Kalamazoo Times

Madeline Schroeder, a Kalamazoo College student, finished in third place out of 10 finalists in a Japanese speech contest. The event, organized by Detroit’s consulate general of Japan, occurred in mid-March, according to a press release on the university's website.

After students were chosen to proceed past a preliminary round, they wrote five-minute speeches in Japanese and delivered them through Zoom, the release said.

In Schroeder’s speech, titled “Period of Change,” she described the challenges she faced as she endeavored to study abroad. After Japan instituted strict border-control measures in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, foreign students were banned from entering the country, so Schroeder could not study abroad, according to the release.

“I would love to visit Kyoto, where I originally planned on studying abroad,” she said. “It’s a large city with lots of natural areas, so there is a lot to explore. I still hope to stay in Japan for an extended period of time so that I can learn more about the language and culture.” 

After the study abroad program in Kyoto was canceled, the Center for International Programs (CIP) tried to find alternatives for students, Schroeder said.

“Our last chance was to study abroad this spring in Nagasaki, but the college canceled this program in December,” she said. “I was not surprised, but I felt disappointed knowing that I would not have the study abroad experience I dreamed of when I first came to Kalamazoo College. The hardest part was realizing that even though I did everything I could, things still didn’t work out.”

Although she did not go abroad, Schroeder helped other students who were in similar situations.

“I asked the CIP a lot of questions about paperwork and contacted other departments such as the Student Health Center or the University Studies Abroad Consortium, the partner organization for the Nagasaki program, when the CIP did not know the answers to my questions,” she said. “At the same time, my sophomore friends were beginning to apply to or consider study abroad programs, so I gave them advice and listened to their concerns and frustrations about the complicated application process. If only a little bit, I wanted to decrease the number of  students who were disappointed like me.”