08/29/2026
Long before I fully understood it myself, other people noticed how naturally I connect with my students. For years, I assumed it was because many artists feel like misfits to some degree, and they see me—someone a little unusual, a little off‑center—as a reassuring presence. I thought they felt more “normal” standing next to me, less alone in their strangeness. (All my students are artists; I teach media art.)
But a recent observation from someone offered a more accurate explanation: I don’t look down on the things my students love. Games, anime, niche pop culture—interests that often earn dismissal or condescension—I meet with genuine enthusiasm. I understand them deeply, and I enjoy them. They were part of my own childhood, and it delights me when my students know these things too, despite our generational, racial, and cultural differences.
If you were an American teaching in Japan, and your Japanese students adored the American cartoons, movies, or comics you grew up with, wouldn’t you feel a spark of appreciation?
Teaching art gives me that same spark. I meet young American artists who care about things I once took for granted while growing up in Japan. It’s a small, joyful bridge between our worlds—one that makes the classroom feel less like a hierarchy and more like a shared space of curiosity and affection. 😊
