Hello. I studied abroad at the University of the Philippines Diliman from January to December 2020. My name is Yuta Takahashi, and I am a student of the Faculty of International Resource Sciences, Akita University. Due to the spread of COVID-19, my movements in the Philippines were restricted from around April. At the beginning of my study there, I participated in volunteer activities in the Payatas area of the Philippines in tandem with my university lectures. I also enjoyed to my heart’s content things that I could not experience in Japan, such as going to church every week with my university friends.
 
However, due to the spread of the pandemic, I was instructed to return to Japan. I negotiated with the relevant authorities and managed to continue my study, thinking that I should not throw away the opportunity I had been given. After continuing my study, I thought about what I could do in the present day, and joined a volunteer project to make face shields, making 3,000 face shields in one month with my friends and sending them to areas where medical equipment was in short supply. I also continued to volunteer in the Payatas area remotely, helping to create a website and write advertisements.
 
One of the most memorable lectures at the university was on physical anthropology. In Japan, I had studied cultural anthropology, but I had never studied anthropology from the perspective of the human evolutionary process, so I found this very interesting. I observed human evolution from an anthropological perspective and analyzed the relationship between physical changes and psychological changes.
 
If I had to describe my life at the university in one word, it would be “tumultuous”. Although there was a huge gap with the study abroad I had envisaged before I left, it was a good opportunity for me to think about “what I should do and what I could do” even in a changing environment. In retrospect, I think I was able to enjoy my study abroad experience in my own way right until the end.

Click here for the study abroad experience reports of the Akita University ‘Miraisozo Fund’ overseas student study support program.