ALUMNI UPDATE: FUMIKA MIZUNO

Posted on October 21, 2020

Fumika Mizuno with her chamber group, Opus. From left to right Haeun Jung (PYP 2017), David Kim, and Fumika.

MAKING MUSIC AT PRINCETON
By Fumika Mizuno (YSE 2008-2010, PYCO 2010-2011, PYP 2011-2017)

I’m currently in my last (virtual) year of undergrad at Princeton where I study Politics and East Asian Studies. Music continues to be an important part of my life. I’ve been a member of the Princeton University Orchestra (PUO) and a student-run chamber music group since my freshman year. It was through that chamber group that I got to embark on a performance tour of Sweden last winter with another PYP alumna and dear friend, Haeun Jung. I also got to play the Barber Violin Concerto with PUO this spring, exactly one week before we were ordered to vacate campus. Looking back, I think that may have been one of my last musical performances, so I feel incredibly lucky I got to squeeze it in during pre-pandemic times. Knowing that I won’t have that kind of performance opportunity in the near future makes me cherish the memory even more, as well as all of the wonderful memories I have of playing with PYP.

My college years overlap almost perfectly with the current President’s tenure. Majoring in Politics during this time has been critical in informing my desire to work in government or academia (hopefully both!) after graduation. While I have yet to iron out exactly which policy areas are the best fit for me, I know I want to work in national security, foreign policy, or criminal justice.

Best of luck to PYP with everything this season!