With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility.

My post titles may get more and more irrelevant from this point on.

Anyway, I'd like to add some specific, important tips to complement my first post:


The Application

• Have good reasons for your placement requests; your interviewers will want to know your motivations for living there. For example, I requested Nara because I took a class on The Tale of Genji and was interested in living in an area surrounded by temples I could visit. I also told them that I was unconcerned about where I was actually placed in Japan, as long as I got to go. Make sure your interviewers know you're interested in Japan as a whole. If it sounds like your attitude is "Tokyo or bust," you most likely won't be getting in.

• The "Prior Experience" page, in my opinion, is where you can really set yourself apart from the other applicants. If you have teaching experience, your interviewers will see that before you applied for JET, you were already interested in teaching. If you don't have any official experience, it's time to grasp at straws. Have you ever tutored ANYONE in school? Think back as far as high school even. Any way you can fill up those boxes with relevant information, the better. Personally, I never intended on becoming a teacher. My only official teaching experience was a year as a teacher's assistant in high school. STILL, that is better than nothing.

• Other Teaching or Tutoring: I also mentioned that I unofficially tutored my classmates in English and Spanish when I was in the Spanish Honor Society. If you're leaving a lot blank on this page, don't worry. JET isn't necessarily looking for seasoned teachers. They're looking for multi-faceted individuals who will represent their respective country in a positive light no matter the situation. Remember: if you are chosen as a JET, you may go to a small village where many people have had limited interaction with a foreigner, or no interaction for that matter. How you act (and react) will mold their impressions of everyone from your country. It's a lot of responsibility.

• International / Intercultural Experience section: Extremely important. The whole point of JET is to promote internationalization (a key word for your statement of purpose). Show them you care about different cultures. And this doesn't only apply for ethnic or racial cultures! This can also be any subcultures you happen to be interested in. For example, I took a literature class a few semesters ago that involved a lot of underground movements such as beatnik and burgeoning homosexual subcultures, among others. Don't forget about subcultures. They are specific interests that you can expand upon in your interview to show the depth of your interest in various fields! Just like any job application, don't forget to relate everything you have done to aspects you can contribute to the JET Program. Have you organized extracurricular activities? Worked with kids? Don't forget that the homeless are a subculture. If you've ever participated in a soup kitchen, you've had experience with another culture. Make it work to your advantage.

• The last section on this page is "Long Term Plans." I see no harm in posting what I wrote in my application. Remember, it's all about cultural exchange and internationalization.

"My future profession concerns creating educational video games that help younger generations build interest in foreign languages earlier in life so that 1) foreign language acquisition will be easier overall and 2) children will be exposed to and immersed in foreign cultures to which they may not have otherwise had access. My aim is to create culturally aware children (and adults) who will perpetuate the knowledge to their children. Through my career, I hope to encourage popular media to embrace intercultural exchange and display positive attitudes toward foreign languages and cultures."

I hope this blog was helpful! My next one will be about the actual interview process. If anyone has any specific questions, don't hesitate to ask here on the blog or e-mail me at TanukiSunrise@gmail.com!