Ever since I was
in my second year high school, I have been introduced and addicted to the world
of anime, an ever-pop culture in Japan. Since then, my love, appreciation, and
gratitude for the Land of the Rising Sun was unwavering.
In my first year
of college, I met a mass communication student in my batch. When we get to be
acquainted, I learned that she was 2 years older than me. I asked her if she
had any problem during her high school life, or any reason as to why her age
does not coincide with the ordinary students in our batch. Only then have I learned
that the reason why she was a year late was because she studied in Japan for a
year, funded by the Japanese government and all. That thought amazed me, and ever
since that meeting, I had a new goal in life: to be able to study in Japan, even
for a year. And boy, how God quickly answered my prayer!
There I was,
scavenging for foreign exchange programs to Japan that I could apply for. I’ve
looked up programs from JENESYS, AYF, and MEXT, but none of those were
applicable for me. I almost gave up, but I decided that I would just apply for
the Monbungakusho Program (5-year masters program in Japan) after I graduate.
Then, in my second
year semestral break in my college life, a friend gave me a link in Facebook
for a foreign exchange program with the partner universities in Japan. Since I was
not busy with academic or extra-curricular activities at that time, me and my
friends decided to give it a try. (to be continued)
No comments:
Post a Comment