Semester Abroad, Global Correspondents Challenging the Concept of ‘Starting from Zero’

SA: Hitotsubashi University

Dushaun, one of the Semester Abroad Global Correspondents, shares his experience abroad during the Fall 2023 semester. Follow along with the group of correspondents on our blog and look out for their images on the @pennabroad Instagram feed.

For some time before my arrival in Japan, I held the notion that this experience would see me “starting from zero”-- that it’d be a fresh start, a chance to redefine myself and gain a new outlook on both my life and the world. However, within the past month I've spent here, I've come to realize a flaw in my initial expectations. I understand now that I haven't truly 'started over' at all; there was no reset to zero or any arbitrary point like that. Here in Japan, I am still who I was a few months ago, a year ago, and before I entered university; that fact will probably never change. Whereas that understanding might have disappointed me in the past, I find it rather reassuring now. What I encounter here will not change who or what I am, but what it will shape is how I perceive my life, both in retrospect and as I move forward.

Looking back on what has made this opportunity a pleasant one brings up too many memories to enumerate. Among the most spectacular include walking through the red gates and paying respects to the guardian fox statues at Nezu Shrine in Ueno, watching fireworks while sitting beside close friends in Ibaraki and Setagaya, and catching the sunrise atop Mt. Chogatake in Nagano, to name only a few. Equally prominent within my mind are the quieter moments: walking home after missing the last train, indulging in late-night ramen at our favorite local restaurant, and our daily conbini runs. These moments, big and small, in a place as steeped in history and culture so different from my own as Japan– they’re all chances to reflect on who I am, who I have been, and who I aspire to be.

As I discover awe-inspiring sights and form connections with wonderful people, it often triggers memories of similarly beautiful experiences and meaningful acquaintances from my childhood and adolescence. These recollections aren't necessarily analogous in a literal or physical sense, but they share a commonality in the feeling they give me– as if my senses sharpen and the world is expanding before my eyes, becoming more vibrant and in focus. The greatest joys I've experienced thus far in life are cast in the same radiant light as my daily routines and more grandeur experiences here; when I get caught in the daily grind of my life back home, it’s easy to lose track of that pure emotion. If I can capture and integrate this sensation into my everyday perspective on life, even outside of Japan, I believe I'll become a much happier person for it.

I cherish the time I'm spending in Japan, and I am confident that I can bring this same attitude toward life back with me when I return to Penn. I remain the same person that I was before I arrived here, but I now have a better idea of who that person is and what he wants out of life. This experience, too– the language, the people, the philosophies of the world and our place within it– will become a part of the fundamental ‘me’ that I'll carry on for decades to come.