Congratulations to Darryl Hutchinson on being awarded the 2014 Blair Prize in Japanese Studies. Darryl graduated summa cum laude with honors, majoring in East Asian Studies with a focus in Japanese Culture and a minor in Astronomy. Darryl graduated in December and was unable to attend our award banquet, but had the following to say about his commitment to Japan and the department:
"I transferred to the University of Arizona for Astronomy as I obtained my associates degree in Liberal Arts: Mathematics and Science from SUNY Rockland Community College. The original plan was to major in Astronomy while fulfilling my childhood goal of learning Japanese by declaring it as my minor. However, during my first semester here at UA, I realized very quickly that there was so much more to learn beyond the language and that EAS was the better fit for me. So I reversed my plan by declaring EAS - Japanese as my major and Astronomy as my minor. In addition to the various Astronomy courses, I took courses ranging from Japanese Religion and Anthropology to Japanese Nationalism and Sociolinguistics. And of course, taking Japanese language courses all along the way. I would form many special bonds with the amazing professors of the EAS department. I was also fortunate enough to have been able to Study Abroad in Tokyo, Japan at Waseda University for the Spring semester of 2013. Upon my return I completed my coursework as well as my Honors thesis on Japanese education and graduated summa cum laude with honors in December of 2013. I have since returned to my hometown, Rockland County, NY. Though somewhat more difficult to do on my own away from campus, I have been and will continue to improve my Japanese through self study. If the right opportunity presents itself, I would like to return to Japan and learn more of Japanese culture. In the meantime however, I will continue to explore career opportunities that might allow me to utilize my experience and enthusiasm for technology, pedagogy and/or Japanese culture."