Hello everyone, I wanted to ask if this community knew of potential work or study programs, ( I know of JET, if anyone has personal experiences with JET that would be great), for post-grad or early professionals.
Some background on me, I’ve had a goal of studying and living in Japan since I was 14, I was interested in high school exchange at the time but as high school progressed I figured I would be able to organize to study abroad in college. I worked to save up money for my school’s senior trip, which was to Japan. After visiting my senior year of high school, I knew I wanted to come back and study abroad in college. Planning for this, I studied Japanese language in undergrad as apart of a language requirement for my major and specialized in East Asian Studies. I was selected as a Gilman Scholar to study at Waseda in 2020. I was literally supposed to head to Japan in March of 2020, I had my apartment rented and everything. We can imagine how that turned out, it was canceled last minute due to the pandemic outbreak, and I graduated college in 2022 before Japan re-opened it’s doors to students. After graduating, I applied to grad school and worked a for a bit, before starting the grad school program in I’m right now. I applied to a do a dual degree through my program with the University of Tokyo, and I was already selected for a scholarship to help fund my studies. However, I recently learned that I wasn’t accepted into this dual degree program. :(( I will likely still complete the dual degree program for personal, financial, and academic reasons, but at a different partner school that did accept me. I’m quite upset about this, as now I’m unsure how to accomplish this goal of mine in the future and how it would fit into the general framework of my life goals/plans.
This brings me to my main question, as it stands I’m likely going to graduate without being able to fulfill this dream of mine of studying in Japan, and I want to ask for any advice, resources, or programs people know of or could attest to that are good experiences worth considering. I’ve considered JET in the past, but I would prefer a more short term program because of other career goals I have, and I have a strong preference to live/work/study in Tokyo, as I’m very familiar with the city and genuinely love Tokyo. From my understanding, most JET placements are not in Tokyo. I would maybe consider some language school programs or internships next summer after graduating (2025), but hopefully not too expensive. I did always want to head to Tokyo with a program, so there could be a built-in network and friends. Any advice or info you might be able to share is great, thanks so much for reading!!!!
by sailorcosmo_14