His journey has taken him from Gympie in regional Queensland to the bright lights of Japan's fifth biggest city, Sapporo, but New Colombo Plan 2017 Japan scholar Raymart Walker is still firmly focused on his passion for education.
Born to Yugoslav and Filipino parents, Raymart was the first member of his family to attend university. He is studying for a Bachelor of Science and Education at the University of the Sunshine Coast.
He is an advocate for the power of higher-education to open doors and build transformational experiences.
For Raymart, a New Colombo Plan scholarship meant he could incorporate global perspectives into his studies at Hokkaido University, while also studying Japanese.
"My New Colombo Plan scholarship program has enhanced my understanding of the world from a different cultural perspective, provided insight into cultural differences in higher education, and has enabled personal and professional connections that would not have been possible without this incredible experience," Raymart said.
"This experience has been invaluable, and I believe will be for anyone who wishes to work in the tertiary education environment in the future."
As part of his program, Raymart has completed an internship at Voss English Natural Conversation in Kobe, which provided him the opportunity to teach English to Japanese adults.
He will head to Bangkok in August to participate in the 9th University Scholars Leadership Symposium held at the United Nations.
Raymart hopes to apply his experiences in Japan and from the United Nations Leadership Symposium to an internship with a global focus, such as at the Tokyo United Nations Centre.
With his busy professional development agenda, Raymart is well on his way to achieving his career aspiration of becoming Vice-Chancellor, which he would like to pursue to fulfil his goals of making positive changes in the education sector.
For the moment, Raymart is looking forward to sharing his experiences and advocating for Japan and engagement with the broader Indo-Pacific region when he returns to USC.