GIVING A SPEECH at Kobe College

How are you all doing? Thank you for reading this blog again today.
May 10th. I went to give a speech at Kobe College, an all women's college. I was asked by someone from the U.S. Consulate to give the speech and I was happy to do so if the students can benefit from hearing about my adventure and my experiences while studying abroad. Recently, there has been a decline in Japanese people who go abroad to learn and experience things so the people from the Consulate are visiting schools to promote studying in the U.S. I always thought the U.S. had a more arrogant attitude towards the ones who want to study in the U.S. so imagine my surprise. I got to Nishinomiya at 10:30 am and headed for Starbucks. I always meet up with people at a Starbucks when I'm in the U.S. but we don't have one around Nishikujo Station so whenever I meet someone in Nishinomiya, I meet them at Starbucks. Here I proofread the article sent to me from a magazine. At 11:30 am, Sasaki-san came to meet me at Starbucks. Yoshikura-san from Furuno Electrics Co. Ltd., drove us to Kobe College. We had lunch and we started to prepare for the seminar sponsored by the International Logistics Center to be held from 1 pm. Following a promotional speech by a representative from the U.S. Consulate to motivate people to study in the U.S., I spoke about my passion to cross the Pacific and the things I learned while studying abroad. I was worried if they would be able to understand the things I talked about but I was relieved and happy when later I found myself surrounded by students who were interested to learn more about my adventure. I felt a little shy to be surrounded by so many female students. Today's experience made me hope that more students will take on the challenge of studying in the U.S. All you high school students and college students out there...don't limit yourself to Japan and learn more about what's out there for you in the world. Of course I love everything about Japan and being Japanese. And to all the people out there who have finished school and are out here working, be ambitious. I know many of you have heard stories of how frustrating it is to get a student visa and I'm sure many have given up for that reason. Don't let the horror stories stop you. I've heard that 99% of the time, your visa will be approved if you try. I will tell you the funny story I shared today when I was studying at San Francisco State University on another occasion.  

Originally posted by Hiro in Japanese on 5/10/2013
Translated by SWIS Project