Hello, my name is Francesca Stover and I am a Freshman from San Diego, CA. I am a Global Communication and World Languages major, and my language track is Japanese. I decided to attend Chapman because I loved the atmosphere when I toured the campus, and the Global Communication program was very interesting to me. I also enjoy how close Chapman is to home because family is very important to me, and the idea of being able to go back home often to see my family was really special. A bonus is that Chapman is located in Southern California, and I love going to the beach because I’ve always lived by the ocean.

I was intrigued by the Global Communication major because I am fascinated by languages and other cultures. I come from a bilingual household so different languages are very familiar to me. My mother is Japanese and I spent the first seven years of my life in Japan. I lost a lot of my Japanese when I moved to the US, so it was really important to me that I relearn it and become fluent again. Being biracial can be difficult because sometimes I feel like I’m not enough of one culture, so learning about the Japanese culture and language is vital to me, especially because I feel very detached from my Japanese heritage because I live in the US. This is why I chose my language emphasis to be Japanese, and I hope that I can learn more about the culture and master the language. I also hope to travel abroad and possibly even work in Japan. Ultimately, I’m not sure what I want to pursue career wise, however, I hope to figure that out during my time at Chapman, and through various experiences. 

I decided to apply for the Student Advisory Board because I wanted to get involved with the School of Communication. I love meeting new people and I knew that this experience would help me with that significantly. I’ve also had experience with mentoring in the past throughout high school, so it is very familiar to me. My time in a position like this has helped me grow as a person as well because I get to learn so much from the people around me. I am very excited to meet new people in the School of Communication, and provide support to my peers. 

I can be reached through my email: fstover@chapman.edu