During my trip, I was able to study in the northern regions of Japan to do research and learn Japanese and Japanese culture. During the 2011 earthquake in the Tohoku region of Japan, one of the greatest problems during the aftermath was the lack of communication and information. Many people were missing. Others were stranded for days after electricity went out. Many of the survivors’ families who were living outside of the region could not find a way to contact their families in this dire situation. The event marked the greatest natural disaster in Japan for years.
My research is about ultra-broadband communication. It’s a system in which people, even in the remote areas of Japan like in the far countryside and in the mountains, can receive strong wireless communications. When so many power lines and phone cables were destroyed, many people could not contact their families. Thus, I was part of the effort to research new ways for better communication that would be resilient in the event of a natural disaster.
I am ethnically Japanese, yet I have never been to Japan and my family hasn’t spoken Japanese for more than one hundred years. I’m basically as American as they come. Yet, during the earthquake and watching the news on CNN that late night, I was overcome with so many emotions watching people I have never met before suffering and praying during the tsunami. I wanted to somehow help in any way possible and I felt as powerless as the people being swept away that day. I raised money when I was in high school for donation for the tsunami victims. But, what I really wanted to do is someday go to the Tohoku region and help in any way possible. You made it happen.
Coming from a single mother-household, I was always in a bit of a financial issue when it came to school. My mother always talked to me about how money wasn’t everything in life. I took up odd jobs on campus to raise money any way I could to support my studies and family. When I received the Borton Scholarship, I felt like what was originally just a shot in the dark suddenly become an inconceivable reality.
But, as you can imagine, going to a foreign country and finally being alone and independent was one of the most challenging experiences I have ever faced in my life. It’s something they said in all the seminars and pamphlets, but it was actually very overwhelming and has changed so much about me. Let me explain.
I never knew how important language and communication was. Yes, I can’t speak Japanese, so I’ll have some trouble, but I didn’t really know what that meant. It meant that I couldn’t have a heart-to-heart conversation with my friends. It meant that I couldn’t try to win over my Japanese teacher who didn’t really like me very much. It meant I was constantly trying to defend myself when people thought of me not as a non-Japanese speaker, but as incompetent or just a prankster giving others a hard time. It was tough, but it motivated me and made me embrace not only being Japanese, but also being American as well.
Since, I was able to move on and reach an advanced Japanese level, which is considered a mastery of technical and business Japanese. Before I realized it, I was talking to my lab mates about our research, reading headlines on newspapers, and even doing solo travels across the country. Finally, I was working hard not as if my grades were on the line, but as if my dreams of helping the Japanese people in the Tohoku region were on the line – as if my dreams of being an excellent engineer were on the line – as if I were trying to live up to my Japanese heritage and place in the international world. I learned to take my career seriously and not just cram before exams because my career and my life meant something to not just me. I felt like I could have a real influence in what I was doing and on the people around me.
Now looking back from my cozy home in Los Angeles, I read the Japanese headlines last week about heavy rains, typhoons, and flooding across northern Japan. My friends are posting evacuation alerts on Facebook and social media about the flooding and landslide warnings near the Hirose River which was near where I lived. This time, many were able to get out and survive. Many were able to contact their families and contact authorities and help as soon as possible. The advancement and resilience of communications has made me so proud of how far we’ve come. Typhoons and earthquakes will keep coming to Japan in the future, but it’s getting better every step of the way.
I am not sure what’s in store for my future except that I want to continue studying engineering and continue studying Japanese! Whatever is in store for me, I want to someday make a difference in the world.
Thanks for making me feel so connected to my family history and helping me make my dreams of both engineering and going to Japan a reality. It may not seem like much, but it changed my life and me as a person.