By Theresa O’Connor
Have you ever wanted to study in a foreign country? Kayla Phillips, an alumna from the Class of 2014, has dreamed of studying in Japan all her life, and in college her dream actually came true. Not only did she study there for college but she loved it so much that she decided to go back for the second year in a row.
Kayla was searching for programs so she could study abroad in Japan as an ASU student and she came across a summer program in Hiroshima that would give her a semester’s worth of Japanese language credit. She immediately fell in love with Japan and did not think six weeks was enough, so she went back a second time, but this time for a whole year.
To achieve this, Kayla pushed herself to apply for scholarships such as the Gilman Scholarship, scholarships from the Japanese government, and even scholarships at ASU. The Gilman Scholarship is a grant that enables students of limited financial means to study critical languages or intern abroad. Without this particular scholarship, Kayla would not have been able to go abroad, so she encourages anyone wanting to study abroad to apply if they are eligible.
Kayla attended Nanzan University in Nagoya, Japan, during the 2016-17 academic year. She considers Nagoya her home, even though her first place of contact was Hiroshima. Nagoya is a major city, but not a big tourist attraction, so it allows her to hone her Japanese skills and put what she has learned to the test. In this kind of environment, she was able to avoid the temptation of speaking English.
With all of Kayla’s hard work, she expects to earn her bachelor’s degree in Japanese next May, which includes a certificate in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages).
As everyone knows, there are many cultural differences when studying in a foreign country. A big difference is the clothing worn by Japanese. Kayla stated that while most people in the U.S. wear jeans and a T-shirt in almost any situation, Japanese dress up no matter the occasion. “My style and self-presentation changed drastically in response to my desire to fit in with the culture around me.”
Another astonishing difference is the focus on studies here in the U.S. versus Japan. While the U.S. focuses on STEM, Japan puts equal emphasis on both STEM and art studies
Despite these differences, some of Kayla’s favorite differences are: monetary tipping is non-existent, shoes have to be taken off before entering a home, and meals center around vegetables instead of a chunk of meat.
When you stay in a totally different place, there is always something you love in that country or a favorite thing to do. Some of her favorite spots she visited was Nagoya Station in Nagoya, Sakae (two stops over from Nagoya Station), the Higashiyama Zoo where the gorilla is very famous, and Takasu Snow Park in Gifu Perfecture, where she snowboarded and learned to take a step out of her comfort zone.
Occasionally Kayla would eat at the BJ American Dining Bar and get to know the staff there. After the staff finished working, she would spend the whole night singing karaoke with them and eating ramen in the morning. Additionally, she has learned so much of the Japanese language and culture from the people she has met there.
With studying in Japan, Kayla has many opportunities. She wants to persue being an interpreter, translator, or Japanese language professor. She hopes to be accepted into the JET Program so she can teach English in Japan after graduating from ASU. This will allow her to teach up to five years. After that she wants to study Japanese literature at Harvard University, Columbia University, or University of Hawaii at Manoa.
If she sets her mind on studying in Japan, she wants to apply for a Japanese government scholarship and be accepted into Waseda University. In December, she is taking the N2 Japanese proficiency test, which is second to the highest level. She hopes to achieve the highest level, N1, in two years.
