6 THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
PROFILE
NEWS
WEDNESDAY,JULY 5,2006
BY ADRIENNE BOMMARITO
abommaritor@kqnsan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITER
Erika Hirano, Japan graduate student, grew up in a house full of teachers. Next spring when she completes her thesis, Hirano will join the family's tradition as a foreign language educator.
Hirano's father is a professor of European classical music at a university in Japan, and her mother taught piano lessons out of the home.
Hirano's maternal grandparents were also teachers. Her grandmother taught university-level nutrition and her grandfather taught high school history. Her uncle on her mother's side is also a high school teacher of chemistry and physics.
Hirano said that being around so many teachers growing up influenced her decision in becoming a teacher.
SEE PROFILE ON PAGE 9
She said by being around family members' students she learned how her relatives treated them, which helped her improve her teaching skills.
Erika Miraoena, Jogana, graduate student, Estonia to a question from one of her students last Thursday morning. Hirano is a graduate teaching assistant in Elementary Japanese and has been a GTA in East Asian language and culture for three years.
Hirano came to the United States from Kanagawa University in Japan six years ago for a cultural exchange program. She spent one year at the University of Kansas, then returned to Kanagawa University for her senior year and graduated with a major in English and a minor in education.
---