Derek Miller - Tohuku Japan (Fall 2003 - Spring 2004)

My Junior Year

I spent my junior year studying at Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan. When I first considered going, I heard ecstatic and frequent praises for all things study abroad. By the time my departure date had arrived, I had grown somewhat frustrated with the constant assurances that I was beginning something special and that I would "have the time of my life". It became tiresome. I preface with this in the hopes that a proper context will be established for this comment: The year I spent abroad was without a doubt the best of my life to date.

Just Where is Tohoku University?

Tohoku University is located in Sendai, Japan. Sendai has a population of a little more than one million people, and is located about 150 km northeast of Tokyo. The city is usually advertised as having a higher-than-usual proportion of university students and beautiful tree-lined streets. It's a fairly typical city, though pleasantly less sprawling than many Japanese urban areas. I lived in an "International House", an off-campus dormitory for foreign students. It's a dorm, with all the attendant advantages and disadvantages.

Course Work Creates Unexpected Opportunity

While studying at Tohoku I took courses that advanced my knowledge and understanding of materials engineering, Japanese culture and language, and a small range of other topics. All of these courses were taught in English. I also conducted research on high performance alloys for use in lead frames and micro-scale connections. I spent 15 to 20 hours a week in lab, and initiated a research project that is ongoing (and which has attracted the interest of a pair of Japanese corporations).

Living and Learning the Culture

In my free time I traveled, explored the city of Sendai, and made friends. Rewarding though my academic life was, the people I met and knew made the year what it is. There's nothing quite like spending a night out in a Japanese city with friends from half a dozen countries and three continents. I learned more (in terms of culture) from nights spent getting a meal or a drink with people from different countries than I did from any museum trips or classes (and I like museums). On vacations we traveled around Japan or, on occasion, Southeast Asia. The week we spent in Hong Kong over spring break remains one of the high points of the entire year.

My Overall Experience

Over the course of my eleven months in Japan, I made some very good friends, visited some very interesting places, and more or less had the aforementioned time of my life. I went places and did things I never thought I would see or do. I learned more than I thought I would, and gained more perspective than I would have thought possible. If you're looking into study abroad you've probably heard this type of thing a million times now. I feel just fine being a million and one.