Gabriel Rebeck

I had my first transformative experience in Japan at 13 years old when esteemed KU CEAS alum, Dianne Daugherty, invited me on a homestay to Gunma Prefecture. In Maebashi, I crossed paths with an assistant language teacher on the JET Program. I decided then and there that I would join JET after graduating. I studied Japanese and film at KU and gained another mentor in the process, Dr. Michael Baskett. He bridged my two fields of interest perfectly. 

JET sent me to a paradise beach in Kagoshima Prefecture where I taught English for three years in a tiny town of farmers and fishermen. In search of a new challenge after JET, I moved up to Nagoya in Aichi Prefecture and became a personnel manager for the Corporate Relations Division of a company called ECC Foreign Language Institute. I was the only foreigner in an office of salesmen. They took me on sales calls, and I used Japanese all day every day. I learned so much about how Japanese companies work by observing from within.

After ten years in Japan, I interviewed with a non-profit group called the Laurasian Institution in Tokyo. They wanted me in the Seattle office so moved back to the United States. Today, with Laurasian, I have the honor of facilitating international exchange programs between the U.S. and Japan. Collaborating closely with organizations like the U.S. State Department, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan Foundation, KAKEHASHI, and others, we work to foster lasting friendships through grassroots-level programs of academic exchange. Drawing upon all my experiences from my time as an exchange student to my understanding of Japanese corporate culture from my "salaryman" years, I effectively communicate with our partners to make it possible for us to run our programs.

I couldn’t have accomplished any of this without the knowledge I gained in my years at KU, especially the support I received from my teachers. It is both an honor and a privilege to empower and guide young people in our programs at Laurasian who, like I once did, yearn to reach beyond themselves and their home country to cultivate meaningful connections with the wider world. (May 2023)