Integrative Narrative
Taking Japanese language courses that fulfill MLO 1 at CSUMB has refreshed the fundamentals of the language for me, as someone who took Japanese courses in high school but was unable to take any relevant courses in the community college years prior to transferring to CSUMB. As a transfer student, I was a tad rusty with application of the language itself. The daily vocabulary and kanji quizzes administered from JAPN 101 through 300 really instilled in me the essential words for typical conversation (and later the respective kanji for such. Taking a course such as JAPN 304 was crucial to my ultimate goal of obtaining career in game translation, as it taught me to analyze, read, and comprehend text in a much more efficient manner Other courses such as JAPN 404 which prepared me to write and present research in Japanese also helped in my proficiency of the target language. This course taught me about the different versions of written Japanese for essays and presentational use.
The courses I took that fulfill MLO 2 all pertained to the various aspects of Japanese culture. Courses such as Japanese 212 and JAPN 308 helped me learn about historical Japanese elements such as the rise and fall of samurai as well as the intricacies of Japan's pop-culture and the impact it has made overseas. The latter of which put heavy emphasis on the visual mediums of anime and fashion (arguably the most impactful). Courses such as JAPN 311 helped me learn about the issues modern Japan faces (Karoshi or, "death from overwork", the scars of war crimes). A topic that specifically caught my attention was NEET/hikkikomori culture: The former being a demographic of people Not in Employment Education, or Training, while the latter refers to shut-ins and social outcasts; both being considered very disappointing types of people according to Japanese society.
In order to fulfill my secondary culture requirement (MLO3), I took the SPAN 365 course. "The Chicano Narrative" had I and my classmates analyze recurring themes between different literary works from various Hispanic authors. The course dove into very heavy subject matter that significantly strengthened the drama behind each story read. Novels such as Across a Hundred Mountains by Reyna Grande and In Perfect Light by Benjamin Alire Sáenz tackled the issue of entering the Mexican prostitution industry as a means of survival and all of the emotional/physical damage that incurs. Additionally, other works dealt with topics such as broken family dynamics, death of family (which may or may not be a result of the aforementioned topic), and adolescent mental illness. While not linked to my major in anyway, analyzing these texts did provide insight into what people of my heritage find entertaining and comfortable portraying in written media.
The courses that I took to fulfill MLO4 all focused on how to properly and effectively develop research questions, methods, and analysis in regards to my major of Japanese Language and Culture. The biggest contributor of such, being all classes pertaining to the development of my graduation Capstone project. Beginning with WLC 300, this course introduced me to the required courses necessary for my career path. A major follow-up was JAPN 403: Pre-capstone. This course was essentially the first few steps into preparing my graduation thesis project: granting me the opportunity to explore potential topics I could cover and present on, and even explore sources in Japanese language for research and literary review. The rest of the courses, JAPN 404 and WLC 400, were taken together. While still incomplete as of writing this, they both tackled the process of transforming accumulated project research source notes into coherent points (and in the appropriate written form in Japanese) for use in the final presentation for Capstone; brining MLO4 full-circle.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic at the beginning of 2020 I was unable to complete my study abroad. Despite this, I completed JPN420 early on. Through this course, I was at least able to gleam over potential universities for a study abroad period which surely would have immersed me further into the language and culture more so than the courses here at CSUMB have. Additionally, it was from here that this very e-portfolio began formation.