| Major: |
Economics |
| Hometown: |
Tokyo, Japan |
| Favorites: |
Enjoy humor, especially the Japanese kind |
| One thing I am: |
Competitive swimmer and skier |
Coming from a Japanese background and being submerged in Japanese culture, which is homogeneous and doesn’t focus on diversity, I was surprised by how diverse Middlebury really is. I was surprised by the gay community at first. That is something I wasn’t used to in Japan. But coming here helped me open up my mind about others. It allowed me to get in touch with my own diversity — half Japanese, half Colombian, studying in the U.S. and being Christian, while being Japanese, too.
I started following in the way of Christ. I was not always able to speak openly about my thoughts and faith to other people, but I’ve gained a lot more confidence here at Middlebury. The Christian Fellowship community has also helped me.
One challenge I had to overcome is the gap between the Middlebury culture and Japan. For example, I really wish Middlebury had a bathtub for me because in Japan, the day always ends with a nice warm bath.