Graduate Spotlight: Lipscomb alumna accepted into selective JET Program
Anna Adams will work in Japan as an assistant language teacher and represent the U.S. as a cultural ambassador.
Keely Hagan | 615-966-6491 |
Anna Adams (’23) of Rogersville, Tennessee, has been accepted into the highly selective Japanese Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program USA. The only teaching exchange program managed by the government of Japan, it funds young professionals to live and work in cities, towns and villages throughout Japan to represent the United States as cultural ambassadors.
“English is very difficult to learn as a foreign language,” Adams says, “so there is a lot of importance placed on giving students access to a native speaker.”
Anna Adams
The program will assign Adams to a school where she will work with a Japanese English teacher and serve as a language model for students. With a departure date set for early August, Adams has committed to the program for at least one year, with the option to continue for up to five years.
“I have dreamed of living in Japan since I was in high school, and I have been fascinated by the Japanese language and culture since I was about six years old,” Adams says. “I think the ‘differentness’ is what appeals to me. I am interested in seeing life from different perspectives, and not just seeing it, but really experiencing that difference.
“I like that Japanese is completely unrelated to English, meaning there is a treasure trove of cultural and historical insights to be gleaned just from learning the language. I am particularly fascinated by the connections among language, literature and culture,” she continues. “I hope to make a life out of studying those connections.”
Anna Adams receives a first-generation pin from Kimberly Reed
Adams is a first-generation college graduate who transferred to Lipscomb from Walters State Community College her junior year to pursue her Bachelor of Arts in English with a minor in Spanish. In addition to receiving summa cum laude graduation honors, her academic achievements earned her membership in Phi Theta Kappa, Alpha Chi and Sigma Tau Delta honor societies as well as the National Society of Leadership and Success.
“I knew that I wanted to apply for JET when I came to Lipscomb, and so I planned to take as many applicable classes as possible,” Adams says. “I took English Grammar and Linguistics from Dr. Kimberly Reed (professor of English and modern languages), as well as a theory and practice class that focused on teaching and foreign and second languages. These classes helped me build up the sort of linguistic and pedagogical knowledge that will be extremely helpful while both learning a third (and very different) language and teaching English as a foreign language.
I hope to grow personally and in a way that will enable me to make a bigger impact wherever I go in the future. — Anna Adams
The JET Program typically receives 4,000-5,000 applications each year from the U.S., from which about 1,100 are selected. Adams says applying to JET is an arduous undertaking. In September she started the application process that requires a typical application form plus letters of recommendation, legal documents and a written statement of purpose. After making it through the following interview process, she was notified of her acceptance into the program in March.
“All of my professors were incredibly supportive and helpful to me in the application process, particularly during the writing of my statement of purpose. I showed my statement to Dr. Reed and Dr. Jan Harris (associate professor of English and writing), in order to get their feedback, which they generously gave. I also had some great help from a friend of mine who graduated from Lipscomb last year. She works as a copy editor now, and she was able to give some very helpful and precise critiques.”
Adams says her expectations of the program and of her time living and working in Japan include becoming conversationally proficient in Japanese, learning more about Japanese culture and cultivating new friendships.
Beyond those immediate rewards, the number one thing she hopes to gain from her experience in the JET program is a new perspective on life.
“I hope to be fundamentally changed,” she explains. “I want what I think I know about life to be challenged, and I want what I think I know about myself to be challenged. I hope to grow personally and in a way that will enable me to make a bigger impact wherever I go in the future.”
After completing the JET program, Adams plans to earn a Ph.D. in linguistics, with the goal of teaching at the university level.