My name is Ricardo, I am 29 years old and currently an international student learning language Bunkyo University. Before I came to Japan to study Japanese, I was looking for an educational institution that shares the same values as me. The "Empathy for all humanity" mission statement of Bunkyo University caught my attention. As an educator myself, who has taught English as a second language, I do believe that lack of empathy makes learning nearly impossible like a barrier between teachers and students.

All teachers and staff from Bunkyo University have been really kind to me, even before I arrived in Japan. Since then, I have learned a lot from them. Besides, I am having the opportunity to socialize with other Japanese students and students from other different parts of the world, which have enriched my study abroad experience as well.  

I have many different classes from Monday to Friday, such as JLPT preparation, Integrated Japanese, Geography, History, Kanji, Living in japan, Academic Japanese classes etc. as well as extra activities, lectures and events. I am busy everyday as there is homework to be done, presentations to be prepared, texts to be read and it takes some time to get used to everything. But we, students, also need some time for immersing ourselves in the Japanese culture. So I have tried different food as much as I can, practiced the language with friends and gone sightseeing around the city. So far, my favorite one is Asakusa and I am looking forward to my summer vacation to visit many other places.

The next step is getting myself prepared for the Master's Degree program. For this, I still have a lot of work to do on my Japanese and research area. I listed a number of reasons why I chose Bunkyo University as the best place to take my study abroad program in Japan and I am thankful for everyone who is part of this journey. 

在别科的生活每天都能过的很充实，这是一段很快乐且充满回忆的时光。从周一到周五作为别科生的我们需要学习从文法，词汇到听力等各种各样的科目。这其中最令我感到有趣的是日本语演习这一门学科。你可以找一个自己感兴趣的题目，并围绕这个题目进行一系列的调查，最后根据自己的调查结果来进行发表。相信这个练习将会对你们将来进入大学打下良好的基础。现在我已经成为了文教大学足立校区的国际理解学科二年生。每周我们都需要上几节和国际社会与文化相关联的专业课，在专业课中会出现许多来自英文或其他语言的专业词汇，因此掌握英语和多一种语言的学习是很有必要的。大学的生活虽然很繁忙，但也是一个锻炼自身能力向上发展的机会。最初的日子也许不会那么轻松愉悦，但是我相信当你们最终熬过这一段时间之后，将会有一个崭新的世界等待着你。

2019年9月，我来到了日本。在外国人留学生别科度过了一年半的学习生活后，通过别科的推荐入学考试，成为了文学部日本语日本文学科的学生。大学的生活和别科不同，每天不是学习日语，而是以专业知识为主。但是，我非常想念在别科时的学习生活。在别课时，每天都能很开心地学习新知识；在不安和烦恼的时候，我可以向和蔼可亲的老师或者国际交流室的工作人员寻求帮助。此外，课余活动的市内参观学习和演讲比赛也拓宽了我的视野。

在日本两年半的时间，真是光阴似箭。这期间，我积累了各种各样的经验，也不知不觉间成长了许多。现在的我交到了很多新朋友，日语能力也进步了，对我而言，已经超越了过去的自己。将来我想在日本的公司就职。为此，我想在今后的生活中更加努力。

请好好享受你们的留学生活吧。