Student Interview with Zhu Tianyi | ISI Japanese Language School

Zhu Tianyi

From China
Tokyo-Takadanobaba Campus

Waseda University
School of Culture, Media and Society & School of Social Sciences
Admitted

What inspired you to decide to study in Japan?: I lived in Changzhou until middle school, but I wasn't able to perform as well as I had hoped on my high school entrance exam, and I failed to get into one of the top local high schools. At the time, it felt like my world had fallen apart. That was when I started thinking about studying abroad.

At first, I was deciding between studying in the United States and Japan. My older sister was attending university in the U.S., and I had heard that admission was highly competitive and that finding a job after graduation could be challenging. Since Japan was closer to home and offered better value for the cost, I ultimately chose to study there. My family then found a high school in Shanghai that offered a Japanese study-abroad program, and I started learning Japanese in my first year of high school to prepare for my studies in Japan.
How was your study abroad experience after arriving in Japan?: My mother came to Japan with me, and my boyfriend met me at the airport. They both helped me a great deal, so my life in Japan got off to a very smooth start.
What was your impression of Japan? Was it different from what you had imagined before coming here?: It was quite different from what I had expected. Before coming to Japan, I worried that Japanese people might be cold and distant, but that wasn't how I felt after arriving. People are actually warmer than I had imagined. Even neighbors I met in the elevator would greet me. Once, I fell off my bicycle on my way home from school, and two or three people passing by immediately asked if I was okay.
What has been the happiest, most memorable, or most challenging experience you've had since coming to Japan?: The summer after finishing the June EJU (Examination for Japanese University Admission for International Students), I went to Shin-Okubo with my friends to eat karaage. It was sunny when we headed out, but on the way back we were caught in a sudden thunderstorm. We quickly bought two umbrellas and squeezed four people under them as we walked. The drainage system around Shin-Okubo Station couldn’t keep up with the heavy rain, and the area was flooded like a river. The water reached our calves, so we had no choice but to grit our teeth and wade through it. The rain was so heavy that we had to keep our umbrellas open even on the station platform. By the time I got home and took off my jacket, I collapsed onto my bed, and any motivation I had left to study completely disappeared. It may sound like a miserable experience, but getting soaked in the rain together with my friends has become one of my memories of youth.
Tell us about people you met after coming to Japan. Do you have any memorable stories with them?: During my entrance exam preparations, I made several close friends. As we studied for the November EJU, we were all under immense pressure, so after class we would let off steam by shouting, singing, and joking around on the walk from the school to the station. One Friday night, after class ended around 10:30 p.m., we all went over to a classmate's apartment. We made instant scallion oil noodles, played a game called 'Turtle Soup', and spent the rest of the night venting about our teachers, the cram school, and whatever else was on our minds. It was such a fun and unforgettable evening. Now, many of us have been accepted to universities such as Waseda and Keio, while others have gone on to Hitotsubashi or Tohoku University. Even though we're now heading to different universities, I hope the friendships we built while preparing for the entrance exams will last for years to come.
What was your experience like at the language school, and why did you choose ISI?: I think I was really lucky to choose ISI.

I first learned about ISI through Xiaohongshu. According to other students' reviews, the school wasn't overly strict, and students were even allowed to use their phones during class. Teachers were not only kind but also engaging, and they genuinely cared about each student. When my attendance dropped, they took the time to meet with me and seriously discuss my situation.

As for my classmates, the class I joined after moving to a new level was much more diverse, and I was really happy to meet so many interesting people. For example, the student sitting next to me was Korean, and his interactions with the teacher during class were especially entertaining. There was also a Turkish student in our class who dressed up as a very popular anime character for Halloween, and everyone took photos with her. Overall, the atmosphere was very relaxed, both in and outside the classroom.

The lessons are also quite interesting because we get to learn about Japanese customs. For example, during the recent Setsubun celebration, we played an “Oni wa soto, fuku wa uchi” game with our teacher.

I am always very tense when studying for entrance exams at school, but at ISI, I can relax, clear my mind, and take a refreshing break.
What was the biggest challenge you faced during the university application process?: However, I simply could not come up with anything for my statement of purpose for the School of Political Science and Economics. I worried about it so much every day that I could barely sleep or eat. In the end, I decided not to apply to that school. The School of Culture, Media and Society and the School of Social Sciences were a little easier because I was able to use the same topic for both. However, I also struggled a great deal with the statement for the School of Human Sciences. In the end, I just wrote whatever came to mind and submitted it (laughs). The School of Human Sciences also required an internal entrance examination, but I did not take it because I was preparing for the TOEFL at the time.
What changes have you noticed in yourself through your experience of studying abroad?: First of all, I think I've become a more cheerful person thanks to the many friends I've made.

Secondly, studying abroad has allowed me to meet people from a wide range of backgrounds and experience different cultures, which has made me much more open-minded.

When I was in middle and high school, I felt as if my world would come to an end if I didn't get into a good school. However, after coming abroad, I realized that wasn't the case at all. My classmates at ISI came from many different countries, and each of them had their own reason for coming to Japan. Some wanted to experience life in Japan, some hoped to settle here, and others planned to attend vocational schools to learn specific skills or pursue the fields they were passionate about. Not everyone was aiming to enter a university.

Although everyone came to Japan for different reasons, we all got along very well. There was never any sense that those who were accepted into prestigious universities were somehow better than those who chose vocational schools. It was here that I realized there are many different ways to live a fulfilling life.
If you could sum up your study abroad experience in one sentence, what would it be?: I gave it everything I had so that I would have no regrets.

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