Jessie Kong

Jessie Kong (she/her) - Stanford in Kyoto

Major: Urban Studies

Minor: East Asian Studies

College year while abroad: Spring 2024

About the photo: Me at Mt. Fuji's trailhead with my makeshift walking sticks I made out of brooms from Daiso.

Contact

Email: jkong2@stanford.edu or click here to schedule an appointment.

Q&As

Why did you choose to study in Kyoto?

Study abroad was one of the things I knew I had to do at Stanford. I chose to study abroad in Japan because I had taken a couple years of Japanese class in high school and I enjoy listening to J-pop. I continued to maintain what I had learned in high school through listening and reading lyrics to J-pop songs, but it did not feel like enough. After I participated in the Kyoto short term Global Seminar in Summer 2023, I knew I had to come back to Japan for longer because of how much I enjoyed learning about the history, culture, stories, and infrastructure that the city has to offer.

How did studying away support your academic growth?

The field trips offered by each of the classes in Kyoto provide amazing opportunities to experience class concepts, thus making them so much more meaningful and memorable to me. I have to give a shout out to Prof. Nancy Hamilton's class on Tea Practice, where we got to visit a tea farm to harvest tea leaves, see the machinery used to process leaves, and ultimately taste the tea made from the farm's leaves. Outside of the classes, I am also interested in public transit systems. Being able to spend so much time on trains in Japan inspired me to focus my Urban Studies Senior Capstone project on the use of sounds in Japanese train systems.

What did you learn about yourself during your study away experience, especially through any challenges or major cultural adjustments?

I think the most important self-lesson I got from Kyoto was that I was much more capable of living independently that I thought. I grew up near Stanford, so living on campus did not feel like a huge change from before. Especially during the summer internship, I was completely on my own to figure things out like registering at the ward office, navigating the healthcare system, and tracking expenses, all while having to speak Japanese. After coming back, I feel a lot more self reliant and was able to manage my life at Stanford much more effectively.

Briefly describe a typical day and your favorite part of daily life in your program location.

Wake up. Take the train to school. Run to Family Mart to get famichiki, yasai seikatsu juice, and bag salad for breakfast, and then go to class. Everyday after class was a new adventure, such as walking across the city with friends to pick up a second hand ukelele, lighting hand fireworks by the river, impromptu hikes, and so much more. I think my favorite part of life in Kyoto was hanging out with CASK students (a group of Japanese students that host social events for Stanford students).

If applicable, how did participating in an internship, volunteership or experiential-based project help you grow professionally? What specific skills did you gain?

I did ecology research at the Kobe University Graduate School of Sciences for my summer internship last year. Part of my project involved 10 days of fieldwork in the mountains of Nagano Prefecture, where we extracted nectar from flowers and transferred samples to petridishes for yeast incubation. I also joined one of my labmate's fieldwork in Osaka for a couple days to catch and release various bugs. These fieldwork experiences allowed me to better understand how developed spaces and nature intertwine in Japan. It has also helped me decide to do work on urban nature in the Bay Area this summer.

What was the most essential item you took with you on the program?

Handheld mini fan. Summers in Japan are so hot and humid, so anything that can be used to cool down is a must.

What advice would you give students who are considering studying away?

See study abroad as a part of your Stanford career as opposed to something separate. While you're abroad, you are still learning even if you're having so much fun that you don't realize it. Every interaction, field trip, social event, and spontaneous trip can inspire new academic and personal ambitions.