Gong Cha | May 6, 2019
“I have two options for my dress, and they are both pink. One’s bright pink and the other one’s a lighter, baby pink. I think I want to buy a new pair of shoes. I haven’t decided what to do with my hair…” Our conversations don’t always start this way, but this one is for an important occasion.
Mark your calendars, people. On May 23, 2019, Aya will walk across the Chan Centre stage and receive her BA diploma from the University of British Columbia. “As soon as all my grades came out, I downloaded the letter of completion, took a screenshot, and sent it to my family!”
I’m sure you can imagine the level of excitement here. I saw Aya nearly every day for the past two years, and I know that she has worked so extremely hard to get here. Now that she’s officially finished her undergraduate degree, we went to grab some ramen and bubble tea to celebrate.
Time for some R&R
Aya seemed far more relaxed now, with the endless cycle of assignment deadlines and paper-writing finally behind her. She is taking the month of May for some well-deserved R&R, being creative in the kitchen and making it back to the gym.
“I also do a bit of calligraphy and watercolour painting,” which is her new-found hobby. “When I went back to Japan in December, I was organizing my stuff and found my watercolour set from elementary school. And I thought, why don’t I bring this with me to Vancouver?”
To her surprise, Aya found that she quite enjoyed painting. “I went on Pinterest, and learned that there’s more to watercolour than just the 12-colour set. I went to buy new brushes and watercolour pencils.”
Later this month, Aya’s mom will be visiting Vancouver from Japan to attend her graduation. She’s been here twice before, and loves this city. “I don’t know what I’ll be doing with my mom yet. Just normal, daily things, mostly. She’s never been to my current place. It’s my first apartment outside of dormitory life, with a proper kitchen and everything. It’ll be nice to cook together, and show her what my life looks like here.”
Nara, the magical place where wild deer bow to you
I’ve seen Aya introduce herself to different groups of people many times in the past couple of years. It often starts with something like: “My name is Aya Hioki, and I study Political Science. I am from Nara, Japan, home to a lot of deer.” I find it endearing.
“We have lots of wild deer in Nara, more than a thousand of them. Because Nara used to be a capital city, there are lots of temples and shrines. In Nara, deer are believed to be holy creatures. Like messengers of God.”
“We’re not close to the ocean. So for Nara people, going to the beach is a special, precious thing. Japan is an island country, so historically we eat fish. But Nara is in an interior prefecture, so they came up with a way to preserve fresh fish, in the form of sushi wrapped in persimmon leaf. The sushi is pressed, like oshi sushi. You don’t eat the leaf, but the sushi has a nice persimmon flavour.”
I would so love to visit Nara. Last (and only) time I was in the Kansai region in Japan, it rained heavily the day I wanted to go meet the famous wild deer of Nara. (They apparently bow to you when you feed them!) I stayed indoors that day and went to the aquarium in Osaka instead. The aquarium was fun and all, but I’ve just really got to make it back there soon and go chill with the wide-eyed messengers of God.
Did you know there are sand dunes in Japan!
Aya has seen so much of Japan outside of Nara, too. “The summer of 2015, right before starting university, I did a backpacking trip around Japan.”
“My eldest brother is a musician, and he wanted to do a busking trip around the country. He wanted to have me as an assistant, and I agreed to join him. It was supposed to be a 3 month trip with him. But… we didn’t get along.”
Uh-oh.
“We lasted maybe one week. And then we got really upset at each other. And my brother left me alone somewhere in the countryside! But my parents didn’t ask me to come back. They said continue, you don’t have to follow where your brother goes, but go as you like. My parents were very supportive. I stayed in hostels and guesthouses. And I managed to finish the 3 month trip by myself.”
On this trip, Aya visited all 47 prefectures of Japan, and stayed at least a night in each of them. “So what I did was, eat something local, visit somewhere nice, and take a picture.”
One prefecture she really liked was Shimane, which is situated in the western part of the main island, and has a very nice shrine and good food. Another favourite of hers was Tottori. “There’s a desert in Tottori. It’s the only desert in Japan. I saw camels, and some artwork made with sand that took a year to build. It was impressive.” I had no idea Japan had a desert!
Arjan Richter
Wikimedia Commons | CC BY 2.0
Also, Hokkaido. “In Otaru city, I saw a steam clock and I thought it looked familiar. It turns out, it was built by the same person who made the steam clock in Vancouver’s Gastown!”
