A group of Japan-born women encourages younger generation to pursue their goals for four decades
From Left, Mrs. Masako Mera, AAJUW Scholarship chair; recipients Kayo Matsumoto, Christine Fukushima, and Junko Uehara Moran; Ms. Kikuko Otake; Ms. Tamiko Namba, President of AAJUW. (Cultural News Photo)
A group of Japan-born women with the name of the American Association of Japanese University Women, has been encouraging younger generation by recognizing their goals and providing scholarships for four decades.
On January 23 at Kyoto Grand Hotel in Little Tokyo, Downtown Los Angeles, the 2011 AAJUW Scholarship Award Presentation took place with 50 members of the association.
The scholarships were awarded to two Japanese newcomer women and an American-born Japanese woman in the event and awardees expressed their appreciations, thoughts and goals in return.
The three recipients of the 2011 AAJUW Scholarship are following:
Christine Fukushima is attending a junior course of Development Studies at California University Berkeley. In this spring, she will be attending Meiji Gakuin University in Yokohama, Japan in atempting to gain fluency of Japanese. She intends to become a lawyer in international affairs such as immigration, citizenship, and refugee rights.
Kayo Matsumoto is a graduate student at California State University Northridge. Having marriage and raising children, she is working on her master program to become Marriage Family Therapist. She is aiming for becoming a counselor to Japanese and Japanese American within Southern California in their own language and providing empathetic counseling.
Junko Uehara Moran will soon be graduating from California State University San Bernardino in master degree of child development. After graduated from Waseda University in Japan, she became occupied with Autism Spectrum Disorder (Jiheisho). She plans to apply for certified behavior analyst to help autistic children and their parents in Japan.
The 2011 AAJUW Scholarship Committee was led by Mrs. Masako Mera with 11 committee members. 15 applications were sent to the committee. Each recipient received $1500 scholarship this year.
