Graduation Behind.
Excellence Ahead.

Don't forget to take a look at my projects

CET Osaka Summer 2026 – Japanese Language Immersion | Osaka, Japan                   

• Completed an intensive Japanese language immersion program at Osaka Gakuin University (OGU), developing conversational fluency through daily coursework and direct engagement with native speakers in professional and social contexts.

  
  

Japan America Society of Colorado — Japan Cup

Level 4 Champion · Spring 2025

The Japan Cup is an annual Japanese language and culture competition hosted by the Japan America Society of Colorado, open to students from high school through college. Level 4 represents completion of second-year college Japanese proficiency.

• Competed as part of a team through four rounds spanning cultural knowledge, written language, spoken Japanese, and contextual language use

• Advanced directly from the first round to the finals after earning enough points to skip the intermediate round — one of the top-performing teams at the level

• Won the championship.

• Practiced and hosted team review sessions for 5 months in the lead up to the competition. I coordinated meetings, created study plans, and worksheets with my professor who sponsored our team to compete.

What makes this one personal: I first entered the Japan Cup in Spring 2019 as a Level 1 competitor in my freshman year of high school and lost in the first round. COVID cancelled the years that followed, and the competition sat unfinished. Six years later, as a college junior, I came back at Level 4 and won. It's a small detail on paper. But it represents everything about why I never let Japanese go, even when it was hard to hold onto.

LEEDS Global Business Seminar — Tokyo & Kyoto, Japan

Spring 2025 · University of Colorado Boulder

An immersive international business program exploring how Japanese firms think about competition, corporate culture, and long-term value — and what Western businesses can learn from them.

• Traveled to Tokyo and Kyoto as part of a structured academic cohort, visiting companies and engaging with business leaders firsthand

• Examined how Japanese organizations prioritize sustainability of purpose over aggressive expansion — and how that shapes brand loyalty, employee culture, and community trust

• Reflected on cross-cultural business communication and the role of relationship-building in markets where trust precedes transaction

• Published two original essays on Medium documenting insights from the experience — one on Japanese work culture and business philosophy, one on the personal impact of immersive international travel

  
  

Speak Up! CCA — Persuasive Public Speaking Competition

1st Place Champion · Community College of Aurora · 2023

A college-wide persuasive speaking competition judged by faculty from the communications and business departments alongside college executives, evaluated on argument strength, delivery, and authenticity.

• Competed across three rounds — preliminary, semifinal, and final — advancing through each on the strength of both content and delivery

• Wrote and delivered an original speech advocating for workers' rights and unionization in the video game industry, using EA's 2019 Anthem as a case study in what happens when creative talent is pushed past its limits

• Argued that sustainable work-life balance isn't just a moral imperative — it's a business one, and that companies who invest in their people produce better products

• Won the final round in front of a live audience, competing against speakers across disciplines and speech styles