Oh, in case you’re concerned, Aya and her brother get along great now. “He used to do music in Tokyo. But he came back to Nara because he wanted to stay a part of Nara’s cultural scene through music. He’s now Nara’s tourism ambassador.” He even has a song that Aya wrote the lyrics to. “I wrote a poem, and he made it into a song.”
Life on the other side of the Pacific
From the interior prefecture of Nara, Aya moved to Vancouver, a city literally surrounded by water. “It wasn’t easy, obviously. I was nineteen, and it was my first time being away from home.” She started at an English language school, and she set a goal to get into UBC. There’s been many challenges, from finding the right homestay family, to living with roommates, to learning to be confident in an English-speaking learning environment.
But looking back, there’s also been many highlights. Life lessons were learned.
“I met my fiancé, Alex, on the second day of Jump Start orientation, literally when I started university. We knew from early on that we clicked, and we started going out soon afterwards.”
“What I learned in university is that opportunities don’t just come to you. You need to grab them yourself. So if you want to grab those opportunities, you need to break away from your comfort zone and try something new. Otherwise nothing will happen.”
She learned not to be afraid of making mistakes, even though she felt that her English wasn’t perfect, and her confidence level sometimes low.
Learning to be confident
“The best thing I did was becoming a Vantage Peer Mentor. For me, it was quite a big thing, to be in a role to initiate something in an English-speaking environment. Because at that point, I didn’t have much confidence. I felt my English wasn’t strong, and I was barely surviving university. I needed something to build up my confidence, and being a Vantage Peer Mentor did that for me.”
Tell me about the Vantage Peer Mentors, I ask, and Aya starts laughing hysterically. She blushes a little bit, even. For the past two years, Aya and I have worked together in leading this amazing student team. My weekly meetings with this group have consistently been the highlight of my work week.
“So Vantage is a first-year program at UBC for international students. You get to take academic courses, but you also have extra English support to help you succeed during your first year. And the Vantage Peer Mentors, are a group of former Vantage students who are there to help first-year students in the program transition from high school to university life. We support their personal, academic, and social growth as peers.”
“And then afterwards, I started working. All those things built up my confidence, which is a very important part of my life. Stepping out of my comfort zone gives me a sense of achievement.”
Focusing on the present
“Of course there’s been hard times. Bad days and good days. When I’m feeling a little down or uneasy, I do this mindfulness training. I use an app called Headspace. It makes you pay attention to the present. Not the past or the future, but now. It helps me be grateful for what I have now.”
“And I journal everyday, to reflect and make myself better tomorrow. I started this five-year journal one and a half years ago, but I wish I had started earlier. I write about how I feel and what I did. For example, today, I’ll write that I had tasty ramen, and of course I’ll write about this interview. I might also say that I went to the gym this morning and I feel good about it.”
“I have a 3-star system. A three-star day is a very good day. A one-star day is not a good day. And it’s fine to have a one-star day. During exams season, usually it’s one star every day. And that’s okay.”
I think the star system is brilliant! I’m going to have to steal this idea and implement it in my journaling routine, effective immediately.
Did I tell you she’s incredible?
Aya will be spending this summer back in Japan with her family. She plans to come back to Vancouver by autumn and start looking for jobs. “That’s why I’m applying for the post-graduation work permit. It’s complicated, it’s so troublesome. But I guess I just need to get it done!”
“I want to work with international students. There’s so many different ways, and I’m still exploring. It’s because I’m an international student myself, and I want to share my experience and use it to help them.”
Listen. This girl is incredible. Her desire to support the international student experience is so genuine, and she does nothing half-heartedly. She’s truly an inspiration. I’m talking to you, student affairs professionals who may be looking to hire for the new academic year. ; )
I’ll have to find out which dress she ends up wearing at her graduation. I’m entirely sure she’ll look great either way. You know where I’ll be the afternoon of May 23 – back at the Rose Garden where I once held my diploma and smiled for photos in my cap and gown.
“I try to appreciate what I have right now. There are things I hate about the past, and it’s okay to feel down because of it. But I always try to remember what my teacher told me when I graduated from high school. That everything has a meaning, so don’t think things were a waste. And that’s why I am here and that’s why I am who I am right now.”
Aya Hioki
Connect with Aya on LinkedIn
