Why Swarthmore?

         The bustling city of Philadelphia is a 30-minute train ride from Swarthmore College, and New York is only 2-hours away in distance. It was simply the location of Swarthmore College that first attracted me. Philadelphia has a long history as one of the earliest places in the United States where Europeans settled, but it also is a place where new people are arriving daily. Living and studying in this location will teach me much about the United States while serving as a modern environment of inspiration. As an avid fan of musicals, Broadway has always excited me. I want to pursue a career in arts, and the close proximity of my favorite composite art will provide me with constant access to new inspiration. Swarthmore College’s location is an ideal spot for me to spend an academically and artistically balanced college life.

         I decided to obtain more information about school academics. I consulted the brochure, and came to a conclusion that there are more benefits to Swarthmore than just its location. While flipping through the pages, the phrase, “Creating new knowledge” and a big picture of a camcorder jumped out at me. The text read: “Studying social anthropology leads to documentary filmmaking…”In high school, I started recording my daily life at school. I soon found myself fascinated by the way the world looks through the camera lens. I studied editing and made three documentary videos during my high school career. My future dream is to make films, and study of anthropology is an essential part of creating realistic film. I was thrilled to learn that Swarthmore College’s approach to the teaching and study of anthropology matches what I have been doing and want to do in the future.

         Swarthmore boasts students from more than 50 countries and 40 percent of the student body experiences education abroad during their college career. Swarthmore is a global college, and this will help me introduce the Japanese culture to the world. Through growing up in Japan, I have learned that Japanese people possess a delicate sense of beauty and nature. Artistically, Japanese often blur things and inject seemingly irrelevant images like flowers and scenery in art. We intertwine stories with songs and music. Japanese try to be indirect and cherish moods and feelings. This might be frustrating in the world of business, but in the world of art, I think it is one of the most important elements. People in the western hemisphere often say that Japanese culture is too subtle and complex to understand. However, I believe that students who have chosen to spend their college life in the diverse environment of Swarthmore College would be interested and open to learning about the deep beauty of the Japanese culture I bring. I am sure I can offer a new perspective as a Japanese student studying in America.

         The abundance of diversity as well as the small size of Swarthmore College will enable me to interact with many people from different backgrounds and form close relationships. The brochure claims that the liberal and tolerant atmosphere of Swarthmore is rooted in the Quaker tradition. Without the ability to appreciate difference, I cannot learn from films or make realistic films. Filmmaking is a pattern of art people use to express themselves. Every piece is unique and delivers ideas different from mine. As for documentary filmmaking, discovering the subject’s uniqueness is the trigger to starting a new project. Understanding differences is a quality I must possess in order to achieve my goal. Teaching the appreciation of differences is what Japanese society still lacks.

         For me, the “atmosphere” is an important factor when choosing a school. It is something floating in the air, a smell or a feeling, very abstract and vague. Therefore, it is something that cannot be created or altered artificially. The nature, environment and spirit of people that spend their life on the campus are mixed, accumulated, and form the atmosphere. The environment of the campus, the spirit of the Quaker people, and the students with their unique and diverse backgrounds together form the Swarthmore atmosphere I find so fascinating.