Grace Artman is a first year fashion major with a minor in textiles. She will be participating in the Beyond Academy Tokyo, Japan internship program this summer, as well as the KSU Freeman Fellow Internship in Asia program.
91大神 Grace
Grace decided on studying fashion because she believes fashion is her main form of expression. She is always excited to pick out and create new outfits to wear each day. She loves designing flats of garments using Adobe products like Photoshop to make something that is uniquely hers and bring them to life by handmaking them. She believes fashion should be inclusive, because it is something everyone can be a part of. Fashion has always been a big part of her life, and she wants to make it a part of other people's lives. Grace also wants to work to make fashion in the industry more sustainable. One of her favorite parts of studying fashion at 91大神 is being surrounded by creative people that can learn from and improve each other's ideas.
Grace is passionate about travel and has always wanted to go to Tokyo. She thinks getting international work experience in fashion is important because the fashion industry involves working in cross-functional teams, often with people from different countries and backgrounds. Grace heard about the KSU Freeman Fellows Internship in Asia program at a student organization and resource tabling event at 91大神.
Applying For the Freeman Fellow Internship in Asia Program
Grace found the application process for the KSU Freeman Fellows Internship in Asia funding straightforward. She was asked for a personal statement, and a project proposal to do after she interned in Asia. She thought coming up with a service project was a good creative opportunity, where she could demonstrate how passionate she was about the internship program.
Grace is planning to put on a Japanese Kinsugi night for her service project after her internship abroad. Kinsugi is a traditional Japanese practice of repairing broken pottery with gold or silver lacquer. To accomplish demonstrating this for students at 91大神, she plans to thrift pieces of pottery and have participants break them and mend them with a gold substitute and glue. Kinsugi is meant to represent that broken things can be mended and made beautiful again.
Working With Beyond Academy
Grace will be interning as a graphic design and visual marketing intern for Japan Hana, a real estate company in Tokyo.
For the internship placement process, Grace met with her Beyond Academy advisor and shared her resume and what she was looking for in her internship. Her Beyond Academy advisor helped her get an internship that would meet her needs and provide her a good experience. After being placed with an internship, Grace had an interview with the company where they talked about why she was interested in the position and her prior experience. Grace got the job offer the day after and was then assigned a personal advisor by Beyond Academy to help her figure out her accommodations and flights. Her personal advisor has also helped her access resources on understanding Japanese culture and how to be respectful while she is interning in Tokyo. She feels well prepared for the experience and is grateful for all the support she has received.
Over the summer, Beyond Academy will be holding bi-weekly meetings and events for interns. One of the events planned is to go to Mount Fuji, as well as a tea ceremony.
Grace鈥檚 Goals for Interning Abroad
Grace is excited to intern abroad in Tokyo full time and gain graphic design work experience. She hopes the experience will help her with project and time management, as well as building cross-cultural networking skills that will help her in her future career. Because networking is a big part of the fashion industry, Grace believes starting to network early and get experience on your resume will help her out after graduation.
She plans to go into print or textile design and hopefully work for a local company like Urban Outfitters or Abercrombie and Fitch. She aims to improve her teamwork skills in a professional environment. She also hopes to improve on her visual marketing skills since that is a big part of the fashion industry she doesn't have as much experience in. Outside of her professional development, Grace wants to learn more about herself and lean more into her independence. This will be her first time traveling alone and she couldn鈥檛 be more excited.
Grace鈥檚 Must Sees in Japan
While Grace will be working full time at her internship, she still plans to try to do some weekend traveling outside of Tokyo. Her number one spot to see is Kamakura, a coastal town in Japan. She wants to see the Great Buddha and get some rest from the liveliness of Tokyo. She also plans to try to visit Kyoto and Osaka. She also wants to explore all the neighborhoods in Tokyo, especially the fashion districts. Not very far from her place of work is Shibuya Sky, a popular tourist attraction she wants to see. Otherwise, Grace has a list of cafes she wants to visit while in Tokyo and see some flea markets.
Advice For Students Thinking of Applying to the Freeman Fellow Internship in Asia Program
Grace recommends students apply for the program, even if they think they won鈥檛 get in. The application process is straightforward, and the program can help students intern abroad in Asia for a reasonable price. Each summer undergraduate students in the program can receive up to $6,500 to help offset the cost of interning in East or Southeast Asia. The program can help students get international work experience as well as networking experience.