Statement of Purpose.
My name is John Holaday and I am currently a sophomore at California State University Monterey Bay. I am a Japanese Language and Culture major at CSUMB. I grew up in Salinas, CA and attended North Salinas High School. I passed 4 years of Japanese language classes at NSHS and even took the Japanese AP test my senior year. Before my senior year I was able to travel to Japan as part of the Kizuna Project, a Japanese government funded project to show students of other countries how Japan had recovered from the tsunami that had hit a year earlier. This experience is actually what made me want to major in Japanese. I also graduated from NSHS with the Seal of Biliteracy in Japanese.
When it comes to my education, I have always put my best effort into everything that I do. This can be easily seen in my college transcript. I currently have a 3.961 GPA and I am only 4units short of being a year ahead in my studies. I am doing everything in my power to maintain this high GPA and even raise it back up to a 4.0 or above. I was able to obtain so many credits early on because I was able to pass 4 AP tests during my time at High School. I wanted to achieve more and finish college sooner so I decided to take the AP tests and passed them. Passing these test showed me that not only could I push myself to learn more than my fellow classmates, but that I was able to understand new concepts quickly and was able to use them with ease.
I have been studying Japanese language and culture for 8 years now. I am proficient enough to be able to survive on my own in Japan to an extent. I have learned many basic and some complex grammar and vocabulary. I personally feel more at ease when speaking the language than when reading. This has made me want to work even harder on my reading and writing skills so that I can truly become fluent in the language. By the end of my college career, I want to be able to pass the JLPT N2 test and be able to survive on my own in Tokyo, without having to speak a single word of English anywhere I go.
After my college career my goal is to become a translator or interpreter in Japanese. My personal goal is to either work for the U.N. or for a foreign business. I love working with other people and to be an interpreter or a translator, this would be the ultimate dream come true for me. I also love helping people and by being a translator or interpreter I would be able to help out dozens of people from around the world with different cultures and mindsets. I want to liveabroad and become immersed in the culture that I have come to know and love
When it comes to my education, I have always put my best effort into everything that I do. This can be easily seen in my college transcript. I currently have a 3.961 GPA and I am only 4units short of being a year ahead in my studies. I am doing everything in my power to maintain this high GPA and even raise it back up to a 4.0 or above. I was able to obtain so many credits early on because I was able to pass 4 AP tests during my time at High School. I wanted to achieve more and finish college sooner so I decided to take the AP tests and passed them. Passing these test showed me that not only could I push myself to learn more than my fellow classmates, but that I was able to understand new concepts quickly and was able to use them with ease.
I have been studying Japanese language and culture for 8 years now. I am proficient enough to be able to survive on my own in Japan to an extent. I have learned many basic and some complex grammar and vocabulary. I personally feel more at ease when speaking the language than when reading. This has made me want to work even harder on my reading and writing skills so that I can truly become fluent in the language. By the end of my college career, I want to be able to pass the JLPT N2 test and be able to survive on my own in Tokyo, without having to speak a single word of English anywhere I go.
After my college career my goal is to become a translator or interpreter in Japanese. My personal goal is to either work for the U.N. or for a foreign business. I love working with other people and to be an interpreter or a translator, this would be the ultimate dream come true for me. I also love helping people and by being a translator or interpreter I would be able to help out dozens of people from around the world with different cultures and mindsets. I want to liveabroad and become immersed in the culture that I have come to know and love
Resume
This is my Resume as of 2017.