language requirement doesn't have to be a waste of time. Damn it, why can't everyone just learn English? This sentiment is becoming more and more common at Penn, and it is often directed toward the foreign language requirement. There it sits, waiting impatiently to be fulfilled. Increasingly, the reaction I hear -- especially from friends who are realizing they are about to become seniors, and therefore have to cram four credits worth of language into their last two semesters or they won't graduate -- is "Why am I wasting my time with this? What does it have to do with my major? How will it help me get a job? Four credits isn't going to get me any kind of real fluency, so what's the point?" To most of us, the foreign language requirement is nothing but an annoyance, something we try to get out of the way as soon as possible so we can get on to our "real" education, or something to be put off for as long as possible so we're not bothered by it. When I first got here, I had similar feelings. After going through the standard European languages in high school and hating all of them, I decided that in college, I was going to take something as different as I could find. I found it in Japanese. At two credits a semester, Japanese would knock out my requirement in my first year, and I would never have to bother with foreign language classes again. Although I didn't realize it at the time, choosing Japanese would turn out to be one of my smartest decisions. I have never learned so much in such a short time. My classmates, through the sheer amount of time we spent commiserating together, became my friends. Best of all, in May after my freshman year, I was able to go to Japan. It was my first trip abroad, and I spent most of the month living in a Japanese house, eating Japanese food, speaking Japanese and generally having a great time. When I came back from the trip, I figured my experience with Japanese was most likely over. I had taken care of my requirements, made some new friends and taken my first trip abroad on my own. Thanks for the laughs, I'm outta here. Nothing could be further from the truth. Last November, I went with a friend to Boston for a job fair for students with "Oriental language abilities." I didn't think my chances of landing a job were great, but some of my best friends from high school go to school up there, and I felt like getting away from Philly anyway, so what did I have to lose? So there we were, my friend and I, basically the only two Caucasians in the room. It could have been that simple fact that drew one man toward us first. He introduced himself as "Bob," saying he was in human resources for Swiss Bank Company. I hadn't heard of it at the time, but SBC is one of the leading international investment banks. We started talking, and he gave us his card and told us to call him. Of course, we did. One thing led to another, and after a day of interviews in New York, we received calls during Christmas break: "Tokyo branch would like you both to come over for a final interview." That settled it; we had definitively won the contest for which Wharton seniors are flown the farthest for interviews. Again, of course, I went; my friend is going in two weeks. My overseas interview was several weeks ago, and late last week I got a call telling me that SBC wanted me as a summer intern. Now, I'd like to think that my majors, grades and performance during my interviews all contributed to my receiving this offer, but the undeniable fact is that Japanese opened the door. Two semesters of Japanese, which I finished over a year ago under duress, paved the way to a summer internship in Tokyo, something I'll carry with me for the rest of my life. So there you have it. I can't guarantee that your foreign language skills will lead to a job, but for all of you who think the foreign language requirement is an antiquated waste of time, think again. It may wind up paying off a lot more than any of those "real" classes that you're taking now. It sure did for me.
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