ICU student and Study Abroad Scholarship recipient Mari Ohgushi shares her experience on what it’s like to study abroad at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ.

JICUF: Thank you for agreeing to do this interview, Mari. Please tell me about how you chose to go to ICU and to study abroad at Rutgers University.

Mari: I chose ICU for several reasons. The biggest reason was that I thought I could really learn at ICU. ICU has its own education system which can not compare with other universities in Japan.

I had heard about Rutgers from a fellow ICU student who studied at Rutgers from 2011 to 2012. I was interested in continuing my study of Spanish and English because I am half Peruvian and half Japanese.

Also, Rutgers is close to New York!

JICUF: All great reasons! Please tell me about any challenges you might have experienced during your year abroad.

Mari: Moving out of my dorm room last semester into an apartment was a turning point in my life even though it may not be traditionally described as a “challenge.” I was not satisfied with my dorm life in Fall semester, so I asked my advisor at the global affairs office if it was possible to move into another residence and he said yes. I learned from the experience that I need to take action if I want to change my circumstances and achieve anything.

JICUF: That is a very good lesson to learn.

Mari: I also have some regrets that I did not participate in as many activities and events as I would have liked throughout my university life, both at ICU and Rutgers due to my shyness.

Last, but not least, I struggle constantly with the balance between studying and job-hunting. It is especially difficult to do job-hunting when studying abroad.

JICUF: I have heard this before. The Japan ICU Foundation and local ICU Alumni chapters try their best to support ICU students in North America to the best of their ability with job-hunting and networking with ICU alumni and friends in their particular field of interest. Please tell me about your career aspirations and future goals.

Mari: I would like to work as a journalist in the future. At ICU I took a course “Introduction to Media Studies”.  Journalists came to the class as guest speakers and talked about different topics. Hearing about their experiences was very inspirational. So my biggest dream now is to become journalist. It is my goal to write news and spread news.

JICUF: That is a great future plan. Thank you for sharing so much. Is there anything else you would like to add?

Mari: I really appreciate the Study Abroad Scholarship. I study a lot at ICU and miss opportunities to hang out with friends sometimes.  Now,  I feel like all of my hard work was worth it. Thank you for the support.

JICUF: Thank you, Mari!