(L-R: Andrea Wert, Nicole Uehara and Zak Whittle)

Hello!

My name is Zak Whittle, a senior at George Mason University majoring in Finance with a Japanese Studies minor.  Allow me to tell you a little bit about myself! Growing up, I lived in many places throughout the United States. The place I call home, though, is Washington. My family moved there when I was in middle school because my father starting working for the Japanese company, Sharp Microelectronics. It was around that time when my interest in Japan began to grow. My father would travel to Japan on a regular basis, and would often bring his Japanese coworkers home for dinner parties.

When I entered high school, I began taking a Japanese language course. I was one of only three freshmen that had been brave enough to do so! It was difficult, but as I studied the language and the culture, I grew to love it. I took Japanese each subsequent year of high school and even became a Teacher’s Assistant for it! During the summer of my third year in high school, I traveled to Japan for the first time through an exchange program. I stayed in Hamamatsu, Japan, but was able to travel to several beautiful cities, including Kyoto.  It was an amazing experience and I had a fun time and I made a goal for myself to improve my Japanese speaking abilities.

After graduating high school, I decided to serve a two-year mission for my church. I was apprehensive, because I knew I wanted to start college and continue studying Japanese. A few weeks after I had submitted my application for the church mission, I received my assignment. I was thrilled to learn that I would be spending the next two years in Japan! Over the course of those two years I was sent to several locations throughout southern Japan, but spent the majority of the time in Okinawa. I made many friends while I taught English classes and did service. It was a great experience and really helped my Japanese-speaking abilities.

Once I returned home, I enrolled in college and began studying finance, marketing and Japanese. My goals for the future include working as a businessman for a large company like Google or Amazon with an expanding presence in Japan. This internship is helping my dream become a reality!

I’m looking forward to all of the experiences this internship will provide and I hope that I can give a lot back to Sojitz Corporation and the CEPEX Internship program. The assignments I will be given, the events I will attend, and the friends I will make will open countless doors for me. I can’t wait to see where this amazing opportunity will lead me!