Meet Our Current Students: Ayano Togawa, Japan

in Highlight
November 10th, 2017

Growing up in Japan’s Yamanashi prefecture southwest of Tokyo, current CELOP student Ayano Togawa could see Mt. Fuji from her window. “I have a big glass window in my room that you can see the mountain from. It’s beautiful.” While Ayano decided not to go far from home for college—she is now a sophomore at Waseda University in Tokyo—her decision to study abroad this year brought her halfway across the globe to CELOP at Boston University.

Ayano is part of the longstanding Waseda All Year program at CELOP, which welcomes students each year from one of the most academically selective and prestigious universities in Japan. The program gives Waseda students the opportunity to build a strong foundation in the English language through courses at CELOP.

When asked why she chose CELOP, Ayano’s reasoning was twofold. “Actually, I wanted to come to America because I play jazz piano. America is a really good place to learn more about jazz. New Orleans and New York are very well known cities for jazz, but also Boston for the music schools. I wanted to come to this city to learn English especially, but also to learn more about jazz.”

Ayano’s interests are vast. She is currently majoring in International Liberal Arts at Waseda, and aspires to be an English teacher in the future. Her goal is to become licensed to teach middle school and high school aged students.

So far this semester, Ayano’s favorite thing about CELOP is the diversity she has in her class. “In my core class, there’s a lot of different kinds of people. Students, former workers, professionals. I can listen to their stories and experiences about their careers. There are also many nationalities in my class—Korean, Japanese, Taiwanese, African, Saudi Arabian. It’s really amazing for me to learn English here.”

Outside of class, Ayano has a unique opportunity to practice speaking English in her on-campus dorm. “My roommate here is American. She speaks English fast and quickly—but it’s good practice for me. She’s an engineering student here at BU.”

When asked what she would tell a student thinking about studying at CELOP, Ayano replied, “Advice? If they want to come to Boston, they should come to BU CELOP. It’s really good to improve your English skills. If they want to improve speaking, they should choose CELOP. They can learn amongst many cultures and nationalities.”