In July 2020, I graduated from high school. Not knowing what to do with my life, I immediately began looking for a job in the IT field—I thought it would at least help me build my CV. It was the period of the second lockdown in Italy, so finding work was extremely difficult.
Still, I managed to join a major Italian company in the Angelini group and started a six-month internship.
During that time, I began studying Japanese on my own in my free hours.
When the internship ended, they didn’t renew my contract, so I searched for a new job and after few weeks I joined a cybersecurity company here in my hometown.
That’s where the bad part began: after three months (December 2021), I suddenly became unwell—probably due to heavy stress and the breakup with my first girlfriend. I started experiencing strange symptoms.
I went to the hospital, and they diagnosed me OCD.
I spent a month in the psychiatric ward (including Christmas and New Year’s) before being discharged.
As for my job: since it was also an internship, I had to resign. I sent my resignation letter while still in the hospital.
Even during my stay in Hospital, I never stopped studying Japanese. Thanks to Busuu and YouTube videos, I managed to learn Hiragana, Katakana, some kanji, and the basics of grammar.
After I returned home and took some time to recover, I started job hunting again. In April 2022, I was hired as a second-level helpdesk technician in a nearby town.
I kept studying Japanese, and in August 2024 I contacted Go Go Nihon to apply for a student visa to study in Japan starting in April 2025. Around that time, my psychiatrist told me I could stop taking my medication.
Do you want to know how it ended?
I had a psychotic episode, and in mid-March—just 15 days before my departure—I ended up in the hospital again with no Job (because of my departure for Tokyo I resigned my beautiful Job, where I had a permanent contract). I remained hospitalized until May 21, 2025.
I’ve studied Japanese for years, first on my own and then by taking language courses between 2022 and 2024. I even passed the JLPT N5 in December 2024.
Now I’m back home, taking medications that don’t make me feel well. I struggle with concentration, strange syntoms and I feel as if I’ve lost everything I worked for over these years—especially because going to Japan was something I had wanted for a very long time.
I’m not sure if in August 2026 I’ll feel enough well to be able to restart the process to finally go to Japan with a student visa in April 2027
by Eisaku964