Firstly, my journey to applying for this scholarship began January 2014.
I was already out of high school because I graduated high school a semester early so decided to get a part time job whilst figuring out how to go to Japan.
I actually found out about the Monbukagakushou scholarship from another blogger who actually got the scholarship. Just some background information about the scholarship you basically submit a huge pile of papers, hope you pass that application screening, get summoned to your local general consulate of Japan or Embassy, take several tests in different subject all day with a panel interview at the end, wait some agonizing months till you get called that you passed that screening and your papers will be sent to Japan to be selected, wait some more then get called that you got the scholarship and now prep yourself to live in Japan for 5 years!!!
Sounds awesome right!
Well, flashback to January 2014. I discovered this scholarship and began doing immense research only to discover that there is NO INFORMATION (personal like blogs or blogs) of people in America getting the scholarship. All the person information I find in from people from Malaysia or what not. So I just decided to call my General Consulate for my state and ask a boat load of questions.
Took quite a bit but finally got my head around the scholarship. My next challenge was the application which I despised (Im not very fond of applications, especially since it was that time of year for applying for scholarships so I was just tired of them).
I piled all my transcripts, essays, pictures and other important documents and shipped them to Houston, TX. Now the wait!
I finally got an email that I had been chosen to come down to Houston in August to take the exam and interview.
Now let me give you a time span of the application and deadlines. The application opened up June 2014 and was due at the end of July 2014 and my interview was August 8, 2014. Yeah, crazy right?
Since I had done my research before hand and knew that things rapidly happened I had to prepare for the trip in case I got selected and if I didnt then I had a lot of money to spend.....or save. So the time I STARTED my application was the same time I began saving for the trip I hoped I would take. Since I would have to drive all the way across Texas to get there (I wanted to fly...alone...but my family insisted on coming so I saved up extra money for the yummy China Town I heard Houston has).
Let's fast forward to the day of the test and interview. My intended major was Mechanical Engineering so the tests I had to take were: Math B (there are two kinds of math tests but depending on your major you only take one), physics, chemistry, english and Japanese.
Ugh, just letting y'all know I only know a few words or sentences in Japanese but you still have to take the test and it will still count against you but as long as you do well in the other exams it should be okay. If you are a native English speaker the English test is a piece of cake, as for the math and science....holy cow they are hard!!! And that's coming from a student who got her Associates of Science when she was 17!
Okay, moving on! I got there at 7:30am on test day and they literally put me in a room by myself(I was the only person who passed the application screening) all day with restroom breaks between each test and one lunch break. The Japanese test looked simple but yet I had to guess on all the questions. Hiragana, katakana and basic kanji!
AFTER ALL DAY ON TESTING, my panel of judges arrive and I get put in a room with them.
3 of them were Japanese and professors at respected Universities and the fourth was a General Consulate employee(spoke fluent Japanese).
Now they asked questions you would expect like Why Japan or my background and what not.
WHAT I DID NOT expect was for them to turn on me and begin probing that why don't I just stay in America and get an education here. They went on and on at how fortunate I am to be in America with a great education system and that I was lucky and what not. One of the interviewers even said if I get my degree in Japan it won't get me a good job and even offered me to come to the University they taught at.
The BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT was when they told me straight up that I WASN'T RIGHT FOR JAPAN! Who has the right to tell someone that!
I was crushed, my heart sank and I was forcibly holding back tears. I was stunned! Here I am trying to apply not just to go to Japan but to get my college education paid for and they just toss me aside.
I answered every question to perfection even their probing ones! I was strong, smart, open minded and charismatic for their culture and all I got was a punch in the gut.
After that, the interview was over the a woman led me out. I was silent for a long time even after I got in the car and explained to my family what happened in the interview.
The moment that lady told me I wasn't right for Japan I knew I wouldn't move on to the next stage.
The kicker is, they never even looked at my test scores. An entire day was wasted and over NOTHING.
I take it as a learning experience....a very painful one.
BUT, I WILL NEVER LET ANYONE TELL ME I CAN'T FOLLOW MY DREAMS!!!
I WILL GO TO JAPAN!!!!
End of story.
Any questions you all have, fill free to ask!
