Through the Senshu Matsudo Internship program in Japan, human resources management grad Emily Krupicka was able to make the trip to South Korea to meet her birth family.
For Krupicka, commencement on Dec. 20 isn’t just capping off her Husker career — it’s also wrapping up a very adventurous, very meaningful journey in 2025.
"I'm adopted from South Korea, and I’d ended up doing a birth family search at the beginning of my junior year,” Krupicka said. “I didn’t expect to hear a lot back from that, but then I ended up getting a response and getting in contact with my birth family in South Korea.”
Making contact over the internet was one thing, but Krupicka resolved to meet her birth family in person. To make it possible, she began browsing opportunities through the School of Global Integrative Studies for programs in the region.
“I saw the application for the Senshu Matsudo program and immediately reached out to an adviser in Global Studies to see if I could make it work," Krupicka said.
The program sends two Husker students to live in Matsudo, Japan, for a semester to help teach English to middle school students. During a break in the semester, Krupicka made the trip to South Korea to meet her birth family.
“It was very much this full circle moment,” Krupicka said. “I never thought this would happen or pan out for me, so being able to participate in this program that made it all possible was so special.”
She also found meaning in the program itself, using the cross-cultural competencies she studies in her human resources management major to navigate teaching middle schoolers in a foreign culture.
“I loved working with the kids so much — they were all incredibly sweet and so much fun to work with," she said. "I really didn’t know a lot about Japanese culture, and they all helped teach me so much."
After her return to the United States, Krupicka spent her summer traveling the country for an internship with Boston Consulting Group.
“The internship allowed me to travel to so many places I'd never been to before and meet a lot of really great people as well," Krupicka said. "The work was intense, but it was a really good mix of challenges.”
After confronting so many new experiences, seeing through this very personal goal and launching into an intensive internship, Krupicka is feeling confident that life after graduation will come a lot easier.
“This year really prepared me mentally for what comes after college,” Krupicka said. “Navigating the job search, moving, meeting new people — none of that feels as daunting anymore because I feel so well-equipped.”
