Throughout my whole life, I have been putting effort in acquiring English qualifications and enhancing my English pronunciation. However, I have never put myself into an English only environment and I have dreamed of studying in America from when I was a high school student.
The reason why I chose to learn at Augustana College is because Augustana has a lot of lessons which are related to movies. Such as a class called “Introduction to film.” Moreover, inside the campus, there is a film production called “Fresh Films.” “Fresh Films” produces advertising programs, documentary programs, and short films. I belong to the Cinema Society Club at my university in Japan and love to watch movies so I wished to take part in a film company. However, I have never seen or been part in the film industry. I am enthusiastic to take a look at the background of how a film is produced at Augustana.

Five months has passed since I started studying abroad at Augustana College. I took three classes for fall semester, THEA-100-01 Introduction to Theatre, COMM-260-01 Communication and Culture, and COMM-101-02 Public Speaking. At first, time managing was difficult for me since there were a lot of assignments which I needed to finish within a day and I also had the barrier that English was my second language. I used to wake up at ５ o'clock in the morning and sleep past １２o'clock so that I can accomplish my assignments. I had kept in mind before studying abroad that I will participate in class by raising my hand and talking at least once during the class and I accomplished it. The effort I had put in every class was conveyed to the professor which led me to receive accomplish e-mails four times. After taking classes, I would cram myself to do assignments with my friends. Therefore, it felt as if I was studying for the entrance exam for the university every day. However, when I received and got a final A+ score for every class that I enrolled this semester, I felt a sense of accomplishment and I was moved. I actively talked with a lot of people on campus and I made a lot of friends. Winter break has come and now I am relaxing by taking a walk on campus where I can enjoy nature.

After studying abroad, I feel like my personality trait has changed drastically. When I started studying at Augustana College, I didn’t have any friends so I felt lonely all the time. I really thought that I need to change the situation so I started to act. I talked to the students who were sitting by themselves in the cafeteria and I tried to go in a lot of friend groups I knew. My friend group gradually expanded and I was able to become friends with amazing people. I was moved how many people were willing to give me their help and I felt the warmth of people. The people I met and bonded with has definitely and always be my treasure. Moreover, when it comes to academics, I was the only one who always brought in an electronic dictionary and tape recorder for the class. I made it a habit to look up the word I didn’t know immediately and if I had any part in the class I couldn’t understand, I always heard the lecture again and again until I fully knew the meaning. Even after trying my hardest on my own and still had difficulties, I asked the professors and they were always willing to help me. I was able to get the highest grade A＋ in every class. In the future, as everyone had done it to me, I would like to help foreign people who come to Japan and I also want to take part in a job where I can use English and communicate with other people.