting. Needless to say, you still won’t find me out on High Street every weekend, but I’m certainly not adverse to walking over to the Gateway Theatre for a late-night movie with some friends after martial arts practice or meeting up with friends at J-Avenue. Now, I actually get a little sad when plans fall through, though I do enjoy not having to put on shoes and walking across campus; that, at least, I think some of us can agree on. I’m still looking for more opportunities to continue to increase my sociability, but compared to the beginning of the term, I’d say that I’m far ahead of where I started. There’s always room for improvement, but I’d say so far, so good.
G.O.A.L.S.
Global Awareness: I already have a great love for travel and other cultures, so part of my course work is built around that; I’m taking Japanese and may pick up Korean later, I’m taking several globally-minded courses, and I’m studying language as a whole and how we are connected through it in Linguistics. I’m also involved in several cultural groups, including the Japanese Student Organization and the wushu team, which is a Chinese martial art. I plan to study abroad as extensively as possible so as to further increase my interaction with areas of the world to which many people only dream of travelling.
Original Inquiry: I haven’t had the opportunity to engage in research yet, but I am looking to start working in the language lab at COSI with the Linguistics and Psychology departments. I’m hoping that this experience helps me to discover what questions I have about language and that it allows me to begin searching for answers that will broaden my understanding of my field and human interaction as a whole.
Academic Enrichment: I have always striven to maintain a challenging course load, and I couldn’t be more thrilled with the vast number of options I have to fill that desire. Many of the courses I’ve decided to take are internationally-minded because of my belief in understanding the whole world and not just the part that you’re in; if you limit your understanding, you’ll miss the rest of the happenings around you. I chose to study Linguistics because I’ve always loved language, and I’ve always been quite good at learning new languages. I wanted to study something that would continue to enrich my life while also being able to teach others about what I know and what I’ve learned (eventually). I chose to minor in Japanese because it was the first language that I had a deep, personal intent to learn; it just felt different than learning Spanish or Latin for school. I wanted to learn a language that many Westerners aren’t familiar with; without a frame of reference, like for Spanish or French, you have to learn an entirely new language from scratch. For me, it’s an exciting and stimulating challenge, and I am thoroughly enjoying it. In all of my selected courses, I tried to make choices that exceeded the minimum or were above the lowest level for that particular course. I’ve known for a long time that I get bored if my courses aren’t rigorous enough, and so I always try to pick classes whose contents I think I will enjoy but that will also provide enough challenge and stimulation to keep me engaged actively. I think that continuing to learn about the world from multiple different viewpoints will help me to succeed in my future endeavors because I want to work on an international level. With that comes a certain necessity for a multifaceted view of different issues and challenges, and I think that my undergraduate experiences will help me to develop that automatic mindset that will allow me to connect with people from all over the world.
Leadership Development: I am involved with the wushu team, which allows me to help newer members learn their forms and continue to improve. Although I am also new to this style of martial arts, I have done other styles throughout the years; this gives me knowledge that can be used in multiple forms and allows me to help teach members who aren’t familiar with martial arts at all. In several of my courses, I am already familiar with the material, or I’m able to understand it very easily. Because of this, I am able to help my classmates when they don’t understand something or at least able to try and help them work out and understand the problem. My involvements continue to teach me how to remain patient and humble while gently leading and correcting only when necessary. I would describe my leadership style as very active; I don’t like to just sit in the back and let people struggle on their own. I’d much rather give some of my time to help someone with a problem than let them continue to fight the problem ineffectually.
Service Engagement: Though I’m not involved with any activities right now, I’d like to get involved with youth education in the near future. I have two younger cousins who live in Upper Arlington, and I know that they both have their own struggles when it comes to school. My younger sister displays her own issues even as an upperclassman in high school, and she’s very bright, so I know that most people have some amount of problems with handling all the new material they are expected to learn. I want to provide younger students with my experience and knowledge in general learning and education as well as specific subjects and help them to realize that they can overcome their struggles.
Career
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Artifacts
This is what I’ve been learning this term in Japanese; it’s called the Gozyuuon-hyoo, or Table of Fifty Sounds, and it’s one of the written scripts of Japanese, called katakana. Now, I actually have to amend the previous statement; it’s not really fifty sounds. There are actually 107 sounds, but the core fifty-ish are highlighted in the middle, and they form the basis for the rest of the sounds. This is also the script that is used for writing loan words; these are typically borrowed from English, though there are some from other languages, like Portuguese and German. This has been great for me because I’ve been self-teaching Japanese for about a year, but I never really got the hang of written Japanese. It’s been really exciting to be able to use Japanese in a new modality, and it’s always thrilling to be able to look at something and say, “Hey, I can read that!”. This is one of the things that I feel really highlights how I’m progressing in my understanding of Japanese because of how easily it can be measured; either I can read something or I can’t, and the former is always more enjoyable. Being someone who loves languages, this really is just downright awesome!
About Me
I’m a Linguistics major from Stow, Ohio, and I REALLY enjoy learning other languages. No, I’m not fluent in any other languages, much to my dismay, but I do plan to be a polyglot…eventually. Right now, I’ll settle for being bilingual in English and Japanese, since that’s what I’m studying right now. I might add Korean later this year, but…we’ll see. I also really like to travel to other countries; reading about them and seeing pictures is all well and good, but nothing compares to actually getting to experience the culture and the atmosphere of another country. I recently got to visit London, Paris, and Rome, and seriously, it was probably the best experience of my life; the sheer amount of history and culture in those cities is alive and thriving, and it gives each place its own distinct feel. If you only get to travel a little bit, do it! No matter how little, it will expand who you are as a person and make you the better for it.
If you don’t want to talk about words or cultures, I’m a little hurt, but it’s fine. I also enjoy history (particularly east Asian and medieval European), music (just not rap or country), and FOOD. I have a little bit of an unhealthy obsession with food, in the sense that I’ll try almost anything once. If that’s not your thing, I won’t make you try some too.
For me, college is all about bettering yourself intellectually, socially, and personally. Of course, a healthy balance is needed, as is the case with all things, but that shouldn’t keep you from trying new things: make some new friends, go to that pizza place everyone talks about, or join that club you saw at the Involvement Fair but were too nervous to approach. Don’t be afraid to get out there and expand your horizons!
Enjoy the term, and as always, Go Bucks!