ULM Students to Participate in Japanese Exchange

Students from the University of Louisiana at Monroe will soon benefit from an international agreement.

The university recently completed an exchange arrangement which could see Japanese students on the ULM campus.

And at least one student will represent ULM at a Japanese university for a year.

 

Jathon Thompson is Gearing Up to Fly to Japan

ULM sophomore computer science major, Jathon Thompson, is excited. He’s preparing to fly to Japan for a year of study. Thompson has long held a deep respect for Japanese culture, but he’s full of mixed feelings about spending a year away from home.

 “I’m pretty scared because I know that my Japanese abilities are pretty rusty. And so I’m kind of scared that I may have to rely on English a little bit too much. So I’m nervous, but at the same time I’m extremely excited, extremely happy.”

 

 

Assistant Dean of Education Thilla Sivakumaran headed up the accord with Ehime University in Matsuyama, Japan. He says the agreement will work in both directions.

 

“Basically there are two types of agreements that we have with them. One is a two-week educational/cultural exchange where they will send five students in the fall for two weeks to ULM and also five in the spring, and we can do the same. In those two weeks they will learn about Louisiana – the history, the culture of Louisiana and also spend time in the schools, the public schools interacting with students, teachers and learning the different teaching styles.”

 

But there’s more to it than that.

 

“The second part of the agreement is that we can send two students for a whole year over there, and they can send two students over here for a whole year.”

 

That’s where Jathon Thompson comes in. But he’s not sure what to expect; he’s still planning his curriculum.

 

“I know that I’ll be a teacher’s assistant at some school and I don’t know what school it’ll be. I’ll most likely be helping with an English class. And they have after school activities as well. I may be in some ESL after school club or something like that. And, part-time, I’ll be going to the university to study Japanese.” 

 

 

Sandy Lemoine is the Dean of the College of Education. She says the program will offer advantages to students like Jathon.

 

 “This is about increasing opportunities for our students to experience international education. It’s a cultural focus that we have. We think that students travelling to another country, and actually being able to attend classes, and becoming immersed in their culture broadens them and gives them a better perspective on the world.”  

 

He may be unsure about leaving America for the first time, but Jathon Thompson is clear about what he hopes the journey will bring.

 

“A more cultural experience, so I’ll understand another culture’s perspective on things and not just understand America’s culture that has been imposed on me from living here my entire life. I’d like to understand how people from another side of the world looks at the same things.”   

 

Thompson plans to leave in September. But the program is not limited to students. Dr. Lemoine says that, ultimately, the collaboration could include faculty exchanges.