INTEGRATIVE NARRATIVE
The reason why I decided to become a Japanese language and culture major is because I wanted to learn a language that was necessary but difficult. When I started learning Japanese, I saw that it was a critical need language, and I think that's what sparked my interests in pursuing the major further. I wanted to do something useful with my major, whether it be helping students learn how to utilize the language, or using it in my career to explore how Japan interacts with the world around it. I knew that my journey here would be long and difficult, but I would fill extremely rewarded at the end of my journey; and I do feel that way.
This major has taught me a multitude of things including but not limited to: the cool culture of Japan, about the country of Japan and it's people, how Japanese culture has assimilated into the modern world, etc. My journey in this major started off in JAPN101 and JAPN215 where I learned about things like the essence of chado and how to introduce myself in Japanese. My language and cultural knowledge steadily increased until the spring of my sophomore year where I finally started taking on my upper-division courses. I took JAPN300 which is where I truly began to understand the meaning behind MLO 1. I was finally becoming able to communicate on a intermediate level and hold conversations that I wasn't able to hold previously. This class helped me get ready for my study abroad experience in Japan, along with JAPN420 which gave me the cultural learning strategies that I used to complete my MLO 5 requirement. Each of these classes were an integral part of why my year abroad went so smoothly. My transition from life in America to life in Japan went smoother than I could have ever believed. At the same time, I was able to learn more about cultures other than my own and Japans by taking secondary cultures in Japan to meet my MLO 3 requirement. I began with a tiny goal of just being able to express myself in basic sentences that covered a range of daily topics, but by the time I studied abroad, I had moved on to bigger goals that involved me attempting to hold full length conversations with my friends. Even today, I still have a long way to go but I would have never expected to have come this far in such a short period of time.
My senior year has shown me how hard I can expect graduate school to be in the future. Classes like JAPN380, JAPN404, and WLC400 have shown me what academic level writing entails and how to utilize it in the future. I had taken many culture courses before JAPN380 that covered my MLO 2 requirements, but JAPN380 taught me how difficult it becomes to learn Japanese culture in Japanese. JAPN380 not only required me to make presentations in Japanese that focused on topics like the declining birthrate, and natural disasters, but it was one of the first classes that taught me how to do research in Japanese. JAPN404 and WLC400 further pushed those limits by helping me to create what is now my senior capstone project on The Link Between Fast Food and University Life. These classes helped my academic writing skills increase and I got further towards the intermediate-high level of proficiency that we seek out in MLO 1, but I also developed the research and technology skills that I needed for my MLO 4 requirement. I have to say that I am the most proud of how my final capstone research project turned out, but my journey doesn't end here. I hope that in the future I can get into the Middlebury Institute of International Studies and further my learning in the hopes of becoming a translator or interpreter. CSUMB was the catalyst I needed to push me to pursue a future where I can help people and learn to become the global citizen of today that we desperately need in these tough times. Thanks for everything.
This major has taught me a multitude of things including but not limited to: the cool culture of Japan, about the country of Japan and it's people, how Japanese culture has assimilated into the modern world, etc. My journey in this major started off in JAPN101 and JAPN215 where I learned about things like the essence of chado and how to introduce myself in Japanese. My language and cultural knowledge steadily increased until the spring of my sophomore year where I finally started taking on my upper-division courses. I took JAPN300 which is where I truly began to understand the meaning behind MLO 1. I was finally becoming able to communicate on a intermediate level and hold conversations that I wasn't able to hold previously. This class helped me get ready for my study abroad experience in Japan, along with JAPN420 which gave me the cultural learning strategies that I used to complete my MLO 5 requirement. Each of these classes were an integral part of why my year abroad went so smoothly. My transition from life in America to life in Japan went smoother than I could have ever believed. At the same time, I was able to learn more about cultures other than my own and Japans by taking secondary cultures in Japan to meet my MLO 3 requirement. I began with a tiny goal of just being able to express myself in basic sentences that covered a range of daily topics, but by the time I studied abroad, I had moved on to bigger goals that involved me attempting to hold full length conversations with my friends. Even today, I still have a long way to go but I would have never expected to have come this far in such a short period of time.
My senior year has shown me how hard I can expect graduate school to be in the future. Classes like JAPN380, JAPN404, and WLC400 have shown me what academic level writing entails and how to utilize it in the future. I had taken many culture courses before JAPN380 that covered my MLO 2 requirements, but JAPN380 taught me how difficult it becomes to learn Japanese culture in Japanese. JAPN380 not only required me to make presentations in Japanese that focused on topics like the declining birthrate, and natural disasters, but it was one of the first classes that taught me how to do research in Japanese. JAPN404 and WLC400 further pushed those limits by helping me to create what is now my senior capstone project on The Link Between Fast Food and University Life. These classes helped my academic writing skills increase and I got further towards the intermediate-high level of proficiency that we seek out in MLO 1, but I also developed the research and technology skills that I needed for my MLO 4 requirement. I have to say that I am the most proud of how my final capstone research project turned out, but my journey doesn't end here. I hope that in the future I can get into the Middlebury Institute of International Studies and further my learning in the hopes of becoming a translator or interpreter. CSUMB was the catalyst I needed to push me to pursue a future where I can help people and learn to become the global citizen of today that we desperately need in these tough times. Thanks for everything.