IEC@OCC students come from all over the world and have unique dreams for their education and future. This session, we are highlighting some of our students from Japan. We love to learn about our students, their academic history, and their future goals! Let’s meet some of our IEC@OCC students: they wrote their bios themselves! What impressive English skills!

Meet our IEC@OCC students!

Rei Kakihana

Rei Kakihana is from Okinawa, Japan. She has wanted to live in America since she went to Hawaii as study abroad when she was a middle school student. It is the biggest reason why she decided to come to IEC@OCC. She wants to be a
flight attendant in the future, so OCC is a perfect school for her because there is a course for airline travel careers. She is really enjoying her study life because IEC’s teachers and classmates have given her a good impression in her American life.

Kaede Katsuyama

Kaede Katsuyama was born in Tokyo and grew up in Yokohama, Japan. She wants to learn about hospitality because she would like to work in the airline industry in the future. Her parents like traveling and she loves trips, too. They took her to a number of places so far. Because of her travels, she has learned about various cultures and became even more interested in international cultures. That is why she would like to study hospitality in OCC.

Sayaka Kikuchi

Sayaka Kikuchi is from Tokyo which is the capital city in Japan. She went to an all-girls school from elementary school to high school. During her school life with the same friends, she began to desire to be in a new environment to get inspiration. So she decided to go to American local high school in Ohio as an exchange student for a year. The experiences she had there were her greatest reasons to come to IEC@OCC. Since one of her hobbies is editing videos, shewants to study film at OCC.

Riko Okawa

Riko Okawa was born and raised in Tokyo, Japan. For 15 years, she was educated at Waldorf Steiner School. She did not watch TV or other media until she was 11 years old, which created her flexibility and originality. At Waldorf Steiner School, she was able to learn the major artistic subjects. She was also able to experience agricultural, career and welfare practices and wrote a graduation thesis; these experiences built her independence and flexible way of thinking. Because she wants to expand her view and have more creativity, she tries to work hard and study hard in the U.S., which will create a valuable experience for her.

Elena Shibahara

Elena Shibahara was born and raised in Kyoto, Japan. Growing up, Elena was always interested in studying abroad and interacting with people from different countries since she grew up in mixed culture family. Elena came to IEC@OCC to
improve her English skills and to be prepared enough for classes at OCC. Elena will major [in] hospitality at OCC to pursue her dream to be a flight attendant.