My College Experience in Japan

A home away from home: my college town

As I approached my senior year of high school, I debated which colleges to apply to. I planned to apply to the University of Hawaiʻi as a backup—because that’s what everyone did—but I was mainly interested in schools on the West Coast. I could fully imagine myself in Oregon or Washington. There was already a blueprint available, so it was easy to picture myself setting up my dorm room, performing hula at the annual lūʻau, and widening my circle of (most likely Asian American) friends.

But then one day, my mom told me about a Japanese university recruiter who was visiting my high school and holding an information session in one of the Japanese classrooms. Japan hadn’t even been on my radar—I didn’t know it was an option. Still, I was intrigued, so I went. There were only about two other students there.

I listened, took a couple of flyers, and looked them over on the way out. I immediately called my mom.
“I went, but I think there’s a misprint on the flyers. The tuition seems to be missing a couple zeroes,” I told her.
Turns out it wasn’t a misprint. And from that point on, my options narrowed down to one.

I thought maybe I’d go home and become a teacher, but I didn’t have any fixed dreams about my career—which gave me more freedom in choosing a college. All I knew in that moment was that if I attended college in Japan, I would graduate debt-free and wouldn’t be putting too much economic stress on my parents.

Luckily, I was accepted with a generous scholarship, so the decision was easy. I’m known to make decisions pretty quickly, no matter how serious they may be. Strangely enough, smaller things—like what heels I’d wear for my wedding—took me months. But I decided on college in about five minutes. Then I got started on my visa application and packed my life into a few boxes and suitcases. Not many students from my high school studied abroad, so there was no blueprint for this, but I just kept charging ahead.

The next four years are a bit of a blur now that I look back, but I know that if I had the chance to do it all over again, I would. I struggled deeply with feelings of loneliness and homesickness, on top of adjusting to the language and cultural barriers. But it was also the first time in my life that I had so much time to myself—and I learned how to be alone. It was uncomfortable and terrifying, but it taught me how to be independent. Living abroad forces you to confront yourself in ways you never imagined. 

Once I got used to the loneliness and the discomfort of it all, I realized how sheltered I’d been—how dependent I was on my parents. I’d also been at the same school for thirteen years, surrounded by basically the same group of people. I grew up in a bubble. Going to college abroad gave me the chance to meet new people, see new perspectives, and be exposed to completely different ways of living and thinking.

I know college is supposed to be about the classes you take, the research you do, and the degree that sets you up for your future—but that wasn’t really the case for me. When people—often high schoolers thinking about studying in Japan—ask me what college here is like, they usually want to know about the course load and how it prepares you for your future. 

But in my experience, studying abroad wasn’t really about the studying. I can only remember a handful of classes and professors. To sum it up in one word, it was fine. Most of the student body spoke English as a second language, so the curriculum wasn’t as rigorous as it probably would’ve been in the U.S. If anything, studying abroad felt more like a necessary step in my personal growth and overall life experience, as opposed to the academic experience others might seek out. 

For an ambitious high schooler, that may seem like an insufficient answer. But for me, the things I remember most are the moments outside the classroom. And what remains are the friendships I made. I know making friends in college is the norm, but making friends while you’re abroad leads to a different kind of connection. In an environment far from home, family, and everything familiar, you cling to each other—and the bonds you form go much deeper than the surface.

I’ve never experienced college back home, so I can’t say whether one is better than the other—but I know I don’t regret my decision. It was a profound experience that changed the trajectory of my life in more ways than one, and while I may not have thought that while I was in the thick of it, time and a little bit of distance will do that.