Jiniku Hayashi Kalamazoo College Tuition
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Hello, my name is Jiniku Hayashi, I am currently an international student at Kalamazoo College from Tokyo, Japan. My family is Korean-Japanese and owns a Korean restaurant in Tokyo. When I was in middle school, my dream was to be an Olympic boxer. I trained so hard to make my dream come true. For me, it was a way to get out of poverty, and to change the reputation and perception of Korean Japanese people in Japan. However, when I was in my 2nd year of high school, I was sent to the emergency room with a concussion. The doctor asked me to stop boxing forever. I lost my dream.
I only ever did boxing and had never studied before; on top of that, my family’s financial situation was becoming more serious. So it was really hard and unaffordable for me to go to college. I gave up on having a dream. However, my boxing coach texted me and said, “ You can not be the best in boxing. But you can be the best at studying.”
His words encouraged me. And I aspired to study in the U.S. because I thought that there I could study harder and expand my view of the world. If I stayed in Japan, it would be very hard for me to get a job, because of my family’s Korean ethnicity. I then dreamt of going to America, where I wanted to see people coexisting and getting along regardless of race.
When I was 18, I started studying English very hard from the basics. I only knew how to box, so studying was very hard for me. But fortunately, my English improved and I was admitted to Kalamazoo College. My new dream of studying in America came true. However, because of the political tensions between Korea and Japan, the income that my family’s restaurant is bringing in is severely decreasing. I may have to give up my dream again. I want to keep studying at this great college, and I do not want to leave my best friends. Please help support my dream. If I can stay in America, I hope to use my education for creating a more tolerant and coexistent society, and I wanna prove that I can overcome adversity and poverty and won't be defined by them. I want to also encourage the youth through my experiences, and empower them to pursue their dreams no matter what.
Please share! Thanks so much for anything that you can do to help!
I only ever did boxing and had never studied before; on top of that, my family’s financial situation was becoming more serious. So it was really hard and unaffordable for me to go to college. I gave up on having a dream. However, my boxing coach texted me and said, “ You can not be the best in boxing. But you can be the best at studying.”
His words encouraged me. And I aspired to study in the U.S. because I thought that there I could study harder and expand my view of the world. If I stayed in Japan, it would be very hard for me to get a job, because of my family’s Korean ethnicity. I then dreamt of going to America, where I wanted to see people coexisting and getting along regardless of race.
When I was 18, I started studying English very hard from the basics. I only knew how to box, so studying was very hard for me. But fortunately, my English improved and I was admitted to Kalamazoo College. My new dream of studying in America came true. However, because of the political tensions between Korea and Japan, the income that my family’s restaurant is bringing in is severely decreasing. I may have to give up my dream again. I want to keep studying at this great college, and I do not want to leave my best friends. Please help support my dream. If I can stay in America, I hope to use my education for creating a more tolerant and coexistent society, and I wanna prove that I can overcome adversity and poverty and won't be defined by them. I want to also encourage the youth through my experiences, and empower them to pursue their dreams no matter what.
Please share! Thanks so much for anything that you can do to help!
Organizer and beneficiary
Jiniku Hayashi
Organizer
Kalamazoo, MI
Donovan Burleigh
Beneficiary