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IEC Interns

All About the IEC Interns

IEC Interns are Orange Coast College or Diablo Valley College students who have been chosen to help IEC LIVE! students develop their English skills through one-to-one conversation, assisting IEC instructors in-class, attending workshops, and town halls. Our interns are enthusiastic, hard-working and so much fun to hang out with!

Name: Yuna Watanabe

Hello! I am Yuna and a conversation partner at IEC. My hobby is to doodle or anything that is related to art. My major is communications and hopefully, in the future, I will be able to help others just like how the IEC program helps international students around the world. I believe that IEC is not only a great program for learning English but also a great program to learn leadership skills and American culture to help you achieve your future goals. 

Name: Morgan Burton

Hi, my name is Morgan. I am an intern at IEC and a student at Orange Coast College. I plan on majoring in business administration and some of my hobbies include going to the beach, art, and riding my bike. Altogether, I think IEC is a great community of people with some wonderful teachers!

Name: Xochitl Avila

Hi, my name is Xochitl, and I am an IEC intern and a student at OCC. I’ve been an IEC intern since the 2020 Spring semester. I am studying political science and still figuring out what I want to do for a career. I enjoy baking and spending time outside with my dog or going for a walk. I think IEC is a program full of great people who are willing to help you achieve your goals and adjust to life in the U.S. It is also a great place to learn communication skills. I look forward to meeting you!

Name: Kenta Shigemori

Hi, my name is Kenta. I was an IEC student last summer like you guys right now. Besides being an IEC intern, I'm also the president of the International Volunteer Club at OCC which originally belonged to IEC so I’ve been part of IEC since last summer. My hobbies are playing basketball, magic tricks, and photography. If you guys are interested in those, feel free to talk to me! My major is architecture and my career goal is working on smart city designs which include robots or AIs in a city. If you always try hard and do your best in IEC, IEC would definitely be the best place to improve all of your English skills. Let's have some fun and learn English together!!

Name: Haruki Koyama

G’day IEC students!! My name is Haruki, a first-year economics major student at Orange Coast College and I’m currently an intern at IEC. I’m a big fan of ONE OK ROCK and I like to play soccer on my days off. I was born in Japan but raised in Malaysia, so I can understand how hard it is to learn a second language in a different country; I’m here to help support you guys to contribute to the success of learning a new language and also achieving your academic goals. Thoroughly, IEC is a great English learning program for international students who want to come to the US to study! I’ll see you guys soon!!

Name: Takuya Sugahara 

Hi! My name is Takuya Sugahara. I’m from Japan. I am an intern at IEC and a student at Orange Coast College. I was an IEC student like you guys until this April. My major is business administration. And my hobbies are playing and watching soccer. I am also a big fan of FC Barcelona. IEC is a close-knit community, so I’m sure you’ll feel very comfortable to talk with anyone who is in IEC. I hope I can see you guys soon! Thank you!

Name: Taiga Komatsuki

Hello, IEC students, I am Taiga Komatsuki from Japan and maybe Korea. Now, I am an OCC student, but I was an IEC student in 2019 summer, so feel free to ask me any questions about OCC as well as IEC. I am majoring in Psychology. My hobby is to play soccer. I started learning piano by myself last year. IEC is a great place to learn English. There are so many exciting activities waiting for you! I’m excited to see you guys soon!

Name: Ayaka Ikeda

Hi, IEC students:) I’m Ayaka. I was an IEC student and I will study at OCC from this fall. My hobbies are watching movies, listening to music and skiing. I’m really interested in working as a film buyer for my future, so my major is film study. IEC is a wonderful program to gain academic English skills and, at the same time, it is a significant experience to learn with nice peers from various countries. Feel free to talk to me and ask me anything. ;) Can’t wait to see you guys soon! 

Name: Brent Cariaga

Hi, I’m Brent! I am an IEC Intern from Orange Coast College, and I specialize in being a Conversation Partner for IEC students. My major is Computer Information Systems (CIS), and I recently started my own website design company. I am currently studying Marketing at Orange Coast College, in order to learn how to market my company more effectively. My hobbies include: watching Anime, reading Manga, playing soccer, going rock climbing, making films, doing magic tricks, and playing video games. IEC is an awesome place to learn English! It has many awesome teachers, as well as many awesome Interns. So, if you want to learn English, be sure to do it at IEC!

Name: Ami Suzui

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Hi :) My name is Ami, and I am an IEC intern from Orange Coast College, and my major is communications studies. My hobbies include anything that has to do with binge-watching YouTube videos, Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime. (Basically any video streaming platform, I will be watching them!) I love talking about food, so if you want to talk about your favorites or recommendations you can always talk to me ;) or really any topic because I love talking with new friends. I hope to see you around!

Name: Aisha Kashaeva

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My name is Aisha. My story with IEC at OCC begins with my aunt. She found out about it first and then told me; that’s how I got there. I started in 2017. I study languages, and I speak English, Russian, Italian, French, a little bit of Arabic and Hebrew. I got my bachelor’s degree in linguistics, and this year I’m starting my master’s degree program which is going to be in Law. I'm a future lawyer and I hope I’ll get the opportunity to work at the UN. My experience at IEC was amazing; I left America 3 years ago, but I’m still in touch with the teachers and people I used to study with. I love our teachers; they were always available during office hours. Whenever we needed their help, we could always ask any questions. I got a lot of experience at IEC.

Name: Takayuki Sugahara

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Hi, my name is Takayuki; please call me TAKA. I was a student at IEC and graduated IEC Session 3 2020. My hobbies are watching NBA, playing basketball, and playing games. When I was a high school student, I was interested in English. After that, I started to study English with my friends by watching Avengers serIes. IEC is a great English school. At IEC, I studied five necessary skills: Reading, Writing, Grammar, Listening, and Speaking. Comparing with then and now, my English ability definitely improved because of IEC teachers and its good environment. Nice to meet you and welcome to IEC!!!