A Truly Life Changing Experience

From July 24 to August 12, 2019 I participated in the World Campus Japan program. During my time I explored Mito, Abiko, and Tama with the program, but I also got to see Tokyo and Asakusa with my host families. Although my time in Japan was rather short, it was the best three weeks of my life and I think about it everyday.

When you participate in the World Campus Japan program you get to experience Japan in an entirely different way, almost as a local. You get to experience home stay, which is the most exciting part of the entire program. You get to experience home cooked Japanese meals, which are delicious. You also get the chance to see how your host family lives, what they do for fun, etc. Even though I only stayed with my host families for a week, I bonded with them all and I still talk to them to this day even though I've been home for two months now. I'm going back to Japan in a couple of months and I've already made plans to visit all of my host families again and I can't wait to see them.

My review of World Campus Japan wouldn't be complete without mentioning the participants, the counselors, and the program director. My group was rather small, I think there were around twelve of us. We were from all over the world and after spending three weeks doing almost everything together, you get incredibly close with each other. I still speak to some of the participants to this day and I hope that someday we see each other again.

The counselors in the program were amazing. The other participants and I noticed how hard that they worked for us and we all greatly appreciate it. The counselors have a tough job of running the town/cities that you visit and organizing it all. They also have the job of translating the language so people who can't speak Japanese know what's going on. The counselors are also there for you if you need to talk to them about anything. They are incredible.

The entire program wouldn't be possible without Hiro, the program director. You have your interview with him before you get accepted into the program and you will be communicating through him all the way until you arrive to Japan. When I participated in the program, it was my first time traveling abroad. Hiro makes everything as simple and smooth as possible. If you have any questions or issues, you can go straight to Hiro and he'll help you. Just like the counselors, he is incredible.

World Campus Japan is an amazing program that everyone should participate in. You get to make connections in Japan that can last a life time as well as making friends with the other participants. If I could do it all over again, I would.