If it weren’t for this quote during the end of my second year of college, I wouldn’t have transformed from the shy, introverted girl from New Jersey to the bright, social butterfly that’s bopping around almost everywhere!

My name is Haley, and I’m a jack of all trades. Nice to meet you!

A “jack of all trades,” you ask? Yup, that’s right – I’m a jack of all trades with interests in linguistics and culture, media communications, and visual art; and without these guys, my life would be so monochromatic!

So to start things off, I’m going to tell you my story, and how it lead me to today! *cues draw my life music*

Art Gave Me Dreams

When I was a little girl, my favorite thing to do was draw. Markers, crayons, watercolor paint… I absolutely loved them all! My favorite subject in elementary school and middle school was, you guessed it, art. That was my first dream career: To become an artist, and more specifically, a cartoonist.

I would fill dozens of sketchbooks with my creations. In fact, I’m pretty sure I still have the ones I’ve collected throughout the years! I was so proud of what I did, but at the same time, I was so shy about it…

Nonetheless, by the time I got to high school, I immediately signed up for Art Experience. My heart was racing with excitement, as I was ready to continue on my dream path. But little did I know that would have been one of the WORST art classes I took. The teacher I had was extremely talented, but was very tough on me when it came to my work. She would make me do projects numerous times, saying things like, “This is not in perspective, do it again!”

This was a Beginners Art class, not AP Studio Art! So with a heavy art, I gave up on my first dream career… But that didn’t stop me from dreaming, for I had more loves coming along the way!

Japan Gave Me Passion

I was about 10 or 11 years old when I was introduced to anime by a good childhood friend of mine. Like every other kid in the neighborhood, I was raised on all of the Toonami classics: Sailor Moon, Pokémon, Tenchi Muyo, Hamtaro – you name it, and I probably watched it! That friend introduced me to a show called Mew Mew Power, and at the time I had NO idea it was originally from Japan. I just thought it was a regular, ol’ American cartoon!

After a few months of waking up at seven in the morning every weekend, the cat was finally out the bag: Mew Mew Power was originally known as Tokyo Mew Mew!

I was shocked, I was confused, but oh boy, I was super excited to find this out! Curious to know more, I went to YouTube. I was able to find numerous videos of Tokyo Mew Mew with Japanese audio and English subtitles!

My life then made a huge 180…

It’s kind of a funny story – I thought I was obligated to know what the characters were saying, so when the day came there would be videos without subtitles, I wouldn’t have to worry. So without a dictionary or a formal class, I began to pick up the Japanese language just like that!

In addition to that tricky art class I took in high school, I was also allowed to take Japanese classes. Moreover, because I picked up so much Japanese from anime, I was able to skip a level and took honors and AP classes from sophomore year to senior year! And the best part of it all? I got to go to Japan…TWICE! Four years later and now I have my B.A. in Japanese Studies!!

Another dream career came to mind: To be an entertainment interpreter/translator!

More Importantly, Media Gave Me a Voice

This. This is what shaped all of my dreams to this day.

Remember when every classic SpongeBob Squarepants episode was extremely quotable? Yup, I was that kid who would say them verbatim. In fact, I remember being very good at memorizing lines from TV shows, movies, and theater – and I still am!

I’d say I LOVE how my voice can do a lot of tricks, and I graduated college with a minor in Rhetoric as well! My main focuses were intercultural and visual communication, but I also love public speaking and performance. In fact, I’ve won numerous awards from Japanese speech contests regionally, nationally, and internationally! It’s been five years I’ve been a public speaker, so time does really fly.

Besides speech contests, I am absolutely in love with being an emcee. My first gig was being an emcee at the following regional speech contest after the one I participated in, and now I am a staff member at my college radio station!

There’s plenty to do at my radio station such as news reporting, creating packages, and hosting music shows. Right now I focus on hosting and producing Alternative Nation, and being a summer news anchor for the film review show The Screening Room. Broadcast radio is quite an adventure, and I’m SO glad I’m giving it a shot!

Which brings me to, yet again, ANOTHER dream career: To be a global journalist and media personality! Right now my ultimate goal is to be involved in the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics. I’m hoping to be a reporter, publicist, or an interpreter/translator for the events, and I am open to whichever role I get!

So with all of that said, there’s SO MANY dreams you can choose from, you just got to have the optimism and courage to jump right into it! I hope you’re able to find your calling and love like I am right now… Good Luck!!