Odbayar Tuguldur is originally from Mongolia. When he was in elementary school, he moved to Japan because of his family’s job, and went to school in the Japanese education system until his second year of high school, when he joined Education First (EF).
“I chose EF’s Accelerated College Degree Program (ACDP) because, depending on your English level, even if you’re a freshman or in the second year of high school, you can enter an American college,” says Tuguldur.
Within the Japanese education system, children start elementary school during the year they turn seven years old, whereas children in the United States typically start one year earlier. “I wanted to be finished with schools early,” says Tuguldur.
Tuguldur acknowledges that he worried about going abroad alone, studying English, and applying for college, but he experienced so many things that he couldn’t have experienced had he remained in Japan. “In an American college, you have to read 100 pages of a textbook before you go to class, so in ACDP, one class focused on reading and discussion skills. Because of this, I had no problem adjusting when I went to college in the States.”
This summer, Tuguldur’s interest in media communication led him to join EF’s student alumni group “EF Ambassador” and make a promotional video showing the activities of the group. Tuguldur is excited about the countless future possibilities that lie ahead of him.
In order to gain admittance to EF’s Accelerated College Degree Program, applicants must be in high school. For more information on the course, please email [email protected] or call 03-5774-6210. For general information on EF University Preparation Abroad programs, check out http://www.efjapan.co.jp/university. — WAKANA CATCHPOLE
