About me
I am a senior computer science student at San Diego State University (SDSU). I originally took my first Japanese language class as a general elective because my friend told me to take it with them. I enjoyed learning the material so much that I decided to minor in Japanese. Over the next couple of courses of Japanese, I had thought about studying abroad in Japan but mainly as more of a lofty dream at the time. As the application period for studying abroad came around, I thought more and more about applying and finally decided to pursue this dream. Knowing that I would need financial aid in this, I put in the hard work and effort and was awarded a few scholarships, namely the Gilman Scholarship.
This blog, and all of its contents were made possible due to the Gilman Scholarship, which I was lucky enough to be a recipient of. One of the requirements after receiving the scholarship is to do a follow-on service project of any kind, so I chose to do a blog as I felt it would be the best way to reach the biggest audience. I am a low income student, came from the lowest performing school in my district, with one of the lowest graduation rates and am the first within my family to go to a University. This opportunity was once in a lifetime, and thanks to the Gilman for giving people like me this opportunity, I want others like me to know that there are resources out there for you, there are people willing to help you and even if something seems impossible, you'll never know unless you try.
This blog, and all of its contents were made possible due to the Gilman Scholarship, which I was lucky enough to be a recipient of. One of the requirements after receiving the scholarship is to do a follow-on service project of any kind, so I chose to do a blog as I felt it would be the best way to reach the biggest audience. I am a low income student, came from the lowest performing school in my district, with one of the lowest graduation rates and am the first within my family to go to a University. This opportunity was once in a lifetime, and thanks to the Gilman for giving people like me this opportunity, I want others like me to know that there are resources out there for you, there are people willing to help you and even if something seems impossible, you'll never know unless you try.
Why YNU
During my search for study abroad programs in Japan that were available through SDSU, there was always one university that stood out among the rest, Yokohama National University (YNU). I had gone to presentations in which former study abroad students, from Japan, described there experiences and promoted the universities they went to. The main things that stood out to me about YNU was that it housing was subsidized (affordable), in a nice location (on the eastern coast of Japan and near Tokyo), and that it was also one of San Diego's sister cities. As I looked more into the program that YNU offered for exchange students, I discovered that they offered a wide variety of courses not limited to only Japanese language courses. This meant that I could also try and complete some of my general education courses abroad as well as my minor. So with all of this in mind, I chose to apply to study abroad at YNU.