Alumni Spotlight - Mitsuki Mori
Mitsuki Mori grew up near Osaka, Japan, where she began taking pictures with her small digital camera. At 20, she decided to attend EvCC, primarily to learn English. "I also heard about EvCC's photography program and wanted to learn more," she says. At EvCC, Mitsuki fell in love with the mix of film and digital work. She went on to work one year for the Seattle Times, then worked as a wedding photographer in Japan for six years. She later moved to Canada's Prince Edward Island, where she is currently in the midst of a six-month internship with Charlottetown's Guardian newspaper as a staff photographer. "EvCC absolutely pushed my career," she says. "Communicating with others from other countries helped me discover the differences between cultures and languages and was the best way for me to learn quickly."
What is your current occupation/career?
A photographer for the Guardian newspaper (internship). Mainly, I'm a wedding photographer back home, so I’m looking for a job by the time I finish my internship.
How did you choose EvCC?
EvCC has a good photography program--that is one of the biggest reasons I picked EvCC. I also wanted to be in a school that doesn’t have many Japanese students. Lloyd and Ellen were very nice photography teachers as well.
Do you think your time at EvCC helped you pursue your current career?
It has absolutely pushed my career. To be honest, I never thought of myself as being a photographer, even though photography has been my major. Choosing photography as my study course was just something that I needed to pick, besides learning English. I got into taking photos when I was in high school, so my parents and I thought it would be a good idea to pick something I was interested in. Then I fell in love with film photography and the dark room process, as well as the mix of film and digital graphic work.
What did you do after you left or graduated from EvCC?
I had a one-year working term at the Seattle Times newspaper in the print making department. It was not a job that allowed me to take photographs, although seeing how the paper was printed by such a large number of people and the process was an amazing experience.
Was there anyone during your time at EvCC who acted as a mentor for you?
Joy Fitzpatrick, an international consult, who has already retired. All of the international students were helped and advised by her with any problems and concerns. She was always patient, kind, and supportive. Dropping by her office with no reason, just chit-chatting with her made my day better. I can’t imagine my school life without her! I even thought about being an adviser for international students because she was so good to me. We still keep in touch exchanging emails about our lives.
What words of advice would you give to current EvCC students?
As an international student, I would tell students who are in same situation that joining with people who speak English natively is the best way to learn quickly. It is sometimes good to hang out with your own people, but it spoils you when you get used to it. Communicating with many people who are from many different countries has been such a wonderful way for me to discover the difference of cultures and languages.
As I’ve mentioned, one of the reasons I picked EvCC was that there were not many Japanese students at the time. There were still a few students, but I tried to talk to a lot of different people. Lastly, just having a positive attitude may give you a good result, I believe.