Jet Programme Series: A New Adventure – Yasha Hanoomansingh
2022/8/5
Jet Programme Series: A New Adventure – Yasha Hanoomansingh
My name is Yasha Hanoomansingh. I am 25 years old, born in St. Ann’s, and then raised in Cunupia, Trinidad & Tobago. I attended St. Augustine Girls’ High School and went on to achieve First Class Honours at the University of the West Indies (St Augustine) with a double major in Communication Studies and Film Production. Aside from freelance media and content creation, I am also a musical artist, and I have performed in many solo shows over the years and more recently with some of my good friends in an alternative rock band (go Skulkyd!!!).
Aside from my passion for music and performance, my wonderful parents, Prematie and Gideon, have always encouraged me and my sister Zysha to follow academic pursuits, placing a heavy emphasis on education from the very beginning of our lives. It was here that I began investigating the ways in which I could intertwine my passions and my academics, which ultimately led to my choice of field of study at university. As it happens, I began to develop a large interest in film and TV from a very early age, one of my very first favourite films (and still to this day) being a little movie called ‘Kiki’s Delivery Service’. Little did I know that this small introduction to what I know now to be Studio Ghibli would kick-start a longstanding fascination with Japan, its environment, its media and its culture.
As I grew older, the love affair with Japan never faded, and my interest in global cultures only grew as I learned more throughout my years at university. I also became interested in working with children, having volunteered at the Autistic Society of Trinidad and Tobago, working with individuals on the autism spectrum and conducting music and art therapy within groups. Eventually, I felt that I wanted to give back, and utilize my academic qualifications that I had worked so hard to achieve. I didn’t realize it at first, but this opportunity would go on to present itself in the form of the JET Programme.
With unending support from my family, my boyfriend Amos, and my close friends, I began the process of my application, and occupied myself with my music while I waited for a response. I played so many shows in that period of time that I was completely taken aback when I got the call that my application was successful. In the midst of a huge boom in my musical career, I was now being called to action to share my knowledge & culture and take up my place in the working world. Although it is incredibly hard to leave home, where my heart is, and to walk away from music, love and family for a while, I do look forward to what awaits me on this new adventure. I am so indescribably grateful for this opportunity from CLAIR and The Japanese Embassy of Trinidad and Tobago and I willingly follow the path along which the wind carries me. And in all the chaos, I remember the words of Hii-sama of the Ghibli film, ‘Princess Mononoke’: “You cannot alter your fate. However, you can rise to meet it.”
JET Series: A New Adventure (Japanese Embassy's Facebook)
JET Programme Series Archives
Aside from my passion for music and performance, my wonderful parents, Prematie and Gideon, have always encouraged me and my sister Zysha to follow academic pursuits, placing a heavy emphasis on education from the very beginning of our lives. It was here that I began investigating the ways in which I could intertwine my passions and my academics, which ultimately led to my choice of field of study at university. As it happens, I began to develop a large interest in film and TV from a very early age, one of my very first favourite films (and still to this day) being a little movie called ‘Kiki’s Delivery Service’. Little did I know that this small introduction to what I know now to be Studio Ghibli would kick-start a longstanding fascination with Japan, its environment, its media and its culture.
As I grew older, the love affair with Japan never faded, and my interest in global cultures only grew as I learned more throughout my years at university. I also became interested in working with children, having volunteered at the Autistic Society of Trinidad and Tobago, working with individuals on the autism spectrum and conducting music and art therapy within groups. Eventually, I felt that I wanted to give back, and utilize my academic qualifications that I had worked so hard to achieve. I didn’t realize it at first, but this opportunity would go on to present itself in the form of the JET Programme.
With unending support from my family, my boyfriend Amos, and my close friends, I began the process of my application, and occupied myself with my music while I waited for a response. I played so many shows in that period of time that I was completely taken aback when I got the call that my application was successful. In the midst of a huge boom in my musical career, I was now being called to action to share my knowledge & culture and take up my place in the working world. Although it is incredibly hard to leave home, where my heart is, and to walk away from music, love and family for a while, I do look forward to what awaits me on this new adventure. I am so indescribably grateful for this opportunity from CLAIR and The Japanese Embassy of Trinidad and Tobago and I willingly follow the path along which the wind carries me. And in all the chaos, I remember the words of Hii-sama of the Ghibli film, ‘Princess Mononoke’: “You cannot alter your fate. However, you can rise to meet it.”
JET Series: A New Adventure (Japanese Embassy's Facebook)
JET Programme Series Archives