I decided to go abroad as an exchange student because I had great experiences in foreign countries when I was a high school student. I went to Hawaii for 2 weeks for a language program and Germany for field work. These experiences inspired me a lot. I really want to brush up my English skills and study what I want to learn by using English with friends who have high motivations. I hope I will broaden my view and make it useful in my life, study, job hunting or future career. In Australia, people speak English as an official language and spend their lives with others who have different backgrounds with them. Therefore, I can meet various kinds of people and talk with them. It'll be so valuable for me to absorb many cultures and I hope I will learn many things by comparing them with Japanese culture. I'm sure I can understand people from all over the world through the experience in Australia.

Due to the pandemic, the life as an exchange student became quite different from what I’ve expected. The face-to-face classes were cancelled and switched to online version. Therefore, I didn’t have the chance to communicate with Australian in a class very much. However, I tried my best to create some opportunities to meet people and have a conversation with them because I didn’t want to ruin this precious experience as one of the exchange students. Of course, my life was not what I’ve longing for, but I think, in a sense, this experience was precious for me. I learned facing difficult or unexpected situation could change our perspective and bring us up.

Since my major is English literature, I took the class at the university. I understood studying a specific field in English was not easy at all. Actually, it was hard for me to understand what the professor was saying or explaining about technical words. I often asked the professor or the classmates about the class at the end of the lecture. All of them was so kind enough to tell me about it, Thanks to the support by them, I could finish classes and assignments. I got a credit. I learned we can bring ourselves up by putting us on harsh environment. If I have another chance to go back to Australia, I hope I can enjoy studying in a different environment.