December 11, 2025
A Year 12 Kingaroy State High School graduate has been offered a place at Doshisha University in Kyoto, one of the Japan’s most respected private universities, to study a Bachelor of Liberal Arts.
The student, who only wants to be known as Olivia, will be starting her degree in April.
The achievement reflects years of learning about Japan, the Japanese language and culture.
She studied Japanese through distance education at Kingaroy State High School, travelled to Japan this year as part of the school’s Sister School Exchange program, has hosted visiting Japanese students for the past two years, and spent eight days in Japan during Year 10 as part of the Tokyo Experience School Global Student Program.
It will be an opportunity for Olivia to explore her long-held passion for Japanese culture – from early interests in pop-culture to a deep appreciation for Japan’s centuries-old traditions.
She says her decision to pursue Japanese came from an “insatiable curiosity to learn as much as I could while connecting with the wider world through language”.
Her dream is to become a teacher in Japan, and she sees Doshisha’s Liberal Arts program as the perfect pathway.
“The goal of the program is to bring international students together with a shared purpose of better understanding the world,” she said.
“The chance to build global connections while working toward my dream career was too tempting to decline.”
Olivia will move to Japan in March.
While she says she’ll miss being close to family and friends, she’s excited for her first day on campus and for her family’s first trip to Japan when they help her settle in.
