Alison Smith, Reflections

My life has always been surrounded by world cultures. My parents always wanted me to know about my Swedish and German family heritage and this led me to wanting to know about other world cultures. I grew up in Athens, Ohio with Dr. Krzic, Krzic-sensei, Oshita-sensei, and Deguchi-sensei as my neighbors. I suppose it was only a matter of time before I took interest in Japanese language and culture. I was first introduced to Japanese culture in elementary school when the Chubu University students visited East Elementary for a cultural exchange. I learned different things about Japanese culture, like how to hold chopsticks and different holidays. Then, in high school Dr. Krzic told me about a program called Go International where Japanese high school students came to Athens for a cultural exchange. The US students were able to learn Japanese in classes and culture from the exchange students. I joined this program for 2 years and loved every moment of it. All of these events led to me having a strong interest in Japanese language and culture.

I was very excited to take formal Japanese classes when I attended Ohio University. I had heard about the study abroad programs to Japan and wanted to do one at some point in my undergraduate journey as well, but knew it would be hard since my degrees, Music Education and Global Studies, would take up most of my time. I was finally able to study abroad at Chubu University in my 5th year at Ohio University. The experience is one I will never forget for many reasons. It was my first experience being so far away from home and my first time leaving the US. I had never even been on an airplane before.

My time at Chubu University was filled with many new experiences for me. I was able to make new friends, travel with friends, travel alone, and practice my Japanese in an immersive environment. During my time at Ohio University, I was also a part of the Japanese Language and Cultural Association, helping with the Sakura Festival every year with the Chubu students. I worked closely with them several other times as a tutor and a pronunciation lab tutor at the OPIE Pronunciation Lab.

I have these jobs and my experience with Chubu University to thank as they led me to change what I thought I wanted to do with my life. I thought I had always wanted to be a music teacher. However, after my experiences at Chubu University and my jobs as a student through OPIE, I knew I wanted to do something with language and teaching. I decided to first return to Japan to teach English at elementary schools through a company called ALTIA Central. It was amazing to return to Japan for a second time and experience a different area of Japan since I lived near Osaka. I loved this job so much that when I returned to the US unexpectedly at the start of covid I decided to pursue a masters in Teaching English as a Second Language.

All of these experiences have led me to where I am now, an elementary school ESL teacher in northern Virginia. I have so many experiences to be thankful for in life that have led me to where I am now. Chubu University has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember and is the reason I am now teaching ESL. I do not know where I would be without my experiences with students from Chubu University both in the US and during my time there.