My scholarly growth grew steadily while I was at EMU, and I especially learned the topics in which I have a deep interest and passion, topics in which I hope to continue studying: psycholinguistics, second language literacy, racism, poverty, and immigration. I want to continue studying these topics after graduation and begin formulating ideas for a thesis and dissertation. While I’m in Japan, I want to be a keen observer of psycholinguistic and second language literacy issues, as well as racism and poverty. I would like to keep an “academic journal” in which I write my observations and make hypothesizes. My academic journal should include data as much as possible, which will help me when I go to graduate school.
I also hope to continue pursuing the academic interests of foreign language acquisition. While my Spanish will for the most part be on hiatus while I’m in Japan, I would like to read Spanish articles, listen to Spanish news or songs, and Skype with Spanish-speaking friends at least an hour a week. I plan to study Japanese intensely this summer, and continue studying an hour a day while in Japan. When I leave Japan, I want to continue studying both Spanish and Japan.
I don’t know that I’ve grown much creatively while at EMU, because I was so busy with schoolwork and recovering from schoolwork. I honestly feel like I “lose” my creativity the older I get. Hopefully that will change this year as I graduate and have opportunities to use creativity in the classroom as a teacher. I also want to cultivate my creativity by picking up creative writing again and continuing to design cards, make comics, and cooking new things.
During my cross-cultural in Latin America, I learned to be more flexible (an excellent trait!) and to not worry so much about time. While the latter is a good lesson as a whole, I do need to get back in the routine of being on time, especially as I move to Japan next year where promptness is valued. Flexibility is a trait from cross-cultural I will continue to cultivate in Japan.
Japan will be very different from my experience in Latin America for multiple reasons. This time I will be on my own, without a group, host family, or even a roommate. I will be in the same location for 1 year, instead of being in 2 different countries for 3½ months total. I won’t be studying a foreign language all day because I will be teaching English, but I still want to learn the language. Japanese is very different from English, with a separate writing system and very few cognates. I also have never studied Japanese before.
After Japan, I might come back to the United States and teach English as a Second Language in the public schools. This would be excellent for my continued research in second language literacy and psycholinguistics. Perhaps next I will head to graduate school, or try teaching in an international school in Mexico or Greece.
I think faith is like a board game. Unless you’re not rolling the dice, you are always moving, a little backwards but more so forwards. My faith has growth tremendously through my new life experiences in college- independence, getting involved at my own church, going to a Christian school, and exploring my vocation. My routine of personal devotions and being involved at church has been instrumental in how I experience God. In the past few months I started attending Spanish worship services, and it has been very moving to experience God through a different language. I look forward to a similar unique experience in Japan. Another way my faith has grown is through observing the influence of the charismatic movement on my upbringing. While parts of the charismatic movement make me feel uncomfortable, I love the emotional element of feeling God inside of me, and the physical element of reaching for him with my arms during worship. Lifting my hands during worship is certainly more comfortable in more charismatic services, like the Spanish services I’ve been attending.
For the future, I hope to grow in the spiritual disciplines of love and fasting. I want to love the people in my life I struggle with judging. I want to fast regularly and not let food play such an important, mandatory role in my life, above that of God. It is my dream to be involved in a bilingual church and perhaps attend seminary someday.
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