While most students will be spending their summer lying around at home, Year 12 student Alyx Bolivar has an overseas scholarship waiting for her: a 12 day study tour to Tokyo, Japan. From December 7 – 18, she will be experiencing life as a typical Japanese student, living with a host family and attending a host school – all fully funded except for the air fare.
The programme, planned and hosted by the Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education, was open to year 12&13 students living in New Zealand and involves workshops about traditional Japanese culture as well as visits to Japan’s high-tech facilities. Alyx is particularly excited about the authentic Japanese cuisine she will be tasting as well as the world-famous stationery on offer.
Her application involved a 500-600 word short essay, detailing her reasons for applying, including her interest in global studies and her plans for using Japanese in future. Being selected came as a shock for Alyx, who applied after Ms Kevern gave the class information, not expecting to be chosen as one of the lucky students traveling from New Zealand.
Alyx plans to continue studying Japanese at university as a conjoint with another subject. She finds the language interesting and enjoys studying it because it allows her to read and listen to Japanese books and songs – without getting frustrated at not understanding anything.
Some advice Alyx would give to others interested in similar experiences is “…to try even though you don’t think you’ll get it, because maybe you will.”
Alanna Santoso
