Yuki S.

Yuki S.
Home Country:
Japan

"We can learn about different cultures, ways of thinking, and issues from websites, but if I didn’t understand English at all, I would never learn them directly from people who are from different countries. That made me feel that I would like to improve speaking skill and have deep conversations."

I didn’t expect that we would be in such a tough situation before I came here, but I spent the best time under the situation. I arrived at Philadelphia on February 24th. This is the first time to go abroad, so I was impressed to see some different views than ones in Japan. Especially, I was overwhelmed by how large and cool the University of Pennsylvania was. 

Only 2 weeks after I started to take classes, I heard that all classes would be held online. I asked myself whether I should come back to Japan or not. In fact, many students decided to go back to where they were from. However, ever since I was a high school student, I had a dream that I’d like to study in America, so I decided to stay and do my best.

Yuki and friends in the city

If I had not lived in a homestay, I wouldn’t have had such a great time. I lived with some students from Saudi Arabia. We cooked traditional foods and talked about the differences between our cultures. I’ve started to realize that learning English makes me happy. We can learn about different cultures, ways of thinking, and issues from websites, but if I didn’t understand English at all, I would never learn them directly from people who are from different countries. That made me feel that I would like to improve speaking skill and have deep conversations.

I’m afraid that I couldn’t take almost all classes in Fisher-Bennett Hall, but ELP gave us opportunities to join some activities and talk to teachers on Zoom. And when I had some personal problems and talk with my teachers about them, they always gave me advice. I would like to thank everyone involved with me: teachers, host family, and friends.