帰国子女合格体験記　大学入学編（英語版）

I can’t say I was the best student nor am I the smartest, but I would like to think that It was hard work and TSA hiroshima that led me on the path I’m on today. Living on Guam my entire life, I made the choice to study and live in Japan. With the help of a family friend, Kotani-san, I had a plan to prepare for college application procedures in Japan and moved to Hiroshima in June. With little to no Japanese fluency/writing, I had to juggle between learning Japanese, researching and writing essays for colleges, taking the TOEFL, and retaking the SAT. I studied every day from 10:00am to 7:00pm-8:00pm with the help that the school offered me. It was hard at first, but I found my footing after finding out what works best for me. It was actually the school’s students and environment that made it easier for me to learn Japanese too. During the times I would study I would also make time to listen and talk to the people around me. Although some may say studying is boring, I can definitely say that the shared camaraderie of pursuing college has made it easier to keep fighting. After 3 months of working hard I took my first tests for the TOEFL and SAT. having originally a 1080 SAT and a 98 TOEFL, I took the tests and received a 1280 and a 109 respectively. I was surprised to find considerable improvement in such a short amount of time and was happy with the scores I received. When I was done with tests and pre-admissions assignments, I had the opportunity to visit Miyajima with the school. I got to see amazing views and bond with my classmates. Some of them I still talk to now! I appreciated that opportunity a lot. It was this experience that eventually helped me pick myself up for university rejections. Before then I had trouble sleeping at night. I constantly thought that maybe I wouldn’t be picked or that I was just unworthy of college. But seeing how hard everyone was working, I knew that I tried my best and that’s what mattered. I felt much relief after seeing that I passed the first round of results in Rikkyo University and made preparations to take a test and interview there. I spent hours at school preparing for the interview and writing pages of essays to prepare for the written exam. Even without knowing Japanese, I was able to effectively practice with the resources the school provided for me. I went to Tokyo, tried my best, and now I am proud to say that I’ll be attending Rikkyo University’s GLAP program in the spring. I say it all the time to my friends, but I really would not have been able to do this if it weren’t for my teacher, Kotani-san; his wife; and my classmates. They helped me out tremendously and even checked to make sure I had all my application procedures done periodically. Their kindness does not go unnoticed to me and I deeply appreciate their sacrifices. Again, I wouldn’t have considered going to japan for college an option if it weren’t for the school and the people i met there. Though, it’s only effective if you take full advantage and study hard! The relationships I made there felt more like family, I can’t wait to visit them again to tell them all about my adventures in University.