The Hidden Ambition of Midori Yoshimura

When you first meet PUC junior Midori Yoshimura, you might miss something. You’ll instantly notice her gentle voice and her angelic smile. Within moments you’ll discover her humble personality and her conspicuous politeness. But look deeper beyond those tender traits and you might be surprised to find an ambitious student with an unsurpassed work ethic.

A born writer and an articulate communicator, Midori is double-majoring in English and Spanish with a minor in public relations and journalism. Add to this daunting curriculum the fact that she spent a year studying abroad at Colegio Adventista de Sagunto in Spain, and you’ll find this excellent student facing a five-year program.

But Midori’s passion for communication doesn’t end at her program choice. She also works several student jobs, including as support staff for both the English and communication departments.

One of her favorite campus jobs is as a writing tutor with PUC’s Teaching and Learning Center. There she helps students improve their writing, whether they’re a foreign student having trouble with English as a second language or a native speaker who just doesn’t know where to begin. “I like helping people clarify their ideas--hearing the message that someone is trying to say, and helping the person say it more clearly,” she says.

In addition to Midori’s work on campus, she recently began an internship with Baksheesh Fair Trade. This local retail shop sells items from around the world while maintaining sustainable, mutually advantageous relationships with the artisans that create their products. It’s a business model that appeals to Midori—the idea of a company that combines commerce with social responsibility.

Only days after starting her internship, Midori was instrumental in connecting Baksheesh Fair Trade with PUC, helping the store promote itself and the principles of fair trade to students at a fair during the college’s Green Week celebration.

With so much going on in her life, Midori is deeply thankful for the Franklyn & Laurie Hoyt Scholarship, which awards tuition assistance to English majors in financial need. “Five years in college means the costs add up,” she says. “I already work several jobs. This scholarship alleviates pressure to go pick up more hours working.”

With the help of supporters like the Hoyts, Midori is eager to finish her program and look for work in a field she is excited about: editing and linguistic translation, the real-world version of helping student writers clarify their messages. It’s a highly selective field, but with her hard work and ambition—and that warm, polite smile to get her in the door—Midori seems bound for success.