A Life-Changing Year

I went to Japan for one year with LEX Language Project after I had graduated from college. I had planned to only be in Japan for the year before returning to the States, but I ended up loving the program and my life there so much that I applied for a full time staff position and stayed for an extra two years! During the LEX Internship you have the opportunity to live with a variety of host families. Each family was unique, but they were all incredibly supportive, and welcomed me as a true family member. Working at the LEX office in Tokyo was also a wonderful experience. My Japanese colleagues were supportive and excited to have me there. I worked with and become great friends with a team of international interns from Mexico, South Korea, Taiwan, France and Thailand. Thanks to LEX's unique, multilingual mindset, I was able to not only gain fluency in Japanese, but also explore other languages, such as Spanish, Korean, and Mandarin Chinese! I am planning to go to graduate school this fall, and want to work at International Student Services at a university. I feel that my internship with LEX has made me more flexible, creative, and competent in cross-cultural situations. My compassion and empathy for those who go to live in a foreign country has grown, and I feel better prepared to serve international students in the future.