On Saturday, June 29, ShibuMaku held our annual information session for the Overseas College Guidance program. Our students’ hard work and dedication has earned them great results in applying to overseas universities. Thanks to our students, the Overseas College Guidance program has expanding. This was evident by the 320+ attendees at the information session.
Principal Tamura opened the session with warm words of welcome and encouragement. After, Mr. Crosiar, the director of the Overseas College Guidance program, gave his presentation. He provided a brief overview of the application process, which begins in Grade 9, and applications. He also provided information about the ample support ShibuMaku makes available to our students. Mr. Crosiar finished his presentation by emphasizing that applying to overseas universities requires students to truly implement our school motto and be “Self-Thinking and Self-Aware” (自調自考).
Following Mr. Crosiar, Mr. Toyoshima – chair emeritus of the International Department – gave a presentation about the various scholarships available to our students. He also highlighted our students’ acceptances to overseas universities and their success in receiving scholarships. For instance, we currently have multiple Yanai Scholars, Grew-Bancroft Scholars, JASSO Scholars, and Masason Scholars. Mr. Toyoshima’s presentation was followed by three alumni presentations.
All of the alumni presenters were from the Class of 2023, so had just finished their first year at overseas universities. The first presenter studies Aerospace Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He discussed life at a large, public research university and his experience applying to overseas universities. The second presenter was a Grew-Bancroft Scholar and studies Physics at Knox College. His presentation focused on studying at a liberal art college as a non-native English speaker. The final presenter gave a pre-recorded video presentation about studying Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University. He also talked about being a Masason Scholar.
Once all the presentations were finished, we held a Q & A session. During this time, audience members asked great questions of the presenters. After the formal conclusion of the information session, parents and students were able to interact with all of the presenters to have specific questions answered and receive detailed advice. Thanks to the hard work and dedication of our graduate-presenters, this was another successful information session for the Overseas College Guidance program.