Second ScholarStark Event: Making the Most of Our Scholarship Years
Twelve Myanmar students at Shizuoka University met in Shizuoka City to share how we prepared for scholarships, what studying abroad twice was like, and how to make our student years count. The next event is planned for December.
- scholarships
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- studyinjapan
On Sunday, November 1, we held our second ScholarStark student event at the International Lounge of the Shizuoka University International Residence in Shizuoka City. Twelve of us studying in Japan, all from Myanmar, some in our final years of Shizuoka University's ABP programme and some who had only just arrived.
The question we came with was one most of us have asked ourselves: we're here on scholarships, so how do we make these years count? Nobody brought a perfect answer. We brought our own experiences and compared notes.
Event overview
Date: Sunday, November 1, 2026, 15:00–19:00
Venue: International Lounge, Shizuoka University International Residence (Ojika, Suruga-ku, Shizuoka City)
Participants: 12 international students from Myanmar in the Shizuoka University ABP programme, both current and new students
Guest: the CEO of Empower&Link Co., Ltd.
What we talked about
Getting to know each other.
After a short welcome from Lin (Faculty of Informatics, 4th year) and a greeting from the CEO of Empower&Link, everyone introduced themselves and shared what they've been working on so far. For the newer students, it was a chance to put faces to the seniors they'd only heard about.
Scholarships: how to prepare, from people who did it.
Lin shared what scholarships are open to students like us. Then seniors スさん and カインさん talked about how they actually prepared their applications: what they did, what worked, and what they'd do differently. Hearing it from someone a year or two ahead of you makes it feel much less out of reach.
Fig: スさん sharing her experience
Studying abroad twice.
Lin and スさん both went on exchange programmes to a second country while still on their scholarships. They talked about how they made it fit with their studies and what they gained from it. A lot of people didn't know this was even possible, and the Q&A that followed was full of practical questions.
Fig: カインさん sharing her experience
What we can do beyond class.
We talked about extracurricular activities during our studies, and what we can do together as scholarship students, for each other and for the local community. Lin also shared how students can get involved in ScholarStark's work.
Then we played.
Table tennis and free time, followed by dinner together at a Myanmar restaurant nearby. Some of the best conversations of the day happened over the food.
Fig: Dinner at a local Burmese restaurant
What ScholarStark is about
If there was one idea running through the whole afternoon, it's the one ScholarStark is built on: learn, adapt, and share as a student. We learn from the people who went before us, adapt it to our own path, and pass on what we've learned to the next person. Every senior who spoke on the day was doing exactly that.
Special thanks
Thank you to everyone who came and spoke so openly, to スさん and カインさん for sharing their stories, and to the CEO of Empower&Link Co., Ltd. for joining us again.
Join the next one
We're planning our next event for December. If you're a student in Shizuoka and want to join, or you'd like to share your own experience, book a call with ScholarStark or email us at info@scholarstark.com.
Author: ScholarStark Founder (SI THU LIN)
