I was born in the States, but I didn’t start living here until I moved here in the middle of fourth grade. For the past eight years, I’ve lived with my relatives while my parents distributed imported ball bearings in Guangzhou, China. I went to Stuyvesant High School and was in a somewhat love-hate relationship with it.

There are a bunch of things people might find interesting about me, but I’ve decided to use this opportunity to proselytize the love of my life – manga.

A watercolor portrait of a character from the manga Principal by Ikuemi Ryo.

I know that doesn’t say a lot, and I ‘ve only shown a bit of the world that is Japan’s wonderful manga culture. I’m not known for sticking to my interests. But manga is something that I never got tired of since I became aware of it. It’s changed my outlook on life in some ways. For those of you that know close to nothing about it or know something about it but decided for some reason to pass on it, don’t! If you ask me for a list, I’ll give you one.

I look forward to all the special things we’ll experience because of this class!