Lisa Radin at a summer festival in Tokyo.

Lisa Radin of the 2022 cohort spent part of her summer participating in Sophia University’s short-term summer program in Tokyo, Japan. Lisa started her summer with the rest of her cohort participating in the Altman Rising Sophomore Study Abroad Program in Chiang Mai, Thailand. After the program ended, she took a few weeks to travel around Asia, visiting places like Cambodia, Vietnam, and Hong Kong, before settling in Tokyo. Lisa told us more about how she finished her summer in Asia:

"I chose my classes from a long list of options and ended up with a Japanese Art History class and a class entitled Development in East Asia in the Asian Century. I have always spent a lot of time in Japan with family but I’d never been able to experience college life as a Japanese student."

Lisa and her fellow students at the welcoming ceremony.

"While the classes were taught in English, it was really interesting to learn alongside international students. People were from Luxembourg, Mexico, China, Australia and many other countries while I was one of the surprisingly few Americans. Learning about the rise of Asia as a whole, and specifically the Japanese economy, during this coming “Asian Century” truly opened my eyes to the importance of Asia’s development, especially as someone who has been travelling around Asia this whole summer AND pursuing international affairs. I was able to study ancient Japanese culture and history through one class while appreciating Japan’s growth and economic development in the other. Tokyo has always been like a second home to me, but this program allowed me to see it in new lights as a complicated but significant economic power but also as a fun social city!"

Lisa and her mom at Shinjuku Gyoen park in Tokyo.