Name: Hideyuki Nakanishi
Home Country: Japan
Major: Aerospace Engineering
Status: International transfer student
Transferred from: Wentworth Institute of Technology (Boston)
How did I find CU Boulder?
By intuition! I always choose to do what I feel is right or might be right. You may realize later that this is a wrong path after following your intuition, but it would never be in vain. It could turn out to be a piece of a puzzle that may result in changing your life.
Well…this is partially true when I tried to find schools, I broke it down by components to make the right choice. First, I looked into the financials because that is always a difficulty when making a decision like this. Second, what I emphasized when looking for a new school was the living environment and the field of study. For example, I wanted to get involved in nature. Back in Boston, I barely had a chance to be outside, which really helps with my stress relief. Regarding the field of study, I had already known what I wanted to do, which was Engineering, so I could narrow it down to schools that have strong programs in the Engineering field.
There are other components that I took into account below, as well.
Where do you want to study?
- City
- Nature
- Any state you’re interested in
- Island
- Isolated area
- Big school
- Small school
- My answer was: Nature, Colorado and big school
What is your field of study?
- Business
- Economics
- Engineering
- Geography
- History
- Anthropology
- Environmental Science
- Data Science
- My answer was: Engineering (Aerospace)
What extracurricular activities are you interested in?
- Sport clubs
- Research projects
- Outdoor activities (hiking, rock climbing, skiing/snowboarding, surfing, mountaineering)
- Volunteering
- Committees and associations
- My answer was: Rock climbing, snowboarding and mountaineering
All those factors led me to CU Boulder
I did not attend any events at CU Boulder before the decision, but other than researching the school on the internet, I would highly recommend checking out campus tours, meeting admissions advisors and anything else that might interest you at CU.
Experiences at CU
As a transfer student
There was a massive transition from Boston to Boulder. City versus nature being a big jump. However, it was easy for me to adjust to the new environment since I have grown up in nature and Boulder is where I was hoping to be.
In addition, the great thing about CU Boulder is that there are so many opportunities to participate for transfer students. The school offers a seminar for transfer students to be able to get involved in the CU family, which really helped transition smoothly with my academic and social life.
As an international student
I was feeling anxiety about the ratio of the international students at CU Boulder because it is around 10% of the population, which is quite low compared to other big universities. Despite that, I have never felt lonely. People are very kind here, respecting everyone’s self-identity. It is not difficult to make American friends here at CU.
With regards to community involvement, I am not in any of the international associations, but there are some associations for some countries that you could join. That could be an option to get involved at CU as a start.
Overall
I have had difficult times with my major, but outside of class, I have enjoyed it here in Boulder. I joined the Alpine club and went on a climbing trip to Wyoming in September. I had an extremely incredible time there, getting out of school stuff and doing what I like. I also joined the snowboarding team. The season has not started yet, but there have had some events where I got to get to know other students.
There are many ways to enjoy the buff life. Football games are held on weekends, which is one of the biggest events at CU. My favorite part is Ralphie running around the field. Boulder has an amazing amount of hiking trails and climbing opportunities and I find that it was a great wat to recover from a week of hard work.