Alex Golden is an M.A. candidate in Asian Studies at The George Washington University. Alex first studied Japanese at Colgate University and developed a passionate interest in Japan and its culture. While at Colgate, Alex was a reporter for the student newspaper and a volunteer classroom assistant at the local elementary school. Alex participated in the Colgate Japanese Study Group, Colgate's semester abroad program, which solidified Alex's passion for East Asia. As part of this program Alex studied in at the Kyoto Institute of Culture and Language in Kyoto while living with a host family in the city of Otsu on Lake Biwa. While on this trip, Alex also spent time in Tokyo where he interned at a fish market, and Chichijima in the Ogasawara Islands where he interviewed and wrote a biographical sketch of a Chichijima native, Frederick Savary (a Japanese-speaking, direct descendant of one of the original New England whalers who originally settled the island).
After earning his undergraduate degree, Alex returned to Japan to teach English in Elementary and Middle school in Osaki. The earthquake in March 2011 forced Alex to leave Japan earlier than he intended. Upon returning to the US, Alex spoke about the earthquake around the Philadelphia area and interned at the Hudson Institute, as a foreign affairs researcher. He then joined the Elliott School in Fall 2011 and intends to pursue a career as an East Asia specialist upon graduation.
Reblogged this on Elliott School Graduate Admissions Blog.