The Best Experience of My Life

I first heard about World Campus through a friend of mine who worked as staff member back in the early 2010’s. I had made a comment how I’ve always wanted to visit Japan, and the way he described World Campus it sounded like the perfect way to do so. After looking into the program, I decided I wanted to get the full bang for my buck and was determined to take all three sessions. After graduating high school, I worked for a few years, applied and dropped out due to lack of funds, and worked until 2019 when I finally had enough to go. I spent almost every dollar I had to join World Campus, and I can safely say It was worth every dollar.

You experience not only the culture of Japan, but so many sights and sounds. I visited cultural sites, schools, cultural fairs, and almost everything in between. And everywhere I went, I felt welcomed by the incredible communities we worked with. And beyond the fact that you’re in the beautiful country of Japan and experiencing the culture first hand, you make connection with fantastic people who will be apart of your life for as long as you live. In the nine weeks I spent in world campus over the course of the three 2019 sessions, I made so many new friends who were either other students from around the world, or amazing community members whose greatest desire was to show us their amazing country and culture.

But more than all of that were the host families we stayed with.

I’ve never experienced such hospitality in my life. Every week, we move cities and stay with new host families who graciously take us in and treat us like one of their own. And frankly, by the end of the week, we were a part of their family. I think that’s the thing I loved most about World Campus. Yes, I got to experience a country I’ve been fascinated with my whole life. Yes, I got to make close friends with people from across the globe. Yes, I came home with enough stories to write a book or two. But more than that, I found a family I never knew I had. In fact, I found several families, all of whom mean more to me then any experience I had (not to say the experiences weren’t phenomenal).
In World Campus, you get far more than just a trip to Japan, you get the most in depth experience you can possibly get. I stayed for 3 sessions, which took me to 9 different cities in Nagasaki, Fukuoka, Kumamoto, Osaka, Nara, Kanagawa, Ibaraki, Chiba, and Tokyo, and in every city we saw amazing sights and did amazing activities.

I’d recommend World Campus to anyone who wants to experience Japan in the best possible way. I will always remember my experiences in it, and I’d defiantly say that this program is worth every dollar.