Communication graduate hopes to jumpstart career in Asia

Ever since Wyatt Dean traveled to Japan last year, he has wanted to return to the Asian continent.

But not just as a tourist. To live.

The recent CWU communication graduate is hoping to take the first step toward becoming an English teacher overseas next year through the English Program in Korea (EPIK).

EPIK, sponsored by the South Korean government, brings in English speakers from around the world to teach the language in public schools. Those who are selected have the option of staying for up to five years, although they must reapply every year.

Dean had hoped to join EPIK this summer, but he decided to revisit his application for the 2025 cycle. In the meantime, he plans to polish his skills for when he eventually returns to Asia.

“Ever since I visited Japan, I knew I wanted to go back,” said Dean, whose primary focus is social media communications. “I already have a couple good connections from my trip to Japan, so there could be some future business opportunities that open up once I’m over there.”

Dean and his CWU classmates traveled to Kyoto, Japan, for 16 days in July 2023 as part of a study abroad program. During their stay, Dean had a chance encounter with a video game executive, which developed into a burgeoning professional relationship.

“I bumped into a guy in a convenience store and he asked if I was there for the gaming conference in Kyoto,” he said. “He introduced me to the owner of his company — an international gaming company called Stride PR — and now I have an in with the company.”

Dean, who also completed an advertising minor at CWU, has been working on his public relations and blog-writing skills in the hopes that he may be able to leverage his newfound network in Japan someday.

“I’m planning to start a video game blog so I can have some relevant experience to put on my résumé,” he said. “I’m just going to do everything I can to be ready for any opportunity that comes my way.”

Ever since his youth, Dean has had a distinct interest in Asian culture. When he transferred to CWU in 2022, he immediately befriended members of the Asia University American Program (AUAP) and the University English as a Second Language program (UESL). Naturally, Dean gravitated toward a role of helping exchange students acclimate to campus.

“I really enjoy community engagement work, and I have a strong intercultural lens that has allowed me to make friends with a lot of different people,” he said. “That’s one of the things I enjoyed most about my time at CWU.”

Dean also served as vice president of the CWU Anime Club in 2023-24, alongside his brother, Dilan, who was the club president this year. The two have long shared an interest in anime — a popular animation genre that originated in Japan — and they took their leadership roles seriously.

The brothers did whatever they could to help grow interest in the club, staging weekly meetings, hosting quarterly movie nights, and organizing trips to Seattle for Sakura-Con.

“We had a lot of fun running the Anime Club,” he said. “It gave us an opportunity to get together with people who have similar interests and want to celebrate Japanese culture.”

Dean credits his brother — also a 2024 CWU graduate — with sparking his interest in anime and Japanese culture in general when they were younger. Although the two are eight years apart, they have always shared an interest in Eastern culture.

“Dilan also wants to work in the gaming community doing social media,” Dean said. “We have a lot in common even though we’re so many years apart, and we think it’s pretty cool that we got to graduate together.”

Dean said he will always be grateful for the relationships he built during his two years on campus. Most of all, he will miss his two communication professors, Drs. Josh Nelson-Ichido and Nicholas Temple.

“They aren’t just professors to me; they are my friends,” Dean said. “I had a class with Josh every quarter for the past two years and I felt a really strong connection with him. I see a lot of myself in him, and I can’t thank him enough being a mentor to me.”