Her mother told her she could not go to school. She had to tell her friends that her mother wanted her to stay home. Her mother said she had some weird premonition. That day, her school was flattened and her friends were gone.
This is the story that has been passed down in 2009 alumna Matisse Yoshihara’s family about her grandmother, who was born in Japan and survived the Hiroshima atomic bombing obeamily members believe the radiation from that day caused her grandmother’s throat cancer, which eventually took her life.
Yoshihara, a sophomore at Northeastern University, has a never-ending, twisting and turning relation to Japan that continues to impact her life. Not only was her grandmother near the site of the bombing in Japan decades ago, but this year, she lost contact with several friends and family members in Japan due to the March earthquake and tsunami. To top it all off Yoshihara works as a marketing intern for General Electronics in Ohio, the very company that created the nuclear reactors currently leaking radioactive material in Japan‘s earthquake-afflicted areas. She has now stepped into the role of knowledgeable activist, raising funds for the relief effort in a country to which she has never-ending ties.
“This whole [situation] hit home for me because I have a lot of family in Japan,” Yoshihara said. “It was one of those things where you say, ‘What do I do? How can I help?’…I don’t know where my family is, I don’t know how to help them, how to keep in contact…it is pretty frightening.”
The college student had never used phone before to contact her distant family due to the long-distance costs. Therefore, she relies on emails for updates. But she still has not heard from many of her friends and family.
“Waiting for an email is so frustrating,” Yoshihara said. “What are you supposed to do, refresh your computer all day?”
An outsider might assume Yoshihara harbors resentment toward the company that is part of the nuclear debacle in Japan. However, as a realist, she is proud to be part of her company. GE employees have personally committed over $1.36 million dollars to the relief effort and the company itself has sent equipment, relief services and $100 million to the Japan Red Cross and the Miyagi Prefecture Disaster Response Fund.
“It’s very encouraging to be a part of a company that actually cares and is not just business—it’s really inspirational,” Yoshihara said.
Following in GE’s footsteps, Yoshihara stepped up to fulfill her part. In mid-March, she sent an email to Dean of Students Denae Moore to forward to ASB Leadership, explaining the catastrophic details of the Japan situation and calling them to action. As a former 2008 – 2009 ASB President, she speaks of her dedication to the ASB Leadership class and the way it affected her present self.
In the email she mentions, “No one knows how to reach [my family] or if they are well, or if they are even alive. At this point, I do not know what else to do but what being in Leadership taught me oh so very well to do: start organizing, reaching out, and being proactive in creating some sort of ripple that may be able to make a difference. “
As part of her mission, she attached the link to her online donation fund and encouraged donations. Yoshihara also emailed friends, family, sorority sisters, roommates, and clubs on campus. Her link went viral and since then, she has even received donations from complete strangers. ASB elect Christina Augila mentions how Yoshihara’s message truly inspired her.
“Sometimes I feel like people don’t care enough about these types of things and it was really nice to come home and check my email and see an email from someone so passionate and involved in helping people,” Augila said. “It just gave me a reminder that I should be doing that kind of thing.” Augila believes that without leadership and its resources and support, she wouldn’t be able to be as proactive in many of her personal passions, like Measure B.
Yoshihara’s main passion that arised from leadership lies in the significance of global awareness.
“I think it‘s so easy, especially being from [MVHS], to get wrapped up in everything you are doing and everything that is going on in your life.” Yoshihara said. ”Who cares if you have a ‘B‘ in comparison to ‘my brother is dead.’ That’s crazy, that’s insane, that’s something I can’t even imagine. Being aware is really significant just so you have a holistic view on life and so you appreciate what you have and you have a bigger picture understanding of what‘s going on in the world.”
With her deep connections with Japan, Yoshihara is not one to forget her relationship to the country. She admits the situation is bizarre: a Hiroshima survivor as her grandmother, a lost connection to her relatives in the earthquake areas, an employment with the reactor’s makers, and a passionate drive to aid the relief in her country.
As her life continues down its path, others can’t help but look up to Yoshihara and her initiative.
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