Student & Alumni Quests

Moments & Memories That Matter
How do you remember your exchange at NGU?

Objective: Choose 10 of your favourite photos from your time as an NGU exchange student to express what your experience was like. Provide a caption or statement explaining why you chose each picture and what it represents. Include these photos or videos in your submission and choose a medium that best suits you, whether it be a video, email, poem, power point, collage, photo slideshow, etc., and submit your story to share with NGU exchange students past, present and future.

Bonus challenge: Choose one of the photos to submit for the physical photo album to be created for your year at NGU, along with information such as the general location & date, the people in the photo, and a title.

Feels Like Home
What made the International Seminar House or Annex feel more like home for you? How did you personalize your room? What kind of items made your life more comfortable and cozy while you lived in the International Seminar House? How did you customize the space to make life easier for yourself and your roommate?

Objective: Tell us how you made your life at NGU, living in the annex or seminar house, a more enjoyable experience. Include pictures or videos where possible and tell us about the way you made your place your home during your exchange.

Bonus challenge: Submit a video of your room set-up, kitchen set-up, furniture arrangement, decorations, etc.

A Journey Beyond
As an NGU exchange student alumni, what does your tapestry look like? How about the life you lead, your vision of tomorrow, and the journey of getting there?

How has your life played out since your time in NGU? How much does Japan, Japanese, and the experience of being an exchange student currently reflect on the person you are now? Are you working in Japan or planning to? Have you continued your studies of Japanese and become fluent? How have you leveraged your experience as an NGU student in your life? How about your career?

Challenge: Describe the impact that your exchange experience at NGU has had on your life. Provide pictures, anecdotes, stories, timelines, or whatever medium you wish to share your personal journey from NGU exchange student to where you are today and where you are headed in the future.

Bonus challenge: Provide a video interview describing the before, during, and post exchange life you've lived and how Japan has influenced you on your current path.

Packing for the Trip of a Lifetime
You`re studying Japanese at your University and decide to embark on an epic journey to study Japanese in Japan. You will travel alone, or with a classmate or two, to Japan, a country you may have never been to before. What do you bring with you? What is essential? What are you better off buying once you arrive? What can`t you find in Japan from your home country that you wish you could? What souvenirs did the Japanese you gave them to most appreciate? Knowing what you know now about Japan, what souvenirs, supplies, ingredients, comforts are you happy you brought? Which do you wish you had brought with you?

Objective: A new group of exchange students will be coming to NGU in April, and you as their Senpai have a lot of information that your new Kouhai do not. Your first quest is to make a list of souvenirs, supplies, ingredients, comforts, etc that you recommend other  exchange students bring with them from their home countries. Take a look at the list on the Daily Living Supplies page below and try to think of as many new items you were glad you brought with you. Clothing, shot glasses, etc

Journey into the Unknown
When you applying for the exchange program, what kind of information did you have trouble finding about Nagoya Gakuin University? What questions did you have that weren`t answered by your school`s international exchange advisor or perhaps even the International Centre at Nagoya Gakuin University? What kind of questions did you want to ask your Senpai exchange students before you got to Japan? What did you ask them after you got here? What information would have made your life easier if you had known it when you first got to Japan? As a senpai, you have valuable information, experience and knowledge to share with kouhai which you gained as an Nagoya Gakuin Student. You lived here, learned here, and grew here, so why not share part of what`s made your life better with the future students  who would most benefit from hearing it. Your Quest: First, review the Seminar House/NGU IJS Handbook to get an idea of what information your kouhai will have when they arrive in Japan. Next, review your past emails to the International Centre/NGU representatives before coming to Japan.

Objective: Reflect on the pressing questions you had while applying for, preparing for and during your exchange. Sum them up, add some insights, and put them up on our FAQ page.

The Tale They Will Tell After You've Gone
Your advice will outlast your time as an exchange student, becoming the legacy you leave behind for future generations of exchange students to enjoy and be enriched by. Alumni move on and away from their alma mater, but a legacy transcends the length of your visa to benefit years of students you will never meet personally, but can help immensely. Leave a legacy behind as proof that you loved, you lived, and you mattered to the people you connected with as an exchange student at Nagoya Gakuin University. Your story and the details of your successes and struggles are invaluable for the students who will follow in your footsteps.

Objective: Film a video, write a blog post, or put together a photo slideshow with comments, advice, and inspiration for the exchange students who will come to study at NGU for many years to come.

Lay of the Land
(In progress)

Turning In Your Quests (Bonus: Achievements!)
At the moment, we don't have a page created on the Wiki to post all of the quests you gracious people submit.

Feeling brave? Create a page on the wiki yourself and it'll show up on the Wiki Activity page. You can get achievements (up to 40, so far) on the wiki for creating content, editing content, etc., which then represent the contributions you've made to this community project.

Not sure what to do with the content you've created? Email Joseph Watson-MacKay at mailto:redstarkoopa@gmail.com and he'll be happy to assist you with getting it up on the wiki for others to see.