Even though I’m in my third year of medical school and graduated undergrad six years ago, I still remember Japanese being my favorite class at UVM. Before undergrad, I developed a huge passion for learning languages during a gap year exchange program to Brazil. When I got to UVM, I wanted to keep learning languages and thought Japanese would be something completely new and fun. I had such a great time in Suzuki sensei’s Japanese classes and really loved my classmates, even though I wasn’t interested in anime like they were. Suzuki sensei was super creative with her lesson plans and did an amazing job incorporating lessons about Japanese culture. I truly felt like I learned more in my Japanese classes than I did in any of my other classes, because Suzuki sensei’s classes were challenging, exciting, and her classroom felt like a safe place to be myself and make mistakes.

I look back super fondly on my experience in my Japanese classes and all my other experiences at UVM, where I met some of my closest friends to this day. I was able to explore so many different passions along with languages at UVM; I was able to get certified as a yoga teacher through their YTT program, become a backpacking leader through the Outing Club, and work as a medical scribe in the Emergency Department at UVM Medical Center. After I graduated, I left to travel for a couple of years so that I could continue learning languages through immersion. Toward the end of my travels, I was eager to come back to Burlington because it had become such a wonderful home away from home for me. Now I teach yoga classes to students at the medical school and use my language skills to speak with patients in their native languages during my rotations. I’m currently hoping to become a family medicine physician in a community health center where I can support New American patients. I’m so grateful for my experiences at UVM and how they shaped the path to where I am now.