Yuki Miyoshi
Master’s Student at Soka University of America
After studying at DIG, I was accepted at Soka University of America’s (SUA) undergraduate program and had amazing experiences, including an internship with DIG. Five years later, I have now been accepted into SUA’s Master program.
Around September of my sophomore year of high school, I was looking for an English school, and after meeting Mr. Nitesh, I decided to study at DIG. Mr. Nitesh told me about the academic life and mission of SUA. I was totally impressed by the guiding principles of the university: “to foster leaders of culture in the community, foster leaders of humanism in society, foster leaders of pacifism in the world, and foster leaders for the creative coexistence of nature and humanity.”
I still cherish the good memories I have of going to DIG almost every day after school and studying more than 5 hours while doing a part-time job. I took a gap year after finishing high school and came to DIG to study for more than 13 hours every day. Despite the stress I was going through, the DIG staff was very kind and helpful, and I was able to study in a welcoming environment.
As a result of my intense study and preparation, I was accepted into SUA’s Extended Bridge Program in 2017 and moved to California. One year later, became a part of the undergraduate class of 2022.
At SUA, I was able to experience so much more than I imagined I could, and even if I was busy every day, I still felt like I was living a very fulfilling life. One of the main features of SUA is that you can learn through spontaneous discussions with your friends from all over the world every day. The campus support and scholarship for international students are excellent. Since you have easy access to many facilities such as dormitories, libraries, gyms, and Founders’ Hall, the learning environment is also excellent. I have also realized the importance of taking advantage of learning clusters, summer and winter breaks, and study abroad opportunities to learn more about the wider world.
Around May 2021, I was coordinating an internship with DIG to help SUA students like me to gain practical teaching experience by providing SAT classes to underserved students who need college prep. As I studied education and poverty at SUA and did an internship at Brazil Soka school, I often wondered how I could support students who don’t have access to resources to pursue their educational dreams. After discussing with Mr. Nitesh and other SUA students, we decided to provide free online classes mainly to Brazilian students. Through this internship, I understood how hard it is to be a coordinator and, as I learned more about the optimization of online education, I became more interested in digital education. In the future, I would like to support people who don’t have access to education and I want to contribute to the realization of their potential while promoting social mobility.
For my SUA capstone, I wrote about the inequities in higher education in Brazil and the government’s education policies. As for my Personal Statement for my Master’s program, I emphasized how my internship experience with DIG nurtured my passion. I hope to study education from different perspectives and deepen my understanding of education in the SUA Masters in Education program. In the future, I would like to be involved in helping people who have difficulty pursuing educational opportunities and international students to finance their studies.
