Academic and Artistic Experiences Tomoko Torii

Marketing Student at Centennial College

Article about My College LifeI had an opportunity to write an article of college life at Centennial College for the Japanese magazine, called “Bingo.” The magazine is issued annually by Assist on and is popular among Japanese students in Toronto. I introduced my studies, professors, and new facilities in the college. I explained how Centennial College is a great place to study and provided some advices to succeed in studies. Studying in the College along with domestic students presents challenges for international students. Hence, I encouraged them to participate in the new environment where they could enhance their capacities. My article in Bingo increases the exposure of Centennial College to Japanese students and subsequently more Japanese students might consider to study at Centennial College. I am happy and grateful to be able to provide this service.

Professor Interview at Centennial College

I had an opportunity to create a video to promote Centennial College to potential Japanese students. I asked my professor Jeffrey Thomas Butler for an interview to advice international students to succeed in their studies. Before the recording, I practiced many times to create an effective video. The interview was successful, and now the college tour video is available on YouTube. I built a confidence in interviewing and discovered new interest of video productions.

Graduation ProjectWhen I was a college student in Japan, I had a major project, called “Graduation project.” The duration of the project was 6 months dealing with architectural design and presentation of the project to eight professors for performance assessment. The topic was open and I decided to create a miniature model of the city of Florence. When I visited Florence, I was fascinated by the beauty of the city beyond words. Therefore, I wanted to investigate what makes the city was so attractive and what discovery would I find by comparing it with Nara where I grew up. I studied Italian architecture and history in order to appreciate and to understand the culture thoroughly. I acquired skills to create modelling and designing presentation boards. I obtained excellent marks for this project, and my creation was on display for 7 years as a class room model.

Kimono Show in Kyoto, Japan

A kimono show was held in Kyoto in 2003 in order to introduce new kimono collections of Yuzen Co Ltd. I found a posting in the newspaper that Yuzen Co Ltd. was looking for show models. I was interested in the show and submitted my resume and picture. I had an interview and was hired. For the kimono show, I participated in the walking training. During the training, I learned the differences between kimono fashion walk and cat fashion walk. I had to walk with short steps, elegantly and solemnly. My show team encouraged each other and practiced many time in order to create a marvelous stage. We succeeded in delivering excellent brand image and the audiences admired our performance and gave us great applause. I appreciated the importance of teamwork and cooperative efforts in creating the excellent show.

Model at the Hair Salon

I had an opportunity to be a hair model at hair salon, S-Tage in Nara, Japan. Besides being a hair model, I also participated in the creation of hair styling and fliers. I offered new several ideas of hair styles that would be trendy and fashionable. Taking photos was quite interesting because I delivered messages and images from my facial and body expression combined with the hair styles. After issuing and distributing the fliers, many customers sought the hair style I created. Consequently, the promotion was a success. I learned how to create communicative fliers from this experience.

Massage Certificate at Hotlomi Spa

I worked for Hotlomi Spa for 6 months in Toronto in 2010. I had an opportunity to utilize my experiences in body massage, facial treatment, and beauty supplies knowledge. Moreover, acquiring a new Hawaiian style massage provided clients with the optimal services. Effective internal communication was helpful to carry out productive operations. Sharing customers’ feedback among co-workers improved our external communication with clients. As a result, I succeeded in building good relationships with customers and helped increase the sales of the Spa.