Naoki Tsuneda is a Japanese international foreign exchange student. He is a student who works hard and aims to excel at anything he puts his mind to. Even though he says that his English skills are not all that great, he has a good grasp of the English language, along with many of the nuances that are part of the language as a whole.  

Tsuneda wants to learn all that he can about English so he can use those skills later in his life after he graduates. As his brother is a teacher in Japan, and he wants to follow in his footsteps.

“Many of the teachers in Japan speak only English, because of the exchange practice in Japan.” Tsuneda said. “I want to learn English so that I can provide an understanding with students learning English or Japanese, so that they do not become overwhelmed by the difference in language. It is better for a person to have someone who knows the language you are learning to provide more assistance.” 

His major is psychology because he finds the content interesting, and understanding people is a crucial art for anybody to have, even in a school setting. Knowing this, he is interested in pursuing a minor in business, although he is still undecided because many Japanese students go to college to pursue business, economics or mathematic degrees. He wants to break the mold and do something that is different from all of the others. He agrees that having something to do with business is a good idea for the simple fact that businesses in Japan often look for that in a job. He hopes to graduate by 2022.  

Tsuneda chose Washburn because his advisor in Japan told him that teachers at Washburn are kind to international students, and that classes are often quite small, between 15 and 25 people, which is great for getting help and asking question in class. In Japan, class sizes are usually twice that size because of the number of people there. The other factor that helped him decide is the cost of Washburn, because the tuition is a lot cheaper than most of the colleges in Japan.

Tsuneda enjoys his classes and gaining his education.

“Philosophy class is probably my most interesting class, because the act of thinking philosophically is something that I am not used to, so it is a bit difficult. However, I really enjoy doing this, it helps me think differently than I normally do.”

His favorite subject is biology, and he hopes to take that along with a music class, art class and another philosophy class next semester.

Tsuneda really likes the people at Washburn. The teachers and students he has met are kind and helpful to international students, and the friends that he has made are always open to help him. Something he doesn’t like about Washburn is the cost of the products.

“Everything is so expensive here, like food and items from the Ichabod Shop,” he said. 

His future goals after graduating from Washburn are to be a teacher like his brother or a businessman like his father. He wishes to use his English skills to get a job as a translator or counselor. He wants to advise students about the best course of action for them, especially if they want to go abroad. His goal is to graduate with a GPA of 3.5 or above.