Information
Student Voice: Kevin Westergaard, University of Richmond, USA
Academic Experience
I am a double-major in Business and Philosophy, and that combination has driven my interests more toward entrepreneurship than the hard, finance and mathematical side of business, so the Entrepreneurship class at AIU was an excellent fit and it’s been an awesome experience.
It’s definitely unconventional. There aren’t structured lectures, but it’s a platform to experiment with ideas. The instructor has an interesting background – he has founded some companies that are well-known across Japan – and that helps because he brings his professional experience and keeps us engaged.
The course meets once a week for 3.5 hours on a Friday afternoon, and it says a lot about the course itself that I’m always alert and excited for it!
I’ve also been taking two other business courses, philosophy, and art history, just to mix things up a bit.
Extracurricular Activities
Basketball Club
One of the highlights of my experience here has been joining the basketball team. I just fell in to the basketball club here- it wasn’t something I’d planned before coming, but I grew up in New York and played a lot then.
The club is made up of both international and Japanese students and it’s been interesting to see that there’s a significant difference in basketball culture between the US and Japan.
There are three American starters and we each have our own individual play style, but the Japanese students play a more team-oriented game. They don’t have “heroes” or anyone who wants the spotlight and they don’t hog the ball. Even though none of them are individually bigger or stronger than the American players, when we had a Japan versus international scrimmage, they passed circles around us.
We’ve all become good friends and we put both styles together really well on the team. Last weekend we had a match against a local combined student-adult team and we won by 34. It was a lot of fun. Of course, it’s always fun when you’re on the winning side.
Travel
Kevin (back, fourth from left) and AIU students visit Kinkakuji, the Golden Pavilion, in Kyoto during a weekend trip.
(Photo Courtesy of Kevin Westergaard)
It’s easy for international students to get really cheap flights down to Tokyo so we can get around and see a lot of Japan then come back to the community here at AIU. You definitely want to take advantage of those flights if you can.
AIU Community
I started making friends right away during orientation. I live in Global Village and my roommate is from Norway. We hit it off right away and both of us started meeting other people during orientation. Now, outside the basketball team, I think half my friends are from the US and half are from Scandinavia.
I would like to make more Japanese friends, too, but I made so many good friends during the international orientation that I haven’t had a whole lot of time to branch out further yet.
Academic Experience
I am a double-major in Business and Philosophy, and that combination has driven my interests more toward entrepreneurship than the hard, finance and mathematical side of business, so the Entrepreneurship class at AIU was an excellent fit and it’s been an awesome experience.
It’s definitely unconventional. There aren’t structured lectures, but it’s a platform to experiment with ideas. The instructor has an interesting background – he has founded some companies that are well-known across Japan – and that helps because he brings his professional experience and keeps us engaged.
The course meets once a week for 3.5 hours on a Friday afternoon, and it says a lot about the course itself that I’m always alert and excited for it!
I’ve also been taking two other business courses, philosophy, and art history, just to mix things up a bit.
Extracurricular Activities
Basketball Club
One of the highlights of my experience here has been joining the basketball team. I just fell in to the basketball club here- it wasn’t something I’d planned before coming, but I grew up in New York and played a lot then.
The club is made up of both international and Japanese students and it’s been interesting to see that there’s a significant difference in basketball culture between the US and Japan.
There are three American starters and we each have our own individual play style, but the Japanese students play a more team-oriented game. They don’t have “heroes” or anyone who wants the spotlight and they don’t hog the ball. Even though none of them are individually bigger or stronger than the American players, when we had a Japan versus international scrimmage, they passed circles around us.
We’ve all become good friends and we put both styles together really well on the team. Last weekend we had a match against a local combined student-adult team and we won by 34. It was a lot of fun. Of course, it’s always fun when you’re on the winning side.
Travel
Kevin (back, fourth from left) and AIU students visit Kinkakuji, the Golden Pavilion, in Kyoto during a weekend trip.
(Photo Courtesy of Kevin Westergaard)
It’s easy for international students to get really cheap flights down to Tokyo so we can get around and see a lot of Japan then come back to the community here at AIU. You definitely want to take advantage of those flights if you can.
AIU Community
I started making friends right away during orientation. I live in Global Village and my roommate is from Norway. We hit it off right away and both of us started meeting other people during orientation. Now, outside the basketball team, I think half my friends are from the US and half are from Scandinavia.
I would like to make more Japanese friends, too, but I made so many good friends during the international orientation that I haven’t had a whole lot of time to branch out further yet.