Kyoko Saito immigrated to the United States as a child without knowing any English, now she wants to help other low-income children in underrepresented communities.
Kyoko’s family immigrated from Japan when she was nine years old, moving away from everything she knew. When she arrived at the American airport, she had never seen white people before. In Japan, everyone looked like her. Arriving in America, her family felt like outsiders. No one was disrespectful, but the people and community were very different from what they had known. Their new neighbor was a hunter and collected guns. He shot deer every weekend and shared the meat with Kyoko’s family. Her family had never known people like that before.
When she arrived, Kyoko did not know any English. Her parents knew enough to get by, but not enough to be able to teach her or help her with school. Starting school in the US was very challenging because she could not understand the teachers or her fellow students. Not knowing English negatively impacted her self-esteem. It felt very isolating for Kyoko because she could not interact with others during lunch or recess when everyone was talking and having fun. Teachers and other students did not know how to interact with Kyoko because she did not speak the language. Many children made fun of her. She felt belittled when other children and teachers tried to help.
Within a year or two, she started to pick up English by hearing it all day in school, but it was a hard transition. She gained confidence when she was able to speak English and reach out to other students. When she reached out the students were very welcoming, and she was able to build many friendships.
Academically it was also very difficult for Kyoko because she felt like she had to relearn many of the subjects she already knew in another language. When teachers asked her questions in class, she knew the answers but could not communicate them in English. Over the years, she overcame her academic struggles by repeatedly writing the English alphabet and learning numbers at home. Kyoko had a good relationship with her ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher, who helped her learn English and connect to her teachers and other students.
Growing up, Kyoko only consumed Japanese media. Even after she knew how to speak English, she felt left out because she did not know the movies or television shows other children talked about. For lunch, she brought Japanese food that her mother made. The other kids made fun of her food, and after a while, she stopped bringing her homemade food to school and instead brought what everyone else had, American junk food.
Today Kyoko is more appreciative of her Japanese identity and believes that if she had stayed in Japan she would have taken her Japanese heritage for granted. In college, Kyoko is involved in the Japanese Student Association, and she took Japanese language classes this past year. She is taking the opportunity to learn more about her Japanese heritage and identity.
Kyoko is a rising sophomore at Brown University pursuing a degree in Health and Human Biology. In the future, she hopes to work as a pediatrician in underrepresented communities to improve the health and educational outcomes of low-income children. In her free time, she enjoys playing the violin and spending quality time with her family and friends.
