I had the opportunity to take a class in the School of Education called “Global Perspectives on Creativity” – wherein the coursework discussed how creativity itself is expressed, conceptualized, and experienced around the world. The final project was to choose a specific nation and explore creativity around a topic there, and because of my background in taking Japanese I decided to look at how creativity is felt throughout the Japanese educational system. Given the nebulous nature of ‘creativity’ itself, it was certainly an interesting step out of my normal coursework; and, because of my experience in learning Japanese as an outsider from the national education system, I was curious as to how or if my experience reflected accurately towards anything domestically felt. Ultimately, the analysis revealed that learning in Japan – and how creativity is felt there – is underpinned by an experience as diverse as the history of the nation itself.

Much like many of my other writing samples, this one does a good job in displaying my ability to tie together interestingly distinct pieces of information into one cohesive piece. Obviously, education as a whole is a topic rooted in the history of wherever you’re being educated, and creativity-analysis is something I’d, personally, never considered prior to taking the class. Japan in particular has a background in isolationism, which makes the curiosity into how either are experienced all the more fascinating. How would our educational system and mental processes therein be different if we had little-to-no contact with the outside world for over 200 years? I also find it vital to include something that’s related to my knowledge of Japanese itself, given I dedicated so much time and mental effort towards that during my time at Drexel. While I haven’t taken any classes in the subject over the past year or two, the residual interest and curiosity in the distinctly unique nation still holds true in my brain. The analysis required both a historical and contemporary framework, as well as a deeper dive in how the language (and language-learning) is constructed to affect creativity, a topic which I’m personally familiar with. It was a really interesting piece to work on that highlights my individualized interests and writing abilities at the same time.