International marketing student Ayumi Mamiya, 22, is moving to Los Angeles this summer.

Despite the devastation that has occurred in Ayumi Mamiya’s home country of Japan, dreams and aspirations will continue to be top priority for the 22-year-old marketing student.

“I couldn’t sleep [when the quake occurred]. My best friend lives in the exact center of the earthquake, and I couldn’t sleep at all.”

Mamiya’s family currently lives in Tokyo and was not affected as badly as Japanese closer to the coasts and nuclear plant, but she said she would have tried to reach them immediately if they’d been under impending danger.

“I feel like if my parents were in a really dangerous place, I would go back there and we would die together,” she said. “I don’t want to die without my parents, it sounds crazy but it’s true.”

The quake, as well as her upcoming move to Los Angeles, have led Mamiya to reflect on responsibility, and have driven her even closer to completing her goals.

“I have to be more independent,” she said. “If I screw up everything, no one’s going to help me. Sometimes my friends will, but 98% [of the time] I have to do myself.”

With this mindset, she’s staying strong and is looking forward to her future in Southern California after she finishes her classes at City College this semester.

“Ayumi seems to be a goal oriented individual. She is a creative, talented person who knows what she wants and I think she will be successful in achieving those goals,” said Therese Schweidler, Computer Lab teaching assistant who works with Mamiya in the Cartwright Learning Resource Center.

Mamiya has made some of those goals come true by moving from Japan to America, the first step on her international adventure.

“It was my dream – living in a foreign country,” she said. “I saw pictures of the Mission and I thought it was really beautiful so I decided to come [to Santa Barbara].”

Mamiya, a native of Chiba, a town just outside Tokyo, came to City College two years ago and will be pursuing a career in web design. She uses applications like Dreamweaver and Photoshop to make collages and animate the ideas she jots down throughout the day in her notebook.

Mamiya originally intended to live in the United Kingdom, but it was too expensive because her parents are not paying her tuition, but temporarily loaning it to her.

She will be applying for an internship in OPT (Optical Practical Training) in marketing with the hopes of branching out into web design.

“This is really my turning point,” she said.

Aside from sketching graphic-novel styled tidbits and hanging out with her Swedish neighbors at Harbor Heights on Cliff Drive, Mamiya works at the Learning Resource Center (LRC) on campus.

“I’m not going to get that kind of experience in Japan,” Mamiya said about the interpersonal communication she engages in during her shifts at the LRC.

“She’s really good at working with people. She is very patient and disciplined,” said fellow co-worker and friend Cassandra Wilson.

Mamiya believes that Japan’s reserved interpersonal traditions are apparent in the classroom as well.

“I could read and write in English, but I couldn’t speak,” she said, adding that being quiet is a pivotal part of being a student in Japan.

Mamiya’s teachers shared this lingual lack of skill, she said. Some Japanese students have a firm command of English grammar and spelling, but little knowledge of pronunciation.

When comparing the two educational styles, she said that while in Japan you can get a decent score simply for attending class, at City College you have to put in real work to make the grade.

Mamiya believes that Japan’s reserved interpersonal traditions are apparent in the classroom as well.

“It makes me more motivated and studious,” she said.

Mamiya said that she has thoroughly enjoyed living in Santa Barbara.

“If I can, I want to live here forever,” she said.

Mamiya will stay in California to continue honing her talents, a goal she believes will best be achieved in America.