Hello! I’m Emma Brow a third-year student at Pitt and I am studying abroad at Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan. I’m majoring in marketing with a minor in film and media studies. I considered many different countries when I was deciding where to study abroad. Eventually, I settled on Japan knowing that visiting Tokyo has always been a dream. I felt that the opportunity to live and fully immerse myself in a culture that is so drastically different than mine would be the best use of this experience.

Sophia University is a large private university in the heart of Tokyo. Despite being in the city the campus is well contained and easy to navigate. Something that I really value about the university is that there it’s an international community. Although most students are Japanese there are plenty of full-time international students as well as exchange students like me. During my first week of orientation and classes I’ve met students from all over the world. I am taking 12 credits here, mostly in social sciences that I haven’t gotten around to at Pitt. Although these courses range in topic there is a focus in each of them on East Asia. I wasn’t expecting this, but I love that I get to learn about the history of Japan and the philosophical ideas born here.

I chose to pass on staying in a dorm and found a studio apartment very close to campus. While some students have over an hour commute, I can easily walk to class. This is especially helpful during rush hour when the trains are packed full of people. There are tradeoffs to this decision, living in a dorm is much more social and living alone makes it harder to meet people. What that means for me is leaving my comfort zone to reach out to people and socialize.  

During my first weeks here, I had minimal classes which gave me the chance to explore and get to know the area. Tokyo is such a dynamic city; each neighborhood is unique and full of things to see. Shinjuku has been my favorite neighborhood so far, it’s a neon lit district full of karaoke bars, restaurants, galleries, and shops. The busiest train station in the world is Shinjuku Station, so the area is always buzzing and exciting but especially livens up at night. Despite the modernity of the city there is also so much history here and I have been visiting art museums, shrines and landmarks as much as I can.

As the semester continues, I want to ensure that I am fitting the most I can into these short months. Although there are challenges -the language barrier and being in an unfamiliar city alone, I want to make sure that these challenges don’t stop me. I feel truly grateful to be here and excited for everything to come this semester.