When the JET Interview committee asked me, “If we place you in a rural area contrary to your preferences, how would you deal with that?” I said that I trusted JET to place everyone according to their best judgment, and that “What happens, happens.”
In my mind, I was thinking that being placed in a rural area is NOT what I wanted, but that it would probably be better than staying in the States.
I find out about my position in the JET application process this week. This stage is only for notification of acceptance, not for placement. Which means that, if I get into JET, I won’t actually know about my placement until May or June.
For a long time I didn’t think I’d have any opportunities if I stayed here in Maryland, so I had my heart set on getting into JET. But a lot of things have been coming up. Pop Show Japan, a monthly J-Pop event, has started up recently at Club Orpheus in Baltimore. I attended a few weeks ago and had a lot of fun. And of course, Otakon is the same weekend as the JET candidates’ departure date. I really missed being at Otakon last year, mostly for cosplay. Katsucon was a good substitute, but it was really cold and it felt much shorter than Otakon–probably because I usually didn’t get to the con until around 11am or 1pm at the latest each day.
And now, modeling. I started back up again, and I’ve had two photoshoots so far this year. I have two more possibly coming up this weekend, another next Saturday, and more in the future. I’m building up my portfolio for now, but it’s possible that I could actually be going somewhere with this. Sure, I could model in Japan, but the opportunities are very slim if I’m in the middle of nowhere.
All I can do is pray and wonder what JET has decided. It’s rare that my future has been this uncertain to me; all of my life I’ve pretty much been given one opportunity at a time: attending Eleanor Roosevelt High School, getting into the University of Maryland, and studying abroad in Japan. I never doubted that I would get those opportunities, and I didn’t really have strong alternatives in case I didn’t make it. This time, I don’t know what I want more–JET, which is certain, or a chance to shape my own future here in the States (with the intention of returning to Japan one day, of course).
SCHIZO-ALIAS 