Earlham College | News from Public Affairs

Kaeko Matsumoto enjoys riding her bike around campus and throughout the city of Richmond. In addition to the biking, she plays tennis or swims nearly every day.

RICHMOND, Ind. — After completing a long and satisfying career, choosing to go back to college and study for a year in another country would be a frightening proposition for many people.

"The information and knowledge I gain here at Earlham will give me courage, I believe," she says. "The main purpose of my studies is to contribute to society. This has always been important to me. I think people have always put forth a lot of effort toward exploring ways to create people's happiness, and this is what I want to do."

Kaeko is one of 12 Waseda University students studying at Earlham College this year.

"Maybe I can be an example for some of them," she says about her Earlham and Waseda classmates. "Once they have finished their first career field, maybe they will think about a second field."

Kaeko worked for 25 years in Japan as a civil engineer investigating earthquakes and their effects on grounds and buildings.

"Although I enjoyed that field, I felt that it might be the best time to change to another," she says. "I had thought about literature, which I loved as a child, and once I began, it felt like I was going back to an old favorite place."

While working and raising a family, she found herself wanting more time to read and study books.

"I told myself nearly 10 years ago, that if I had any chance to study literature, I would take it," Kaeko says. "I had been looking for an appropriate opportunity to study culture and literature in the U.S.A. Earlham and Waseda were the answer."

She is especially interested in Western literature and says she hopes studying at Earlham will help clear up language discrepancies she experiences when reading classical and modern literature. She lists Jean Baptiste Racine, Raymond Chandler and Mishima Yukio among her favorite authors.

Kaeko doesn't know what she will do after she finishes her literature degree, but she doesn't rule out writing.

"I don't have a clear idea about what I will do," she says. "A new vocation involving literature will develop in me as I continue and finish my studies."

Kaeko is determined, however, to continue being a results-oriented person who overcomes obstacles. For example, she did not worry that there were few women in civil engineering in Japan when she began working.

"I was a kind of minority," she says. "I used to be a little intimidated because I was one of few women in earthquake engineering. I think I must be ambitious, but it is something that I am not conscious of."

After quickly settling in at Earlham, she was excited to explore the city. She purchased a small bicycle online, and after a bike trip across town to Wal-Mart, she realized she needed a more substantial bike.

"I did not feel safe in traffic," she says. Kaeko located Ike's Bikes, a shop in downtown Richmond, and traded for a sturdy cycle to navigate the busy roads she wants to travel.

Although she studied English grammar and reading for six years in middle and high school, Kaeko says she never had the opportunity to speak English in Japan.

"I have never had an English conversation class until now," she says. "We never had the opportunity to practice speaking English in Japan. It was only grammar and reading. This is my first time really speaking the language."

Kaeko was surprised to find no older non-traditional student peers at Earlham. Of Waseda's 55,000 students, she reports, about 1,000 are "second-stage" students. She says Waseda offers many regular courses designed for older students.

She does not worry about the age difference here at Earlham, however. "It is more important for me to stay focused on my studies," she says.

Contact:
Mark Blackmon, director of media relations
765/983-1256 — E-Mail Mark