The CIE-NRC grant is pleased to announce its first cohort of three CIE-NRC Title VI Study Abroad Scholars, who will each receive $2,000 in funding toward their study abroad programs. The new CIE-NRC Title VI Scholarship program is for UWM students pursuing a study abroad program that includes critical language instruction, such as Arabic, Chinese, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, and Russian.
This month, we would like to spotlight one of our scholarship recipients, Keizan Sato, who is pursuing a minor in Japanese at UWM (though he plans to declare his major upon his return) and a major in computer engineering at UWM. Keizan is currently studying abroad at Seijo University in Setagaya, Tokyo, where he is primarily studying advanced Japanese and taking various classes in Japanese history and cultures, such as folklore and cinema. Now well into his program, he reflects back on his most memorable experience thus far:
The owner of our dormitory has a deal with a TV program where they send exchange students out to Kouchi, in Shikoku. I was lucky enough to go with a close friend of mine, and we were treated to an all-expenses paid, weekend-long vacation out in the countryside, where we got to try plentiful local foods, activities, and sightseeing with a super friendly and accommodating film crew! It was a wonderful opportunity to try something I otherwise would have never dreamed of doing, and got to flex all of my new Japanese skills! It was a wonderful time and I recommend anyone who has the opportunity to come to Japan to give Kouchi a shot if they can, even the locals outside of the city were very kind and happy to help with whatever we needed. Here’s a picture of us after we got to ride a tuktuk at the top of a mountain!
Big thanks to Keizan for sharing his story with us!
