High School Diplomats: An Amazing Summer Experience

The High School Diplomats program is a free summer program at Princeton University sponsored by AIG and the Freeman Foundation, where 40 American kids from around the country are each paired with one Japanese roommate, totaling 80 people overall. The program lasts from July 25th - August 5th. The program helps teach students how to negotiate tough social situations, appreciate new cultures and ideas without judgement, and learn the importance of relationships. Furthermore, students discover important parts of their identities, and gain a new appreciation for the lives of others. This is my story.

For me, High School Diplomats was a life changing experience. I applied because it seemed fun, it was free, I would be able to improve my Japanese, and it would look amazing on a college application. I remember frantically writing the essays the night of the due date, and the feeling of ambivalence. “It can’t be that great” I thought to myself, despite the tears shed by grateful students in promotional videos and the lengthy testimonials by alumni. Luckily, I found myself, mid February, moving onto the interview stage, which, for Mid-Atlantic students, was held at Princeton University. I spoke to Celine Zapolski, the American director of the program, about my interests in and out of school, how I negotiate difficult social situations, my curiosity, my political views, etc. Then, at a robotics competition in early April, I received a call from my mother about a letter from the program. “You’re in!” My mother yelled in excitement. I was still apprehensive about the program. 10 days at a college I didn’t want to go to with people I’ve never met with no air conditioning or internet? Sounds like a rough life to me. Deep within, a part of me thought: “do it. It might amaze you.” So I said yes. Then, about two months later, I was put in a group with 4 other American students to put on a presentation about American regional characteristics. This is where the magic began. Lucy, from Maryland, self studied Japanese in a year to a level on par with my 5 year experience. Payton, from Florida, overcame childhood cancer and deafness to be one of the top students in her school. Johnny, from Virginia, was frankly one of the kindest and most down to earth people I’ve ever met, not to mention a captain of his varsity soccer team in only 10th Grade. Sauntharya, from San Francisco, is one of the most profoundly intelligent, insightful, and bubbly people I’ve ever met, and also an amazing dancer. Things started looking up for me. I was having a blast, working harder on the presentation than I have ever worked on anything in school, and making new friends. Then, in late July, I took the trip to Princeton University. I was going to spend 36 hours with the other 39 American students, before meeting up with my roommate from Japan and spending another ten days. With whoever I met, my stereotypes and my assumptions were smashed. It happened again and again. I’d like to call my HSD peers what they are, casually incredible. These are some of the most accomplished students in America. On state leadership in FBLA, captains of their sports teams, president of the Virginia section of Model UN, drum major, gymnast, internationally renowned artist, diver, general amazing human being. My judgements evaporated. My nerves went with them. 12 hours in, and I had already made friends closer than many of mine at home. We worked on our presentations for the rest of the day, which, by the way, was amazing. Then, that evening, we met our Japanese roommates. I met my roommate/surrogate brother, Daisuke Masuda. We instantly hit it off. We’re both a little weird, pretty funny, and politically aware. Right from the start, he was asking me: “can you explain the UN security council more, sorry, the tour guide went too fast…” I asked him: “so can you explain to me how the Japanese Prime Minister was elected…” We talked the night away. I continued to get to know the American students, and got to meet their Japanese roommates. The staff did an excellent job of pairing the two by interests, and sometimes, by their differences, to try to get a conversation going and for both to have maximum growth. From then on, each day was a theme day. One day would be spirit day, where we would celebrate which of the two groups of the program we were placed in (merely for manageability sake), free day/date night, HSD Olympics, and many more. Two days struck me the most. The first was bunka no hi, which, in the off chance you don’t speak Japanese, means culture day. That day, there were presentations about both Japanese and American social issues, and we spent a solid 2 hours talking about them with often surprised Japanese students. It was times like these where we debated, learned, and thought deeply. That evening was culture night. Americans learned traditional Japanese dance, and ate Japanese food, among other things. The next day’s activities were the diplomat talks. In the morning, we discussed Japanese and American governments, and in the afternoon, we served as ambassadors from our respective nations, and debated and discussed things like the creation of a Japanese military, weapons of mass destruction, mutually assured destruction in regards to nuclear weapons, and the controversial American naval base in Okinawa. Mind you, these talks occurred in front of high level officials from Princeton University and the Freeman Foundation. I remember the talent show, where I pretended to be Hillary Clinton. I remember a comfortable silence between me and Daisuke, something many friends take years to attain. I remember learning to love others for their differences. I remember learning how to be a more patient and nurturing older brother. I couldn’t leave as I came when I was done High School Diplomats. No one did. HSD changed me. Anyone with an open mind should apply at: highschooldiplomats.com. No Japanese proficiency is needed. The deadline for applications is January 8th.