and I'm a 2010 graduate

of the Critical Language Scholarship

in Kyoto Japan.

I'm Steven.

...and I'm Alyssa.

I was in CLS in 2011 and 2012.

And I did CLS in 2010 and 2011.

Hi! My name is Mike.

CLS, 2010.

My name is Jenny.

CLS, 2012.

Hi, I'm Josh.

I'm a CLS alumni from 2012.

("Haha! Should we start over?")

("Yeah...")

Why do you think your application was selected?

One of the major things that

the admissions committee is looking for

is a serious commitment in Japan

and in the language.

...and if there's a way that you can show that

I think that really helps your application.

In my case,

I studied for the JLPT on my own

so that showed that

I think I had the self motivation to keep up the langauge afterwards.

I got some help from my fellowship office

and just looking over the essay

and strengthening my key points.

which were mainly

I want to take the JLPT

and possibly use Japanese in a business environment.

My majors are economics and Japanese

so I feel like those combined strengthened my application.

I had kind of funky, interesting research interests

in folk crafts and ceramics

so if there's something like that

that you have, anything that sets you apart,

I think that really helps your application.

What was your favorite part about living in Japan?

Definitely the homestay experience.

It's kind of like you get to relive your childhood

but in a whole 'nother world, in a whole 'nother language.

It's interesting to see how

tradition and modernity blend in together.

to have like a 'konbini' next to a temple, that's pretty amazing.

Just being in an immersive environment

and being forced to ONLY speak Japanese...

that really got me to

use everything that I've learned but

to be more receptive

to all the input I was getting from all these different angles.

Did your Japanese improve?

Being there, I felt like I was forced

to be more spontaneous and be more comfortable

with conversation.

Plus we all decided that we'd never

speak English while we were there.

That was a combination of host family and classes.

but also, speaking Japanese all the time.

with everyone in the program, too.

I think, more than learning more Kanji

or maybe learning more words

I think my communication skills

my ability to speak and express myself in Japanese

definitely improved.

The rule on paper was that we always speak Japanese.

and for the most part I tried to stick to that.

Well I would go home and have

3-hour long dinner conversations.

and those are the best ways to

synthesize what you learned during the day.

and talk it out!

I think repetition and thinking on the fly can really help.

Absolutely! Definitely!

Its always kinda 50/50

between class and outside experience.

I went to a pottery studio

probably 3 times a week

that's where I had, like what Steven said,

the chance to really expand on what you learned

in the classroom.

Find some niche somewhere

Japanese people that you can meet

and interact with them on a closer, personal level

and make a commitment to that while you're there

and definitely your Japanese skills will improve.

Any future plans for Japan?

I'm going to be doing an internship in Japan.

doing marketing in Japanese and English.

My thought would be to participate in the JET program.

I would like to end up living in Japan.

for at least a couple years at some point.

to get really really fluent.

I currently work for a Japanese company in the US.

so I definitely use Japanese on a daily basis.

Now I'm in the healthcare industry.

I would love to see if there's possible connections with Japan.

I work with a Japanese company right now

and in the Fall I'm going to be

starting a graduate degree program

in Anthropology at Yale University.

I'm sure that it's going to lead me back to Japan somehow.

Japan is definitely in there

when I said that I was making a long term commitment

to Japan in the CLS essay, I meant it!

In my original application to CLS

I wrote that I wanted to start a service

that would help other students study abroad.

Well, this is it!

I hope to show other students

that there are so many opportunities

and scholarships to help them study abroad, too.