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Renata Carlson and Taylor Maxey Joining JET Program in Japan

Renata Carlson from Boise, Idaho, and Taylor Maxey from Poway, Calif., members of the Washington and Lee University Class of 2013, have accepted the offer from the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program to work as assistant language teachers (ALT) in Japan.

Maxey will be living in the Fukui prefecture and Carlson will be living in the Fukushima prefecture although they don’t know specifically what city yet.

Each year the JET Program recruits new participants to work as either assistant language teachers, coordinators for international relations or sports exchange advisors. The JET Program focuses on promoting grass-roots international exchange between Japan and other nations.

Carlson will receive the B.A. with majors in East Asian Languages and Literature (Japanese emphasis) and American history, with a minor in music. She was a resident advisor, supervising upper-division residents, president of the Washingtones a cappella group, the alto leader in the Washington and Lee University Singers and Idaho State Chair in the 2012 Mock Convention.

She belonged to the Washington and Lee Tea Society, was an R.E. Lee Summer Researcher helping to create a Japanese language curriculum taught weekly in area elementary schools and was a summer intern in the University Collections of Art and History.

Maxey will receive a B.A. in psychology with a minor in theater. She participated in varsity volleyball and varsity track as a discus, shot putt and hammer thrower. She belonged to the GLBT Equality Initiative, the Washington and Lee Tea Society and the Washingtones a cappella group.

She was co-founder of 23, a student-run organization committed to creating and promoting a united community of student-athletes. She belonged to Mindbending Student Productions serving as a costume designer and was awarded a scholarship from the theater department to study abroad in Sweden.

News Contact:
Julie Cline
News Writer
jcline@wlu.edu
540-458-8954