LEAH O’LEARY Senior Exit Presentation 2012 (I took this photo)

Who Am I? The Basics.  Leah Marie O’Leary  18 years old  From Clio, Michigan  Lived half my life in South & North Carolina  Live with parents and younger brother in Clio.  Lover of music, travel and foreign language.

Skills  Strength in foreign languages:  私は日本語を話すことができる – Reading, Writing & Speaking in Japanese  6 years of studying French  Reading and writing in Korean  Nearly 7 years of playing Flute and Piccolo  Academic and creative writing

Academic & Extracurricular Accomplishments  Maintained 3.9 GPA all four years of high school. Ranked 2 nd in my class.  AP Classes such as English Composition and Literature (College Credit Earned)  ACT Score 27  Vice President of National Honor Society  Section leader and participant in marching and concert band for 4 years. Flute and Piccolo. Photo   Accepted to Eastern Michigan University; awarded Emerald Scholarship, Pell Grant and EFOS Scholarship.  Missed 1 month of school, and worked independently, raising all grades to A’s --including Trigonometry, French and AP Lit-- on my own.

Volunteer Work &Community Service  Work exchange program in Ireland for 2 weeks. June Housework, painting and maintenance work.  Work exchange in Japan for 1 month. September Worked as English teacher and aid to homeschooled Japanese students: Kindergarten, 1st Grade and 4th grade. Led toddler classes at community center, and edited/translated city newsletter in English.  Tutor for students grades 5-8 at Carter Middle School for 2 years.  Taught private flute lessons.  NHS community service activities such as blood drive recruiting, Sharing Tree donations and fundraising.  Taught French to elementary students afterschool through International Club

Working as a teacher and living in Kashiba, Japan

Japan and My Life  Future Career Pathway: Human Services  Future Career: English Teacher and TESOL Teacher  My hope is to become an English teacher in Japan teaching English as a second language.

Short-Term Goals  By June Graduate from Clio High School as either Valedictorian or Salutatorian.  By September Enroll at Eastern Michigan University.  In college: Major in Education and English. Minor in Japanese.  By June 2012-the year: Get a part- time job during the summer and during the school year.

Long-Term Goals  By 2016: Finish four years of college. Earn Bachelor’s Degree and Teacher Certification from EMU.  By 2016: Having minored (or possibly majored) in Japanese, master the language and become fluent.  Following graduation: Earn a job as an English teacher full-time in Japan.  After college: Eventually settle down there and live in Japan permanently.  Throughout my life: Travel extensively through other work and teaching organizations around Asia, namely to South Korea and China.

How I’m Getting There  Hard work and sheer determination!  Scholarships to pay for college  Part-time or full-time job during college to pay additional expenses  Maintaining my GPA in order to keep up scholarship opportunities and earn my degree as soon as possible.  Research appropriate teaching organizations such as JET in order to secure my future job as a foreign English teacher.  Practicing and studying various languages; Japanese being my primary second language, but also perfecting my Korean and French skills.

Any Questions? Thank You For Your Time!