Asian Pacific Islander Desi American Heritage Month: Spotlight on Business Student Mirei Kubota
Mirei Kubota (Junior, Management major with Specialization in Entrepreneurship)
In honor of Asian Pacific Islander Desi American Heritage Month, the Fowler College of Business News Team is highlighting students to help spotlight the contributions and influence of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in our community and in the United States. Exceptional student Mirei Kubota (Junior, Management) shares what Asian Pacific Islander Desi American Heritage Month means to her, her cultural background, experiences at SDSU, and more.
Are you someone in the Asian American or Pacific Islander community who is interested in telling your story? Email [email protected] for the chance to be featured!
Background
Where are you originally from?
I am originally from Ventura, California.
Why did you choose to attend San Diego State University?
Out of all the colleges I applied to, SDSU was the one campus that I didn’t visit before attending the school. I just knew that the school had a good business program and supported startups but when I stepped foot on campus, I instantly fell in love with it. I’m so happy I decided to attend SDSU.
Why did you choose to get a degree in management with a specialization in entrepreneurship from the Fowler College of Business? Please describe your experience thus far.
I decided to study business management with a specialization in entrepreneurship because ever since I was in 6th grade, I knew I wanted to start my own business. Going into my upper division courses and working as an intern for one of the startups in the ZIP Launchpad, I got to learn a lot about how the entrepreneurial mindset worked. Although the classes I took were online, I had a lot of fun solving case studies and working on projects that essentially made me create my own business plan. I am excited to finally get hands-on experience once classes are back in person!
Delta Sigma Pi - Gamma Rho Pledge Class
As a student leader involved with organizations at SDSU, can you share why you got involved and what your experience has been like so far? Is there a particular organization that has had a profound impact on your college experience?
I came from an area without a large Asian population. Once I attended SDSU, I was shocked by all the cultural organizations on campus. Since I didn’t have any friends who went to SDSU, I knew I had to start joining clubs in order to support my social life. I was very introverted so making the initial step was very difficult but Asian Pacific Student Alliance (APSA) opened new doors for me. APSA has introduced me to a community that was very welcoming and gave me most of my closest friends. Without APSA, I would have not come out of my shell and be the person I am today. Coming out of my shell, I got to be a part of Delta Sigma Pi, a co-ed professional business fraternity, and the Asian Pacific Islander Desi American ( APIDA) Resource Center staff.
What is your favorite memory from SDSU?
My favorite memory from SDSU is definitely all the nights I stayed up at the Library’s 24/7 study area with my friends to “study” for my exams. Although the point of staying up is to study, we also enjoyed talking, watching YouTube videos, and even made rap songs using our catch phrases. I often catch my mind thinking about those 4 am conversations while running on purely caffeine since everything is online and I haven’t been able to study with my friends in-person for over a year.
What is the best advice you have received during your time at SDSU?
The best indirect advice I’ve received was from one of my professors. The advice was to not take things too seriously and remember to have fun. This spoke to me in a lot of ways because I feel like it is easy to bury yourself with school work but it’s also important to enjoy your time in college. It made me realize that getting good grades is nice but also that I shouldn’t take college for granted - it's important to build my connections with other people and enjoy my college career, too.
What career aspirations do you have following your time at SDSU?
After I graduate, I am hoping to work as an management consultant or project manager to gain more experience in the business field before taking a huge leap and starting my own business.
Asian Pacific Islander Desi American Heritage Month
What is your cultural background?
Although I was born and raised in California, both of my parents are from Japan. Japanese was actually my first language and I attended Japanese Saturday school in Torrance, CA for 11 years. Along with American celebrations, I also celebrated all of the Japanese national holidays at home and I would say I am very in tune with my Japanese culture.
How have you celebrated your cultural heritage during your time at SDSU?
Asian Pacific Student Alliance: 2019 - 2020 Executive Board
Although I am not in any student organizations and/or communities at SDSU that reflects my own cultural heritage, I attend SDSU JSA’s cultural festival called Gakusai which has lots of food, games and activities, cultural booths, and live performances. Attending that event made me reminisce to when I used to play these certain games with my Japanese friends and family. I was happy that the SDSU community got to experience these activities that were a part of my childhood.
What does Asian Pacific Islander Desi American Heritage Month mean to you?
Asian Pacific Islander Desi American Heritage Month means a lot to me because it recognizes our culture, influence, history, achievements, contributions, etc. It is easy to overlook us since we are a minority but this month allows us to show everyone how much of an impact we have made and showcase to the country what makes us unique and stand out.
There has recently been a surge of anti-Asian hate crimes in the U.S. Do you have any advice for people who do not identify with the Asian community and want to be an ally/take action?
For the people who do not identify as APIDA and want to be an ally, one thing I can advise is to just listen to us since sometimes people can overstep boundaries and create unwanted help. The Asian Pacific Islander Desi American Resource Center has an APIDA pledge that you can sign as well as hold many events to highlight the issues and talk about them. Being involved in the community and acknowledging our voices and struggles is one of the many things one can do as an ally.
APIDA Resource Center Staff
What advice would you give Asian Pacific students wanting to get involved at SDSU? Are there communities and/or student organizations you would recommend?
To the students who identify as APIDA, one major advice I would give is to dip your toes into everything and really put yourself out there. In college, you get out what you put in. If you don’t put in the effort to get to know which communities you feel the most in tune with, you won’t find one! I think starting off with coming out to APIDA Resource Center events would be a major first step and from there, you will be introduced into a lot of different communities! Although I am heavily biased, the Asian Pacific Student Alliance was the best student organization for me since their overwhelmingly welcoming vibes and really fun events introduced me to my best friends!
Who inspires you? Do you have any mentors that have positively impacted your life?
Everyone that surrounds me, whether that be my friends, family, or community, inspires me because I do my best to surround myself with people who make me happy and want to be a better person. One mentor that positively impacted my life is my older sister since she taught me to live my life in the moment and enjoy the little things in life. Whenever something negative happens, she always reminds me to take care of my mental health.
*Group photos were taken prior to March 2021
