Language skills help alum land job

Alex Howell's initiative in acting on information shared in an email changed his trajectory. The spring 2024 University of North Georgia (UNG) graduate attended the Japan-Georgia Futures Forum and landed his current job as client service assistant with Hylant Toyotsu, an American-based risk management consulting company that supports Japanese clients.

"It's great to go in person and meet the decision-makers," Howell said. "UNG pretty much handed me that opportunity, and I took it."

Dr. Sung Shin Kim, who leads UNG's East Asian studies bachelor's degree program, sent the email encouraging students to attend the forum at Georgia Tech a couple of months before Howell graduated.

"That's our role. We open doors, and we hope students walk through them. They take advantage of these opportunities because they feel supported," Kim said. "We want to connect students to real-world career opportunities they might not otherwise consider."

Howell, who earned a degree in East Asian studies with a Japanese concentration, was able to take advantage of the opportunity thanks to the Japanese language learning he experienced at UNG under the guidance of Dr. Tomoe Nishio and Sawako Tsutsumi.

"Dr. Nishio is a great professor. She taught me the language from the ground up," said Howell, a Loganville, Georgia, native. "I wouldn't be where I am without my professors."

Those skills have come in handy with a company that needed someone with Japanese language skills to assist some of its clients.

"They wanted to bridge that gap, and that's where I stepped in," Howell said.

Tsutsumi, lecturer of Japanese, said Howell was one of her most engaged students, and she remembers him organizing workshops to help other students learn Japanese. Even his current role is laying a foundation for others.

"He's an excellent role model for students in the East Asian studies program. They can see how their degree can lead to a career," Tsutsumi said. "There are over 500 Japanese companies in Georgia."

Nishio, associate professor of Japanese, said Howell has an insatiable desire to expand his knowledge about Japanese language and culture. That has been useful in Howell's current role.

"I admire him because he has spent so much time learning about insurance and Japanese terms in such a short time," Nishio said.