Meet Highschool Program coordinator

Hi I’m Sayaka, the High School Program (HSA) coordinator at CIEE Kyoto. I am also in charge of Gap Year program(GYA). Here, I would like to tell you a little bit about myself. I was born in Osaka, Japan. I was in Osaka until high school, but I decided to go study abroad before going to college. I believe it was the best decision I’ve ever made because the experience living abroad when I was young made me grow a lot and open up my eyes. I hope you all have valuable experiences living in Japan, and I hope to make the experience the best possible it can be! 

After graduating from college in the U.S., I ended up working for a printing company in California and went back to school to get my MBA degree in New York City. I enjoyed living in the U.S. and I made many good friends from all over the world, and they are still good friends of mine.

Since I came back to Japan, I was hanging out with many international friends at first maybe because I felt more comfortable around international people, but I now spend a lot of time with my family, and I’m happy to be able to be close to my mom since she is now living alone. I would like to visit many places in Japan since I was gone for a long time and never really traveled around when I was young. The next destination I would like to travel to is Miyazaki prefecture and Amami-Oshima island.

Before starting my career in CIEE, I experienced many kinds of jobs, but I’ve always wanted to do jobs that help young people, so I am happy to be able to work with a bunch of young CIEE students looking forward to their bright future!