High School Diplomats: One step closer to a more understanding world

When history looks upon Japan, many people recall World War II or the atomic bomb in Hiroshima. I’ve been in many history lessons which teachers tell me the information which are in the textbooks. But in these lessons it never taught me how to understand the real situation about how common day people were affected. One of the strength that High School Diplomats (HSD) has is the understanding and the maturity everyone has to ask or to talk about this sensitive topic, which in reality helps both nations be one step closer to really understanding one another.

High School Diplomats, a non-profit organization that is sponsored by the AIU Insurance Co. of Tokyo and the Freeman Foundation, is a cultural exchange program that is held every summer in Princeton University with 40 American and 40 Japanese students. Each country selects 20 girls and 20 boys as diverse and different as possible. Anyone that is in their sophomore or junior year can apply to this program. The program is for 10 days in Princeton and if you live in the D.C. area you can also do home stay!

Going into this program I only knew about 10 words in Japanese and my knowledge about Japanese culture was only from what I’ve seen on television or what my friends have told me. Again and again I would hear this phrase from all the counselors: “This is going to be the 10 best days of your lives!”. At first, I doubted what they told me because with the language barrier I only had 10 days to create such a strong friendship. But I also was really excited to finally being able to understand a deeper meaning in Japanese culture which leads to understanding them a bit more.

Before the program starts if a student lives around the D.C area they have the opportunity to host for 3 days one or two Japanese students. This gives the students an experience to stay at an American household and experience a common day American lifestyle. In the program, the staff pairs you up with another Japanese person of the same gender that will be your roommate.

The roommate I was paired up with was a girl named Marino from Okinawa, Japan. The roommate pairing is truly incredible and it still amazes me how well the staff does at pairing roommates up. From the beginning when she sent me an email that she was going to be my roommate we started texting each other almost daily and we got along very well from the very beginning. During those three days my parents and I really felt like we were a family and could not believe how well we got along with Marino in only 3 days.

After those three days I had already tasted a little bit of what all the counselors told me before. I started to really get excited for what all the counselors were talking so passionately about. Meeting all the Americans was so incredible and it is also part of why HSD is such a great program. Everyone literally was so unique and different from everyone else that I learnt so much from only the Americans. I kept repeating this to myself constantly “I feel like I can be myself” because there was truly zero judgment between everyone and this is something very peculiar about HSD and I think no other program has something like this.

On the day the Japanese students were arriving from New York City we were all making posters and arranging our rooms to receive them. Deep down we all knew that this relationship would be the most enriching part from the whole program. What impacted me the most from all the theme days, presentations, and Japanese language/culture classes, to my surprise, was the tea ceremony because I finally understood how meaningful silence is in the Japanese culture, I finally understood its beauty. I’m proud to say that by the end of the 10 days Marino and I fully understood each other. Now I can respond passionately and confidently that “It was the 10 best days in my life”.

If now you are interested in applying for this program all the application forms are in www.highschooldiplomats.com under “HSD in America”. To be eligible, students must apply during their sophomore or junior year of high school. Applicants must mail all their forms posted by January 8th, 2016. The application process consists of essays, a teacher recommendation, a passport photo, and an interview. If accepted, then there will be an orientation day for the American students (mandatory) on July 26th. Program dates will be from Wednesday, July 27th to Saturday, August 6th, 2016. For more information please contact the American Director, Celine Zapolski at celinezapolski@highschooldiplomats.com. Good luck to all the sophomore and junior applicants!