Who Am I and Why Am I Here

My name is Trent Baker and I am a senior at Lyon College majoring in English with a minor in Philosophy.  I have an interest in teaching English as a foreign language in Japan. 

Foreign language is an important part of any student’s college experience, but choosing Japanese was more of a personal decision for me.  Before attending Lyon I met a Japanese language student that attended Lyon who made a huge impression on me.  That student’s name was Josh Looney.  He was an English major but took Japanese as his foreign language while studying at Lyon.  I would talk with him at the coffee shop where I worked while he did his Japanese homework and I was thoroughly impressed with his retention of a language that looked so foreign to me.  After talking with him on and off throughout the school year he shared with me his future plans to teach English in Japan as a foreign language.  The idea of education, travel, adventure, and exploration intrigued me.  After meeting Josh, I decided to follow in his footsteps, not only by going to Lyon, but also in attempting to learn the language and culture of Japan in hopes of teaching there after graduation. 

Since being at Lyon, I took Japanese 101 and flippantly applied myself, not fully grasping an understanding of  language nor culture.  Then after a devastating house fire I had to drop Japanese 102 because the course load was too much for me to handle; I was bound for failure.  It was only after a Nichol’s trip to Japan this summer that my interest in previous goals was once again solidified.  I want a genuine understanding of the religion, culture, and language and am determined to apply myself in hopes of success in not only the language classes but also in my endeavors to teach in a country whose people I am extremely interested in.