Vik Diederich

    The Japanese Studies department has been an academic home for me these last four years. Beyond the coursework, all my favorite professors are in this department, and it’s where I’ve connected best with fellow students. I still keep in touch with people I met on the first day of freshman year and continue to make new friends and acquaintances in the department every year. While I could easily talk about the bigger moments—like studying abroad in Japan—my fondest memories are in the mundane. The best ones are the everyday moments that made me excited to show up to class.

   Though I’m hoping to pursue a career in tech, I plan to carry my Japanese Studies degree with me—continuing to study the language and pulling from Japanese folklore and mythology in the video games I create as a hobby. Though graduating, this major has and will continue to inspire me to create and research.