After all the nice celebrating and what have you associated with getting into IP and having the opportunity to be able to study in Japan for a year at Waseda University in Tokyo, there were more things to be done. At the very least I had found the path and the only way I could lose my way would be through my own actions or in-actions. For as of then, the opportunity to study in Japan was mine to lose and no longer theirs to give. At this point my classes were not yet complete, so I still had to focus on getting those classes done and doing well, after all the reality of the here and now still keeps on moving forward. Being accepted though had brought upon me more paperwork and an orientation to attend. Thus the next step was to gather the required paperwork that required more immediate attention.

(Link to where the paperwork was to be found)

First I was required to start work on the form packet required for my Japan trip and send in a confirmation form as to what orientation I would attend. There would be orientations at San Jose SU and CSU Long Beach, both are a wee bit of a drive away from Bakersfield, but Long Beach was definitely closer and thus my choice. Orientation would take place on May 8th and I would gain a bit more depth of knowledge about the program I would embark upon.

But before Orientation, there was some much needed paperwork to be done! Various forms confirming my participation, health, housing preference, financial situation, and academic plan needed to be taken care of and I set out to gather all that I needed. These forms weren’t as bad as the forms I was flooded by when I was attempting to get into the program, but paperwork is hardly ever an entertaining endeavor. If there was one thing that stuck out though, it was how many passport photos I needed to have. At the end of all this paper work I’ve had to get well over 10 passport photos.

So I manage to get all the paperwork done that was needed by the May 15th deadline, put it in an envelope and took it with me to orientation to drop it off with the necessary people. I drove up to Long Beach with another person who had been accepted into the program for Spain and had a good time with him. We both got excited once the orientation got started, as it started to make all the stuff seem real. The orientation was actually a bit of a teaser, since we knew we had to go back to our current lives afterward. I learned while I was there that the Japan program I had gotten into was supposed to be extremely competitive and hard to get into, and more than one person drove that point home. It really made me proud of the effort I put in. When all was said and done, I had made it through orientation and came out knowing a bit more than before I came.

Back in late October of 2009, I learned about an international study program available from my college campus. I was busy doing my weapon dancing on campus at Cal State Bakersfield, (With my cane I carry around called Seth-Agave, AKA Illustrious Chaos) when I was approached by the International Programs Director for my campus. She asked me if I might be interested in studying in Japan and I replied that “Certainly I’m not opposed to the idea.” and with that she told me that there would be more information available at an event in the first week of November. I go to the event and learn about the program and the like, and there I decide to commit myself to getting into the program.

(Click here for information on the program)

Thus the gauntlet of forms and paperwork were before me. They were annoying, but not too bad. Had to get a couple of faculty recommendations from my professors and write a short essay. That was the easy part. Part of the requirement for the program was that I needed to take one semester or quarter of an Asian Culture type class and one semester or quarter of a Japanese Language class. The first wasn’t too bad to get into, I took Asian Religions, which was interesting, but man, I had to freaken work hard for that bloody ‘A’. For the Japanese class, they didn’t offer it at my college, so for a couple a months I had to search around and try to sign up for a Japanese course. I managed to sign up for one at a college two hours drive away, but was waitlisted for another one at my local community college. I barely made it into the Japanese class at my community college, I was number 2 on the waitlist and I showed up on the first day of class and two people didn’t show up and I got in. After getting into the class at the community college, I dropped that bugger that was 2 hours away.

So I got the forms filled out and I was currently taking both the required courses. I thought it would be a breeze from there. Nope I was wrong, the program people emailed me 20+ pages of new forms to fill out and they all had to be done and “received” within two weeks. It turns out the Japanese university requires forms of its own, separate from the other countries in the international study program. Those forms also needed two recommendations from my professors, and another essay for me to write, a lot longer than the first one. You know how hard it is to get things from professors on short notice, especially towards the end of the quarter? Yeah… I get all that done, there was other busy work in the forms I don’t want to relive. Finally I send that off and make sure they get next day delivery.

From there all that was left was an interview, which I knocked out of the park. Then the waiting game. I hate waiting, but there was nothing left for me to do. I received a letter stating that as of April 6th, 2010, I had been accepted to participate in the California State University International Programs (IP).

So basically, I applied for this International Study Abroad Program. After going through all the paper work, recommendations, essays, classes, and interview I got the results back. I will be studying in Japan for about one year. I’ll be attending Waseda University in Tokyo!

(Waseda University Website)

~Simply Yarrsauce~