How's it going readers?
Now I have a treat for you.
As a person who has a passion to learn so much about Japan and wants to study in Japan as an international student I find myself watching many vlogs and reading blogs from those who have already made the "BIG DREAM" come true. Alas, it was difficult to find a path to Japan where it wouldn't empty my pockets.
Luckily, on one such day I received an email by a blogger that has his own company by the name of "Tofugu" that he uploaded a new post that was about how he basically went to Japan for free.
In my head I was like "LIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEESSSSSS, there is no such thing". As I read his post I came to find a scholarship given by the Japanese government called the Monbukagakusho Scholarship and the more I read the more it really did seem like it paid for everything. As every blogger would, he had advice that said to check out your local Embassy. With me living in America I looked up the Embassy which guided me to Consulate General closest to me which was the Consulate General of Japan in Houston. Sadly, when I looked up the information at that time (back in 2013), the scholarship deadline was past due. Funny enough, I had already made up my mind to enlist in the National Guard but once I found out I can accomplish my dream of going to Japan I deterred from enlisting (maybe one day...). For a whole year I researched and tried my best to find information on this wonderful scholarship other than what the Consulate General offered. I tried finding vlogs or blogs but none popped up from those who achieved getting the scholarship from America and went to Japan. I found a few but mainly from other countries which may have different guidelines. Okay sooooo, a year went by and out came the new application for the 2015 scholarship (You apply a year before to leave to Japan the following year). The application came out in April and I got right to work on my application. Since there wasn't a lot of personal experiences with this scholarship on the internet I made several calls to the point of contact for this scholarship at the Consulate General in Houston and asked all the questions I had.
In terms of my scholarship, I mailed it out a week before (Placed tracking on it to make sure it arrived) and just WAITED and WAITED till I got an email. The email is below.
Dear Isabel,
I hope things are well. We received your application for the MEXT Undergraduate Scholarship for 2015 and would like for you to come to our office on Friday, August 8th for Examinations and an Interview. Unfortunately, we do know that this will provide a challenge for you as you are in and we have a very short time until that meeting next week, but we hope you will be able to attend.
I have attached a schedule for the testing. As you have selected Mechanical Engineering, there will be a rather rigorous selection of tests, but if you can make a day for us, I hope it will be worth your while.
Please contact our office if you have any questions or concerns.
Good Luck to you and we look forward to seeing you next week.
Sincerely yours,
Ryan Pauley
Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program
& MEXT Scholarship Coordinator
Consulate-General of Japan at Houston
909 Fannin Street, Suite 3000
2 Houston Center
Houston, Texas 77010
Basically, once you turn in your application, you wait about a week before the scheduled exam date and they send you an email whether or not your application passed an initial screeening.So I passed the initial screening and would take the exam very soon.
I HIGHLY RECOMMEND, if you apply, to apply with the mindset of knowing you will go take the exam and interview. I had a good feeling I would be selected so saved up for the trip, so when I got the email it was all downhill from there besides studying like crazy.
I'll write a post soon about the application process, or may just make a video and post it here.I also will be writing a lot about my journey of trying to get this scholarship and even beyond that.If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment.
