I was asked to be in a video that will be shown at a reception this month in Tokyo hosted by PSU President Wim Wiewel. I was not sure that I was the right person to be in the video because I didn’t think I could speak English well enough. But I accepted the offer, because I realized being Japanese is more important than my verbal communication skills.

For the video, I was asked, “What do you love about PSU?” This question was
tough for me because I had never thought about it before.

Here is my answer: I love the diversity on campus. I feel strongly that I belong here even though I am a minority. I also appreciate that PSU is located downtown, so I can work at a professional job while taking classes. I found that some organizations and institutes in downtown Portland don’t care so much about my language barrier. Instead, they care about what I can do. I would like students in Japan to know what I see in PSU. Being in the promotional video gave me a great opportunity to reexamine my reasons for being here.