July 14, 2000
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THE UNIVERSITY OF VICTORIA July 14, 2000 |
 JUBILEE MEDAL — HUMANITIESKenji achieved a grade point average of 8.93 — the highest in the faculty of humanities — while taking very difficult upper-level linguistics courses conducted in a language not his own. Born in Japan, Oda says that he did not do well in junior high school English, but since that time his talent in languages has blossomed. “Language is like a huge puzzle,” says Oda. “I’m interested in the cultural aspects of language. You can tell a lot about a culture by its language.” An adventurous and sociable student, Oda came to Canada after high school to visit a friend in Ottawa. He stayed to attend Vancouver’s Columbia College, where he studied Spanish and French, later moved to Queen’s, and eventually ended up at UVic, where many of his friends from Columbia College were pursuing their education. Oda was surprised to learn that he was at the head of his class. He attributes his success to luck, but also speaks of the support of his friends and the excellence of his teachers. The three universities to which he applied for graduate studies— UVic, McGill and the University of Toronto — all offered him fellowships. This fall, he’ll begin graduate work in linguistics at the U of T. |