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From left: Kylee Sugibayashi, International Ed Coordinator Kyoko Ikeda and Sage Kreisler

Kauaʻi Community College students Sage Kreisler and Kylee Sugibayashi are embarking on a journey of a lifetime, where they will live and study abroad for a year as exchange students at the University of the Ryukyus in Okinawa, Japan. Each person was recommended to the program by a committee at Kauaʻi CC and formally accepted by educators at the University of the Ryukyus.

Kreisler, in his second year at Kauaʻi CC, has committed to the University of the Ryukyus total immersion program where he will concentrate on learning Japanese, hospitality and tourism and liberal arts. He plans to transfer to the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa after earning his degree at Kauaʻi CC.

Sugibayashi, proficient in Japanese language, wants to take full advantage of the opportunity of living in a Japanese speaking environment to further improve his skills. He will also focus on Okinawan and Japanese culture, arts and history courses of study.

Nurturing global-minded individuals

Kauaʻi CC and the University of the Ryukyus have a longstanding relationship spanning over 30 years, which now includes a student exchange agreement. The purpose of the partnership is to provide students with opportunities to gain a deeper understanding of cultures outside of their own and be nurtured into global-minded individuals.

As part of this agreement, this is the first time students from Kauaʻi CC will be studying in Okinawa. Kauaʻi CC has welcomed Okinawan students for short-term programs of study over the years and hopes to see University of the Ryukyus students on campus for year-long study.

Kyoko Ikeda, coordinator of international education at Kauaʻi CC, looks to the future and likens her role at the college to “a midwife, for things that want to be born,” she said. “My role is to prepare things to be.”

Helen Cox, Kauaʻi CC chancellor, views this expansion of the Kauaʻi CC and University of the Ryukyus relationship as a clear sign that the college is moving in the right direction. “The opportunity to learn about another culture, particularly from being immersed in that culture, changes not only individual lives but our collective ability to work together to address the world’s challenges,” says Cox.

—By Camilla Matsumoto

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