Student Voice: Badr Lahrichi, Al Akhawayn University, Morocco

Badr is a second-semester student at AIU from Al Akhawayn University, Morocco.

Academic Experience: Business Courses

So far, my time at AIU has been a great experience in every sense of the word! I am an International Business and Marketing double-major, so I have focused on business courses here at AIU.

I’m taking almost all business courses. This semester, I am taking Japanese Business Culture, Global Marketing, Entrepreneurship, and History of Science. In the first semester, I couldn’t get in to all of my first choice courses because they were over-registered and I wasn’t successful in the lottery, but I was able to get into them in the second semester.

Japanese Business Culture Course

One course that I got into the second time was Japanese Business Culture. In the course, we get very immersed into both Japanese business practices and cultural traditions. Sometimes traditions and business practices interact in a beneficial way, but we have also learned how it can be harmful to business growth if you’re not careful. For example, we discussed how Japanese businesses cope with the difference in standards and ethics when dealing with international partners. We use current case studies, such as the recent Toshiba accounting scandal. About 70% of the students in the course are international students from around the world and it’s very interesting for us to learn how Japan does business before we try to engage in international business here in the future. I think the Japanese combination of business and morality is very admirable.

Campus Environment: Experiencing Akita and Local Business

I had a chance to participate in Japanese business outside of class, too.

There was an AIU graduate who was trying to establish a tourism business in Akita, so he reached out to AIU students and offered free tours in exchange for us writing articles about our experiences in English. It was a great way for me to see many places around Akita and participate in some unique experiences. Once we went to the most amazing fireworks festival I have ever seen and another time I got to go fishing out in Oga, and that’s not something that’s usually part of a tourist experience!

Extracurricular Activities: Open Campus

I also volunteered for the Open Campus events at AIU, when the university brings in high school students and their families to give them a chance to experience AIU and encourage them to apply. I worked on a team with another international student from Taiwan to give campus tours. Some of the visitors didn’t speak English, so I tried to explain in Japanese as best I could and my partner spoke much better Japanese and helped a lot, too.

Campus Life

Unfortunately, I couldn’t take Japanese class because of a schedule conflict with a course I needed for my major, but it hasn’t been a problem because all the Japanese students at AIU speak English, so I have been able to talk and make friends.

I’ve joined a few of the clubs here, like Futsal, Table Tennis, and Running, and that has been a lot of fun as well and a chance to make new friends. I have really enjoyed my time in Akita and I think the environment here, with the fresh air and peaceful, natural surroundings is great for studying, too!