Haruna and Takeshi Finished VanArts Laughing—Then Aimed Past “Must Get Hired Here”

Unlike many Frog stories, this one catches graduates at the finish line more than at an offer letter. Haruna and Takeshi studied VanArts’ Web Development & Interactive Design program, teamed on an app that outgrew the syllabus, and kept futures deliberately wide.

Haruna paused a policy faculty path aimed vaguely at the UN after year-one intuition said it was not her work. A sudden wedding-planner calling led to nearly two years helping launch an Osaka branch producing original weddings. When the internship ended she wanted something new and abroad; web design won because words never carry half of meaning. One-year leave limits and a late January decision pointed to VanArts’ March intake. School done, she would return end of March to senior year and Japan job hunting—imagining a site that turns students’ “want to” into “doing.”

Takeshi entered education university to teach like his parents, then doubted. Solo Thailand travel lit a world-tour itch; he saved, studied English three months in the Philippines, worked a half-year Australian working holiday, traveled cheap routes, and in South America decided he needed skills. Vancouver became the place to choose a craft. Interactive design appealed; a close partner’s counsel shapes next steps. His portfolio leans motion (After Effects on About) because a year of hard language communication taught him showing beats explaining.

VanArts mixed design tools with heavier concept/UI-UX talk and concurrent coding—HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, light libraries, some React Takeshi attended and Haruna sometimes skipped for tutorials. About half the class failed to graduate, often abandoning design or code; the three Japanese students kept both for the full intensive year, including twenty-four-hour website sprints until teachers inserted weekends. Their group project Board Buddies matches board-gamers in Vancouver first, global later—born from a classmate who hated ending up at Yu-Gi-Oh meetups when he wanted something else. A nine-person class business team shrank to four continuing; Takeshi co-founds on frontend, Haruna did UI/UX before returning to Japan. Kickstarter helped fund hours beyond coursework.

They praise Vancouver’s Asian density and patience with imperfect English versus sharper edges felt in the U.S. or Australia. The interview stays funny on purpose: proof a specialty year can matter even when permanent Canadian employment is not the only scoreboard.