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Reycajen Magbulos (front, center) and fellow students living in the Global Village campus dormitory, enjoy the Chuseok Coffee Hour event, meeting people, eating traditional Korean snacks like kkultteok (honey rice cake), and wearing hanbok (traditional Korean clothes).
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Friends from Soonchunhyang University, including Reycajen Magbulos (front left).
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Soonchunyang students participate in Club Day, a two-day event introducing students to different school clubs; Reycajen sporting her HPU bag learns about the Kendo club.
Hawaiʻi Pacific University junior international studies major minoring in Japanese, Reycajen Magbulos, is spending the 2024-2025 academic year studying in South Korea in the fall and Japan in the spring. Notably, Soonchunhyang University and Aoyama Gakuin University, where Magbulos will study, are partner universities with HPU, which means her HPU tuition and existing financial aid grants and scholarship awards fund her study abroad tuition.
Magbulos is quick to dispel the idea that study abroad is financially unaffordable, and she encourages students to check out internships and study abroad through one of HPUʻs 300-plus partner universities and affiliated programs in more than 65 countries and the myriad study abroad scholarship opportunities.
To help fund her study-related travel and living expenses in South Korea and Japan, Magbulos also applied for study abroad-specific scholarships. She is the grateful and happy recipient of four study abroad scholarships: the Freeman-Asia Award Scholarship, the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship, the Toshizo Watanabe Endowed Scholarship, and the HPU Study Abroad Scholarship. Magbulos also received a grant from Soonchunhyang University.
“There are millions of dollars in study abroad scholarships available every year,” she said. “Many organizations and schools offer scholarships because they want students to benefit from studying abroad. Sadly, some funds don’t get used because students don’t apply for them.”
She encourages HPU students to connect with the HPU Study Abroad and International Exchange Programs department staff to seek information and participate in the study abroad scholarship information sessions the HPU team offers.
“I want students to know it is possible,” she said about being able to afford studying abroad. “Ms. Matsubara, the HPU Study Abroad Director, is always happy to work with students, brainstorming on essay topics then reviewing their draft scholarship essays and helping to strengthen them.”
Reycajen Magbulos (2nd row holding the HPU pennant) and fellow HPU Tomodachi Kakehashi Inouye Program scholars with members of the U.S.-Japan Council, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, and the Japan International Cooperation Center during the HPU students spring 2023 study tour to Japan..
Magbulos, who started studying Japanese language as a student at James Campbell High School in Ewa Beach, Hawaiʻi, got to put her language skills to use in Japan for the first time in spring 2023. She and 16 fellow HPU students, representing majors from across the university disciplines, participated in a fully-funded, nine-day study tour to Japan through the Tomodachi Kakehashi Inouye Scholars Program. Students from the United States and Japan participate.
“It was the first time I went to Japan,” she said. “It was a really exciting experience for me. Participating in the program allowed me to practice my Japanese, meet Japanese students, and make friends with the other program participants.”
Her one-week immersion in Japan through the Kakehashi Scholars program inspired Magbulos to add her minor in Japanese and return and continue her studies abroad.
“We did a language and cultural exchange with students from Ritsumeikan University,” she said. “I also got to learn about Japanese politics and learn about their perspectives on current political issues.”
She looks forward to speaking more Japanese, learning more about history and politics, and exploring new cultural sights, experiences, and foods.
On her decision to attend Soonchunyang University and go to Korea for the first time, Magbulos was keenly interested in the cultural immersion aspect of the Internship Scholarship program she participates in at Soonchunyang. The program focuses on language exchange sessions with Korean students, and she gets to room with a Korean student.
“I was talking to the past HPU participants who studied abroad at Soonchunyang, and they all liked it there,” she said. “This is a great opportunity, and Iʻve always wanted to learn Korean.”
This past summer, Magbulos interned at the Pacific & Asian Affairs Council (PAAC) to further expose herself to global education and affairs. Through her role at PAAC, Magbulos had the opportunity to create resources for 24 Hawaiʻi high school students who participated in study tours to Japan and the Philippines. She developed a study tour booklet for the students who went to Japan. Magbulos also assisted with social media, working on recounting the trip activities of both study abroad groups and promoting other PAAC global education programs.
When asked about her career aspirations, Magbulos says she’s interested in working with youth in a nonprofit with a focus on global education. She is sincere and enthusiastic about the benefits of studying abroad and wants to help spread the word to other students.
“My experiences motivate me to work with students from here and around the world to encourage them to study abroad,” she said.
While Magbulos has much more to experience in the second half of her undergraduate studies, one thing is sure. She is very grateful for the enriching experiences offered through HPU, its Study Abroad program, and the PAAC.
For more information on HPU Study Abroad, scholarship opportunities, and information sessions, email studyabroad@hpu.edu, check out www.hpu.edu/studyabroad, follow us on Instagram @studyabroadhpu, and join the Study Abroad mailing list.
