Reflections and Memories
In 2023, Chubu University and Ohio University are celebrating 50 years of collaboration and friendship. Students, faculty and staff have had opportunities to visit each other’s campuses and interact with individuals from both institutions.
To capture the flavor and importance of these intercultural experiences, we invite our community to share reflection essays through the lens of these dynamic engagements.
Explore these accounts, memories, photos, and reflections below.
Learn how to submit an essay and photo memories for inclusion!
Guidelines and Format
- Submit responses in Essay format (500-1000 words).
- Answer in paragraphs (not bullet points).
- Prompts are meant to provide a guide for you, not required to answer the specific questions only.
- Not intended to be travelogues or testimonials- we seek thoughtful, personal answers based on the four themes provided.
- Choose to focus on as many of the questions as you like!
- Focus on your experiences affiliated with Chubu (either in Japan or interacting with Chubu faculty, staff, or students in Athens).
- Pictures welcome!
- Submit up to 4 for consideration
- Recommended file size up to 2 MB
- JPEG JPG GIF PNG all accepted
- If you would like to see what some students from Chubu University have written as examples, you can visit this website: https://ohio-chubu.jp/news/messages.html and translate the page in English.
How will OHIO use these Essays?
Your responses may be featured on www.ohio.edu/oga/chubu/50th or in other commemorative initiatives that OHIO will produce to honor the Chubu-Ohio relationship. By choosing to answer these questions, you grant us permission to do so.
Deadline and Submission Link- DEALINE EXTENDED!
Please submit your responses by December 15, 2023. If you require more time, please let us know.
Submit your Essay and Photos at this link: Chubu-OHIO 50th Reflection Essay Submissions
Questions?
If you have questions, contact Gerry Krzic ( krzic@ohio.edu ) or John Miller ( millerj4@ohio.edu ) at Ohio University or Tadashi Shiozawa ( shioz@isc.chubu.ac.jp ) at Chubu.
Prompts/ Questions to guide your Reflection Essay
Use One or More of these prompts to guide your Essay!
- PERSPECTIVES
- How have your experiences at Chubu or OHIO shaped your thinking and perspective?
- Can you provide specific examples of cross-cultural insights or changes in values that occurred during your time abroad? Were there any particular episodes or interactions that significantly influenced your thinking?
- BEHAVIOR
- How have your experiences at Chubu or OHIO influenced your actions and behavior?
- Can you elaborate on specific instances that affected your behavior, such as exhibiting more patience, demonstrating interest in other cultures, seeking opportunities for intercultural interaction, or improving your problem-solving skills, etc.?
- CAREER AND PERSONAL LIFE
- How have your experiences at Chubu or OHIO shaped your career and personal life?
- Please provide specific examples highlighting the impact on your personal and professional development, the expansion of your personal networks, and the growth of your global perspective.
- COMMUNICATION SKILLS
- How have your experiences at Chubu or OHIO impacted your communication skills, including language learning and cultural awareness?
- Can you share specific episodes or experiences that were educational and transformative in terms of improving your foreign language proficiency and overall communication abilities? How have these impacts influenced your interactions with others, both personally and professionally?
Reflection Essays
Read Essays and check out personal photos from individuals who have engaged with Chubu over the years!
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October 31, 2023
I can’t count the number of times I recount my time at Chubu University, and how it shaped me and my life. I recount all of these memories fondly, and to encourage people I meet who have children or relatives who are considering studying abroad as reasons that they should.
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October 31, 2023
I first visited Japan in April of 1994 right before I became the Associate Director of Special Projects at OPIE.
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October 31, 2023
The Merriam-Webster dictionary lists one of the definitions of passion as “an intense, driving, or overmastering feeling or conviction.” Passions are what guide us through life and influence the decisions we make.
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October 31, 2023
So many of my most valuable memories from studying at Ohio University are related to the friends I made through the Chubu-Ohio program.
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October 31, 2023
One fine day, on Chubu University campus, a group of American students (and one Thai student) were just fooling around; doing an American line dancing to kill time before our next class. Who would have known that that act would have a lasting impact on a Japanese student there.
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October 31, 2023
From the time that I traveled to Awaji Shima through a sister city exchange program in high school, I fell in love with Japan - the beauty of the country and the warmth of the Japanese people left a deep impression that I would carry into college and beyond.
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October 31, 2023
I studied abroad at Chubu University for just a few months in 2019, luckily right before the Coronavirus pandemic hit, but my time there is something I still frequently think back on.
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October 31, 2023
We celebrate this year an amazing and productive 50-year Anniversary relationship with our special partner, Chubu University. This relationship has been one of the more productive international partnerships in our university’s history.
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October 31, 2023
Since I was the visiting professor 40 years ago I must admit the my memory (I am now 89 years old) of that time is poor but in searching through documents to help I found this small banner which I have pictured here.
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October 31, 2023
I started working with Chubu through the visiting professor program. Part of my role at the Center for International Studies was to support the incoming professor from Chubu.