By Shinnosuke Kayano (The Fountain staff)
December 11, 2023
When Kazuki Maekoba was 23 years old, he joined the Air Self-Defense Force, and a few years later he reached a turning point in his life.
“I worked at Public Servant until the age of 23 when I decided to become a Japanese teacher. I was looking for a college because I needed a degree to do so”, Kazuki said. “I was very worried because there were so many choices”. He could have studied independently, but he chose APU because creating a diverse environment like APU was the most difficult.
Maekoba has been an RA at the AP house and a member of SALC since this semester.
He is now 25 years old and has a unique background from other APU students.
His father was in the Air Self-Defense Force, so Kazuki was transferred very frequently. He was born in Tottori, moved to Ishikawa, then to Hokkaido, and finally to Saitama. In high school, he did not have a particular dream of what he wanted to become, but he studied for the university entrance examination and failed it, at the same time he passed the exam for the Air Self-Defense Force, so he decided to join the Air Self-Defense Force.
Two or three years after joining, he started studying English. Around that time, he began to feel a desire to teach Japanese. After attending a Japanese language school and getting advice from teachers and various people, he decided to go to university and quit the JSDF. After that, he studied a lot for English and entrance exams and was accepted into APU. He chose ST because he was interested in tourism. He became a member of SALC to teach Japanese.
He became a SALC member to fulfill his dream of becoming a Japanese teacher because SALC offers the opportunity to teach Japanese to international students from over 100 countries and he was already certified to teach Japanese. He wanted to become an RA because he could be involved in the lives of many international students. He also thought I could improve his English and management skills. “I believe that it is a good opportunity to change everything about myself.”
He has two plans for the next 10 years: first, he is interested in the field of tourism and would like to work for a travel agency, and second, he would like to become a Japanese language teacher and teach Japanese overseas and at international schools.
“I hope I work as a Japanese teacher abroad or work in a travel agency.”
The Fountain 
I was impressed that Mr. Maekoba has had a lot of variety dreams in his life now. It is a very nice thing to say my own dream publicly. For me, even though I can say what person I want to be, I still cannot say what I want to do for a living in the future. However, he already has decided and looked through to his future. His future story made me feel a little surprised and excited.
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As the writer metioned, Kazuki got unique experience,and must have lots of knowledge as well. He seems to like to prioritize for himself. To be a Japanese teacher, he became a member of SALC. To get new perspective from variety aspect, he’s been trying to interact with international students. These can lead to enrich his life definately. I really respect him and I am happy to read this artcle as to him.
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I envy him, cause he has a bunch of experience in the Air Force, SALC, RA, and so on. These experiences must support his future. Also, I think failing with entrance exam in college must hurt him, but he got over it. It means that he has a tough mind. I felt that I had to work hard too, like him. I wish his dream comes true.
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