Two UH Hilo students spend spring break in Okinawa for intensive immersion program
In an exchange program with University of the Ryukyus, English major Whitney Taylor and Japanese studies major Jakzen Carta attended lectures, visited museums and other cultural sites.
By Susan Enright/UH Hilo Stories.
Two students from the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo spent their spring break in Okinawa, Japan, for an eight-day intensive immersion program March 19-26, 2024. The students were selected by UH Hilo international partner, University of the Ryukyus (commonly called Ryūdai), to participate. Ryūdai is the largest public university in Okinawa Prefecture.
English major Whitney Taylor and Japanese studies major Jakzen Carta attended lectures, visited museums and other cultural sites. Also in the cohort were students from other campuses in the UH System and universities in Taiwan and Japan.
The University of the Ryukyus is located in the southernmost prefecture of Japan. Okinawa, an island prefecture located in the sub-tropics, has a unique ecosystem and distinct traditional culture.
The spring inter-university exchange program was sponsored by the Inter-island Sustainability Educational Program Office at Ryūdai. With primary focus on culture and sustainability, the program aims to help students develop leadership skills in identifying sustainability issues and finding solutions.
“This experience was so worthwhile and amazing,” says Taylor. “Learning everything about Okinawa and its sustainability goals has opened my eyes to see what I can do differently and how I can make a difference.”
Carolina Lam, UH Hilo’s director of global education, says UH Hilo is fortunate for the partnership it has with Ryūdai because the long standing friendship provides an open invitation for students to participate in the inter-university exchange project.
“The valuable experience the students gained from the spring break program will not only be part of their everyday conversation with family and friends back home about life in Okinawa, but it also is the start of new found friendships made with the participating students in the program from Hawaiʻi as well as Japan and Taiwan that will last a lifetime,” says Lam
Carta says the inter-island sustainability program at Ryūdai was “incredibly fulfilling.”
“We had the opportunity to learn so much about the culture and language, while traveling throughout Okinawa each day,” he says. “It was a lot like Hawaiʻi and really reminded me of home.”
Story by Susan Enright, public information specialist for the Office of the Chancellor and editor of UH Hilo Stories. She received her bachelor of arts in English and certificate in women’s studies from UH Hilo.
