This month’s student spotlight is on Ryan Wozniak, a new student on in the intensive track of the LTS program. Interview by LTS student Emma Synder.
Ryan with his partner in Japan on their first couples’ date
Winter draws ever nearer, and as we try to fend off the cold, it is time for another LTS student spotlight! Welcome Ryan, please tell us a bit about yourself!
I am a current graduate student on the 15-month track Language Teaching Studies program. I am somewhat from the north and the south if we are being technical. I was born in Fort Worth, Texas and was adopted from there and raised in Missoula, Montana. I am the oldest in my family, and I am most often either the source of comedy or tension reliever, as I try to see the silver lining in a lot of situations. I completed my undergraduate from the University of Montana, earning a BA in Japanese. Before starting school in Eugene, I was previously an assistant language teacher (ALT) in Japan teaching English in Ishikawa prefecture.
That sounds like such an incredible opportunity! How was the experience of teaching in Japan; do you have any particularly fun memories?
Teaching in Japan was one of the greatest experiences I have ever had. When I got accepted into the program and got to my location where I would be working and living, it was on such short notice that I had only a month and a half to say goodbyes and handle things at home before flying off to Ishikawa. I spent three years teaching at elementary and junior high schools, and the staff and the students were wonderful beyond words. Out of the many fond memories I had during my time there, I have two in mind, and will try to keep it brief. With my work/school life, I got to be a part of one of my school’s culture festivals, where I had the honor to announce the opening of the festival and make everyone laugh by being a part of a pirate skit, something I won’t ever forget. The most memorable part of my time there was when I got to meet my partner there, who I got along with very well, fell in love, and proposed to her just last year. I have no doubt that she made my time in Ishikawa more heartfelt and meaningful because of her.
Many congratulations to you and your partner; it sounds like a truly life-changing time. Have you always been interested in language teaching? What brought you to the LTS program? To UO?
My circle of friends from college has primarily been students who were studying abroad or friends who were all in various language programs. After spending time with them, helping them with their English, teaching them about the cultural differences and aspects of the states, and earning opportunities to teach and tutor students and student groups, it really clicked to me how much I enjoyed teaching English to people, and that I was able to learn more about other people’s cultures and languages, especially Japanese. I was brought to the UO as a result of a friend who is currently a PhD student here at the University of Oregon. They were talking to my partner and I while we were in Japan about the various programs they offered, and although I was a bit skeptical in researching, I was floored by the course work, community, and everything that UO had to offer with the LTS program.
Ryan finds a friend
It sounds like a match made in heaven, then! We are certainly glad to have you here; what has been a highlight of your time with the program so far?
The highlight of this program was being able to interact with other students again. Having to be in an area of Japan during COVID was tough, even more so that people were very spread out in the country. Being able to talk to other people, to laugh and make jokes, to discuss experiences in teaching and traveling and living in Oregon, it really highlights the beauty of the program of being a close-knit group of cohorts and professors who all want the best for each other.
Community is most definitely a fantastic benefit of the LTS program. After your time here, how would you hope to work in the field of language teaching in the future?
If all goes well and everything is set into place in the future, I hope to be back in Japan, teaching. After the end of the LTS program, I will try to find work in teaching ESL or beginner’s Japanese in Eugene for a year and then move to Japan to teach English at a university, with potentially applying to some universities there to earn a PhD in an English teaching program.
We wish you the best of luck then, and many safe travels in your future! Finally, what is something outside of language teaching that you are passionate about? A fun fact about yourself that others may not know?
Outside of language learning, I enjoy reading manga (in English and Japanese), watching really good or really cheesy k-dramas, and I proudly state that I am a huge gamer nerd. I love playing all sorts of games on console or PC– I am currently obsessed with Overwatch 2. I also love tabletop board games or RPGs, especially Dungeons and Dragons, which I both am an active player once a week and am a major dice goblin. I like the team building it creates and just having fun playing with people, whether it is in person or online!