Shimpei Goto

UWC attended: Armand Hammer United World College of the American West (USA)
Class Year: Class of 2019

My name is Shimpei Goto. I am from a place called Kumamoto, Japan and I graduated from United World College USA in 2015.

My two years in UWC was by far the best two years of my life. It is needless to say that the real pleasure of UWC is outside of the classroom or even outside of the campus. It is a matter of course that I learned basic information about history, politics and culture of many countries. But more than that, I was very inspired by individuals. People in UWC are very inspiring. To be more specific, they are very eager about what they are interested in and have very unique perspectives. Also, I enjoyed hearing opinions and ideas about a problem from different people. For example, I will never forget that night I listened to an exciting discussion about some problems between Hong Kong and mainland China. It is privilege that we come from difference places and can discuss a problem directly.

Off campus, I went on a trip to learn about U.S.-Mexico border issues. It was one of the most valuable experiences in my life. I still remember that trip very clearly.

I am very looking forward to sharing my experience at Lewis & Clark. It has been a month since I graduated from UWC, and in my eyes many pictures from my past two years come and go every day. My life in UWC was that impressive and beautiful.

My second year in UWC, my friend Chhailiang told me how great Lewis & Clark is. I liked how Lewis & Clark is globally focused and offers many study abroad programs. I also liked the location. It is very close to downtown Portland and, at the same time, the campus is abundantly blessed with nature. These elements made Lewis & Clark the top of my choices.

My academic interests are geography, history, and language. I like to learn about culture in general. I like history, but, to be honest, I do not enjoy history class as much as learning it on my own. In the history class I took, I learned a wide range of facts without going into them deeply. It couldn’t be helped since we had limited time. However, I like to learn the history of specific cities, people, ethnic groups, or even concepts or objects such as the history of Christianity or the history of computers in depth. So it is more like my hobby.

I think I will major in international affairs at Lewis & Clark. It is because that is the subject that I can apply what I learned in UWC to the maximum. Above all, I am very interested in studying problems in the world.

Besides United States, I have been to Mexico and China. I spent the winter break of my second year in Mexico with my friends from UWC. Last summer, I worked at Yinchuan Youth Summer Camp as an organizer. They both are two of the greatest experiences in my life, because I got to visit places where I would have never been able to go if I was a random tourist in Mexico or China. I got to interact with many people and see the real life style of people there. This summer, I am going to work at Sino-Japan Youth Conference in Li Po Chun United World College in Hong Kong as an organizer.

During my 4 years in Lewis & Clark, I would like to become fluent in 5 or more languages: Japanese, English, Spanish, French, and Chinese. In UWC, I learned many languages from my friends, and I especially like Spanish, French, and Chinese.