Study Abroad with Holly Grace

Transcript

It’s time to meet Holly Grace. Holly Grace is a senior here from Norfolk studying cinema production. She’s gonna share how her passion for anime led her to minor in Japanese and a study abroad in the country for a summer. The youngest of five sisters, she’ll talk about how her study abroad and her time at ODU helped her find her thing. Take it away, Holly.

– Thanks, Alex. Hi, everyone, greetings from Norfolk, Virginia. I come from a family of six kids and as the youngest of five girls, I was always trying to find my thing, the thing that made me unique. Well, at ODU, I found it. In fact, I found two. I decided to become a cinema production major and when I took my first film class, I knew I had found my tribe. I also discovered another passion of mine, Japanese. I’m an animator, so I decided to take Japanese as my foreign language requirement. Plot twist, I fell in love with it so much that I decided to minor in Japanese. Thanks to my Japanese senseis, I’ve studied with Japanese foreign exchange students and this summer even studied abroad in Japan, which was one of the most magical experiences I’ve ever had. And not to be dramatic, but that study abroad program changed my life. Touring shrines, experiencing ancient and modern Japanese culture, attending noh and kabuki workshops, learning skills like Japanese calligraphy and making matcha tea, and talking with Japanese college students are just some of the highlights of my study abroad experience. It was one of the scariest and most adventurous things I’ve ever done. And I’m grateful to my professors and ODU for giving me the opportunity to widen my perspectives of the world. At ODU, learning doesn’t just take place in the classroom. It happens behind the camera, on stage, in the production room or anywhere your major takes you. And that kind of support and hands-on training is what separates ODU from other schools. And now just like my siblings, I finally have my thing. Thanks, ODU. Back to you, Alex.

– Wow, Holly, it sounds like you were able to do so much in a short time during that study abroad. I love that your ODU professors encourage you to combine your passions and make it across the world for this once in a lifetime experience, thank you.