Bonnie Baldigo graduated with a BA degree in Japanese studies after completing her final semester abroad at Kansai Gaidai in Osaka, Japan in Fall 2001. After graduation, Bonnie went to work for Creek & River America in New York City, a talent management company that supports freelancers in Japan. Simultaneously, she attended Hunter College, pursuing her Master’s degree in TESOL (which she received in December, 2006). Eventually, when Creek & River downsized, Bonnie looked for other employment in the ESL industry. She was hired in March 2005 as Admissions Coordinator for the Asia region at Study Group USA. She handled all admissions aspects for students applying to Embassy CES centers in the USA—these students come from all the Asia countries; with the majority from Japan, Korea and Taiwan. In February 2007, she was promoted to Admissions Manager of Asia at Study Group USA.
 
She writes, “I love my job; I have daily contact with partners in Japan, Korea and Taiwan and I often get to travel with them around the US to see my company's 7 ESL centers in North America. I've even been sent to England for training, and my position usually has a chance to visit our Regional Offices overseas in Asia at least once a year. I've often had the chance to have direct contact with our students and my Japanese has come in handy more than once for explaining complicated situations to confused students. Most recently, I've been asked by my Tokyo Regional Office if I would accept a transfer there for 2 or 3 years! The details are all being worked out now, but it looks like this time next year I'll be living in Tokyo...”

“I feel that my education at SUNY Albany is the whole basis for where I am today. I wish I knew all those years ago what I could do with a B.A. in Japanese Studies. It would have saved me a lot of worry and stress about my future! I didn't know where to look or how to connect it to other fields, but I can see now how my background in Japanese opened up a lot of doors for me in a variety of industries I never knew existed back then.”