Shizuka Hirota '12 Recruiting Profile

  My high school lacrosse versity team got All-Japan 1 st place in 2008 and 2009. I was born and raised in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo is the world’s most populous metropolitan area and a center of international commerce. With a population of over 35 million people I grew up with tremendous exposure to different cultures and unique people.  It’s important to understand where you’ve come from in order to move into the future.

 I liked Tokyo’s metropolitan lifestyle but have always tried to stretch myself beyond my comfort zone. I grew up being exposed to different cultures through our overseas family travels. But when I first found out about the possibility of my father being transferred to Florida, I had mixed feelings. My life in Tokyo was great. I had the best grades in my graduating class and was a leader on my varsity lacrosse team—there seemed to be too much to lose. Even with my hesitations, I had always admired my father’s involvement in the global business community and recognized his bilingual capabilities as part of his success. I had a strong desire to become competent in English, and I recognized that this was an opportunity to learn.

 Moving to Jacksonville was not an easy task. On my first day at Bishop Kenny High School, I could not understand anything in class. I felt so left out and after a while, noticed that some people were starting to make fun of me. But with this incident, I was more determined to work hard and become perfectly bilingual. I worked many days beyond midnight, always tried to stay positive and outgoing, and thought of everyone in Jacksonville as an English class. Wherever I went, I practiced my conversation with anyone I could!

 I pretended to be a little Japanese ambassador, teaching people about Japan and Japanese culture. Also utilizing my experience in lacrosse, I joined a premier lacrosse club team, LaxManiax, and memorized all the lacrosse terms in English. After a while, I was able to advise my teammates during official games. Through these everyday experiences, I became braver, which brought a different dimension to my life. I became more aware of the differences and the similarities of US and Japan. Currently, I am helping to establish a non-profit organization to teach the Japanese to Japanese descendent children of Jacksonville. I want to bridge my past experience and help create a brighter future for children wanting to learn Japanese in Jacksonville.

 I am confident that I will be able to contribute to globalization and diversification of the university. In anything you pursue in life, I believe diversified opinions, productive discussions, creative thinking, effective execution and continuous improvements are the key factors in bringing success. I have a unique mix of experiences and strong motives to be able to contribute both in academics and athletics, through my soft skills of facilitating various opinions, understanding the different subtleties in cultures, and bringing unique insights and sense of values.