Greetings! I'm Yuma Sakurai, third-year student at the School of Medicine, Nagoya University. From August 2023 to May 2024, I studied political science at the National University of Singapore (NUS) as an exchange student. I hope sharing my experiences at NUS helps prospective outgoing exchange students get a better understanding of the exchange programs. Here, I would like to describe how the exchange program impacted me, focusing on study and social life.

The NUS Campus is pleasant and green

First, I would like to describe the classes I took in detail, focusing on the differences from classes in Japan. One of the most notable differences was tutorials. Each class was comprised of two types of classes, which are lectures and tutorials. Unlike lectures where lecturers deliver classes and active participation is rarely required, in tutorials students are encouraged to deliver their own opinions. I was not familiar with discussion-based courses, and I found it a little bit challenging, but I am sure it was worth it. Indeed, the field of political science was new to me, and I lacked basic background knowledge, which made tons of questions pop up in my head. However, thanks to the help of friends in the same department and the willingness of lecturers to help me understand the class materials, I was able to keep myself motivated to learn. The courses provided me not only knowledge in a new field of study, but the experienceof learning something I was not familiar with from scratch in a completely new environment. These experiences will help me in the future when I tackle new challenges in other fields.

At the School of Medicine

Moreover, this program provided me precious opportunities to experiencethings which I could not have enjoyed otherwise. Other than lectures, meeting new friends inside and outside NUS, meeting up with them to go to the school gym and sharing meals are some of my favorite memories. Outside NUS, one of my favorite experiences was making friends with local university students in Vietnam, who were kind enough to let me ride on the back of their motorcycles and took me around the cities.

Hiking the trail to the highest point in Singapore

Last but not least, the exchange encouraged me to hone my communication skills, beyond simple language proficiency. The program made me realize the importance of developing various abilities and habits to grasp the main points of discussion, form and offer coherent arguments, and simplify the points before delivering opinions in a way that benefits active discussion. Outside classes, I learnt the importance of learning various foreign languages, including but not limited to Mandarin, Cantonese, Malay and Vietnamese. Learning these languages is not only helpful in verbal communication but also in understanding the cultures and values of the people around me.

Article and Photos By Yuma Sakurai