Through W&J’s signature program, The Magellan Project, Brooke embarked on a tour of Japan to study the cultural impact baseball has in the country.
“I’ve been going to baseball games with my dad since I was 1,” the business administration major and biology and chemistry minor said.
“After completing my first Magellan in Florida…I had the idea to study baseball, but I wasn’t sure how I could make it a research project. Then, I thought about how players come from all over the world to play in the U.S. I had an idea of how big baseball was in Japan, and I wanted to see how it differed and how big of an impact that Japanese culture has on the sport.
Baseball in Japan is the same in the way that the game is played; however, it is a totally different experience because of the crowd. Every player has their own cheer that everyone knows. They sing and clap along and are entirely immersed in the game. No one is ever on their cell phone and rarely do people leave early. Every game I went to was entirely sold out.
Dr. Kuo was adamant that being a well-rounded individual with experience in many fields and the ability to problem solve would be critical for our future. She was right. There isn’t one specific class that prepared me for this journey; I believe it has been a combination of all my classes from so many different areas of study that have helped me overcome the challenges I have faced,” Brooke said.
