In August, UWM proudly reported that global studies major Lauren Sroka received a prestigious Boren Scholarship. She planned to use her award to support a year-long study abroad in Japan.
Now in March, Sroka is happy to report back: Japan is everything she hoped it would be and more.
“I love it here so much,” she said with an enormous smile. “The locals are all really welcoming. The school that I’m at takes care of the foreign exchange students so well. Just being here, in general, has always been my dream.”
Sroka is studying at Hosei University in Tokyo, where she just finished her final exams and began summer break. During the semester, she took six Japanese language classes to master speaking and writing in her chosen foreign language, though just being in the country has helped in that regard.
“Being in Japan has improved my language so much already,” said Sroka, who is also minoring in Japanese. “You pick it up based on conversations you hear on the street. It’s super hard, but I think being here has given me a leg up.”
She’s also had the opportunity to travel around Tokyo and Japan. So far, one of her favorite adventures has been exploring the natural hot springs in the mountain town of Kusatsu. When she went, the town was covered in snow, and Sroka said she felt like she had stepped into a postcard.
The destination and its surrounding towns are popular with tourists—the water, full of sulfur, is purported to have several health benefits—but also with a local tribe of snow monkeys, who survive the chilly winters by soaking themselves in the hot springs. Sroka laughed as she recalled how she got to meet the monkeys face-to-face and cross the experience off her bucket list.
She’s had fun traveling and enjoyed learning in her classes, but Sroka is gaining far more than memories and language skills: She’s learning perspective.
“I had never left the country before this. Being here, and especially meeting the other foreign exchange students from all around the world, you get to talk about the differences in culture in so many different countries,” Sroka said. “And I’ve realized that the issues that we face in America are issues that people face everywhere to different degrees.”
She’s also gained insight into large-scale sustainability measures. Sroka, who is taking the sustainability track in her global studies major, hopes to find a career that will help make strides in reducing the world’s dependence on fossil fuels.
“Japan is so sustainable. I’m like, okay, at least there’s one country out there working on (sustainability and climate change),” she said. “It gives me hope because I see all of the issues … and we need people who are going to address this. Being outside of my bubble, I have more hope.”
Sroka applied for the Boren scholarship at the suggestion of one of her Japanese teachers. The award requires that recipients work in the federal government for one year after they earn their degrees. If possible, she would like to work in the Department of Energy to promote sustainability. After her year of service, she hopes to return to Japan, this time for graduate school.
As she thinks about the Boren Scholarship and the experiences it has given her, Sroka can’t help but feel some pain along with her excitement. The day she submitted the application for the award was the same day that her mother passed away.
“My mom was so confident that I was going to get the scholarship,” Sroka said. “When I got it, I was like, ‘There we go, Mom. You were right.’ It came at a really dark time, but it was something that I could hold onto. Mom would have been proud.”
With every new place she visits and every new Japanese word she learns, Sroka knows she’s honoring her mother’s memory – and forging the first steps of a bright future.
By Sarah Vickery, College of Letters & Science