High School Diplomats: The best ten days of your life!

“The best 10 days of your life.” When I first heard those words, I chalked them up to simple hyperbole, used as a sales pitch to get teenagers interested in yet another summer program. Did it live up to the hype?

It seems like just yesterday that I was gathering in the field at Princeton with all the other students getting ready for rajio taiso, the daily morning warm-up. We would blunder through the movements as my roommate and I laughed together. Moments like these were truly the defining parts of the HSD Experience.

High School Diplomats is a cultural exchange program between the US and Japan held at Princeton University during the summer. The program is built around forming relationships with amazing people from all over Japan and the United States. It consists of 80 High school students - 40 from the United States, each paired with a student from Japan. The goal of this program is for each student to build a lifelong friendship with their roommate through planned program activities, including theme days, language and culture classes, and discussions on a variety of topics. The Japanese students get to spend a weekend with a US student as a houseguest, a couple of days before they head to Princeton for 10 days of bonding and discovery, typically from late July to early August.

I was lucky enough to host two Japanese students - Kota and Tomo. Kota was my designated roommate, while Tomo's roommate was not from the area. We spent an entire weekend showing them around the area - from the National Mall to shopping malls - and helping them try a variety of “authentic” American cuisine - Burgers at Five Guys, Barbeque, homemade pizza, and Indian food at my home.

Learning and culture-focused activities included presentations on culture, government, social issues, and regional characteristics of each nation, followed by lively discussions that helped us develop a mutual appreciation and respect for each other’s cultures.

There was a lot of fun too! Feeling sick after a donut eating contest, struggling in a 3-legged race, solving a murder mystery, learning the kendama and preparing an act for the talent show - small but fun activities that forged a relationship with my roommate that is stronger than blood, and formed the basis of some great memories that I will always cherish about HSD.

The 10 days flew by in a blink. The final day of the program is the Day of Reflection. Amidst all of the tears, each roommate pair reflected on their relationship and the progress that they had made since the beginning of the program. It was this day that I realized that HSD had truly been “The best ten days of my life”. In ten days, I gained a brother halfway around the world and made some life-long friends within the US and in Japan. I also discovered the value of relationships that I had been ignorant of.

I highly encourage all High School students to apply for this program, as it truly will be the best ten days of your life. For more information, please visit http://www.highschooldiplomats.com/, or contact the American Director, Celine Zapolski at celinezapolski@highschooldiplomats.com or 571-234-5072