Global Adventures of One of Western’s “Oldest Boys”

Hello parents and old classmates! This is Michael Gurch, one of the “Old Boys” of Western’s first class of graduates in 2012.

In April, my parents and I attended the Founding Roots Dinner which brought back memories. It’s been nine years since we graduated from Western in the very first class, so I would like to share some of what I’ve gone through after graduating. I hope you find this of interest, and if you are a young graduate, perhaps you may get ideas about what you can do following your own graduation from Western!

Soon after graduating Western in 2012, our family moved with my dad’s job to Lagos, Nigeria. This was without a doubt the biggest endeavor I was to undergo in my life right after Western, and I was a bit nervous! That being said, I was open to the change and ready for the adventures this opportunity would provide. I attended an international American school where not only Americans attended but people from all over the globe. I lived in Lagos for two school years and experienced many adventures interacting and living in the Nigerian culture.

Nigerian “Masquerades” at the American International School, Lagos

However, while at American International School, I began feeling a desire for a change, so I switched high schools to an international boarding school near Lake Tahoe in California. This decision would end up affecting my plans of what I wanted to do in the future.

While I was at this school, I once again met people from different countries and cultures. In my final year, I had a Japanese roommate named Hayate who would become a brother to me. We got really close, and he shared many things about his Japanese culture of which he was obviously very proud. Still to this day I respect the strong Japanese work ethic and family values. One aspect that makes the Japanese culture unique is their habit of treasuring every little moment as precious and practicing “Kaizen,” which means “to continuously improve” on something such as a skill.

After graduating high school and moving to the University of Houston, my interaction with my friend led me to aspire to an international career between Japan and the US. After a year at U of H, I transferred to UT Austin, where I am now completing my degree with a double major in Management Information Systems and Japanese.

Skiing with friends near Lake Tahoe

During these college years, I’ve certainly undergone many challenges and adventures, including doing a Software Engineering internship in Tokyo at an IT startup in the summer of 2019 and interning at the US HQ for Tokyo Electron, in Austin. Tokyo Electron is actually a very big deal. In the semiconductor industry, it is the #3 Semiconductor Equipment Manufacturer in the world.

As I finish up at UT, I am also completing an online study abroad program at Sophia University (上智大学)  in Tokyo, Japan. Sophia is a Catholic university and considered to be one of the “Ivy Leagues” of Japan. When in Tokyo in 2019, I attended Mass at the church on campus and joined a Catholic club at the university. Unfortunately, due to the coronavirus pandemic, I was unable to be in Japan in person for the study abroad. In fact, I actually delayed my graduation to study abroad.

That being said, even though I was unable to do a “real life” study abroad program, I intend to graduate from UT this coming spring and work in Tokyo. After that, I will move on to whatever adventures life throws at me!

Michael in Tokyo