Celebrate Macaulay's annual fundraising gala with Alexa's Opportunities Fund story! 🇯🇵
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I went to Japan through Queens College during the Winter 2024 session. The program specifically focused on TV and film in the Japanese market, and I was there for about a month. For the first week, we were stationed in Chiba and learned about Japanese history, haikus, fan-making, eating traditional foods, etc. The rest of the program was based in Tokyo and that was more of the film and TV focus. We went on several different field trips to view movies, see production studios, and more. The producer of all the Godzilla films and some other big names in anime came to speak to our class.
In the last part of the program, they gave us a couple of free days to go explore whatever we wanted to. Instead of just staying in Tokyo, I ended up taking the bullet train to three places: Kyoto, Osaka and Hiroshima. It showed me the value of taking risks and chasing that curiosity, which I apply to my life even since I’ve been back.
The Opportunities Fund gave me the liberty to visit those 3 extra cities in Japan, because commuting can get pricey otherwise. I ended up having the most profound experiences in those 3 cities and I was able to bond with people who I will be lifelong friends with. The immersion cannot be matched through textbooks alone, and it certainly cannot be replicated.
Alexa Whyte, Brooklyn College '24
Majors: Television and Radio; Business Marketing
Minor: Film
Interviewer: Avi Mikhaylov, Humans of Macaulay & Hunter College '24
