Hirofumi Wakimoto

Student

“Ever since I came to SMC, I’ve met a bunch of very diverse people, which is stimulating. SMC wa subarashii!”

The Japanese words below roughly translate into “SMC is fantastic!” And that’s a sentiment that Hirofumi Wakimoto—and his brother before him—share together. “It’s a very simple way to say it, because the Japanese language can be very long and complicated,” explains Hirofumi. And though this native son of Japan speaks remarkable English, the actively subtle differences between his two languages are what have sent him in surprising directions at SMC.

“When I first came here, I wanted to be a writer or a journalist; anything literary, really,” he says. “But I had to face ‘the wall’ of English, and so I chose the ‘language’ of visual expression—the Fine Arts. What I’m trying to do,” he explains, “is to find my way through expression, which I have a lot of desire to do. Through literature or through any of the arts, being creative is the most important thing for me.” Hirofumi is learning the skills in his Arts Mentor classes to realize success in animation or illustration or…. But he has already learned that art is a demanding taskmaster, and that success in his field can have a downside.

“When I first started, I had a really good GPA. But then I had a group exhibition with my classmates, and it was exhausting. The show was a great success,” recalls Hirofumi. “But I was so tired I couldn’t concentrate, and my grades fell off. It’s better now, and I’m hoping to transfer soon to UC Irvine or UCLA.” Hirofumi’s adventures in the ‘Mystical East’ that is America have included coast-to-coast explorations via Greyhound. “But I would love to get my MFA and teach what I have learned at SMC,” he says. “That would be my ultimate creative dream.”

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