Before I talk about my experience abroad, I wanted to thank the scholarship donors for giving me this opportunity to earn money for the cost while abroad. It helps me out a lot no matter how much due to the fact I’m paying for college myself. Thank you again and I’ll show you how your support made my experience abroad less worrisome and more eventful.

While I was abroad, I had so many opportunities to learn about the environment and how human-environment interactions differ from those in the United States. It made me even more interested in how to lessen our impact and create and promote sustainability practices. The experiences, such as when I went to port towns, made me want to learn more and I started to do some more research into the field of environmental engineering, especially the water resource route in which I was initially interested. I now have a clear goal in what I want to do with my life thanks to studying abroad in Japan and living through those experiences.

Going to Japan made me reflect on myself internally and changed how I viewed the world. I had never been outside of the U.S. until this program and I had a very biased view of other countries and had expectations for Japan before I even went there. But when I got there, those biases and expectations were shattered. The culture and the people were vastly different than I had anticipated, and it made me even more excited to explore the country. During and after the program, I was able to look at myself and compare myself to the people I met abroad, conservationists, business owners, and everyday workers who gave me special insight into how they view themselves and the world around them. I changed how I viewed the world and other people, and I started to really appreciate life and what I had been given, which was something I didn’t expect to learn when in another country.

In high school, I took 2 years of American Sign Language which introduced me to the idea of different languages and how to communicate with them. While in Japan, I was able to use my knowledge to determine body language better than the other students which helped me understand the Japanese people’s worlds slightly better. But while I was abroad, I was able to pick up certain words or phrases that I would see people use and I slowly started to understand what they meant and in which situations to use those phrases in an appropriate manner. The experiences I had made it easier to get through the day and I even ended up having small conversations with Japanese people in passing or in a shop that I could confidently understand and reply to what they said. Having teachers that understood some Japanese and could help me communicate made it easier and I could ask questions on certain phrases or characters that I was confused about. Overall, going to Japan exceptionally improved my ability to communicate with others that don’t speak the same languages as me and I have a better grasp of how to make both of us understood if I’m in such a situation.

Again, I wanted to thank the scholarship donors for this opportunity. It is greatly appreciated, and I hope you enjoyed my testimonial and the things I learned from this program. Paying for college myself is a struggle and I’m willing to take all the help I can get. This is going toward my study abroad fee but that is intertwined with my tuition which makes it all one big pile of money for me to pay back. A little goes a long way as they say which applies well here.

Overall, my experiences abroad helped me be shaped and molded into a new person with different perspectives and ideals about people and the world. I was able to have fun while learning more about the field I was interested in pursuing throughout my college career. It was certainly an experience that I would highly recommend to any student, incoming or current, that wants to go abroad. It doesn’t matter where you go, just get out there and get some experiences that you will never forget! I’m sure you’ll think it was worth it, just like I do even while I’m writing this after the program. Again, thank you for any and all the support I received, and I hope you find this story insightful.

Name: Xander Roy
Status: First-Year
Major: Environmental Engineering
Hometown: Aurora, Ohio
Program: FSA Japan - Track 2 - Godzilla Rises, Cherry Blossoms Fall