A Long Synopsis of the Past 6+ Months

May 3rd: the busiest day of my year after the busiest weekend of the year-

• Two projects due at midnight (a novel synopsis and soundtrack for Their Eyes Were Watching God)
• National Honors Society inductions
• Two tests to study for
• Piano lessons

Bored from hours of staring at a computer screen, I went upstairs to put my dishes away (a lame excuse for a break). While I ascended the stairs, the kitchen counter came into view. On top of the Formica-laminate countertop sat a massive package. One look and I knew I had gotten it.

Ever since I can remember I have loved Asian cultures, especially Japan. Recently I came across my first journal where the beginning pages talked about how I loved Japan. I had no idea that at that age I knew what Japan was, much less what an Asian was.

In 6th grade I discovered foreign exchange and made up my mind that in high school I would study abroad in Japan for a year. Once I started looking seriously into this (last summer), I discovered that it would be almost impossible. It was around $10,000 to study abroad for a year and there was only one scholarship that covered it. Being the stubborn person that I am, I decided that if I couldn’t go for a year, then I wouldn’t go at all. A few weeks later I realized how dumb this was when I found out that there were many scholarships to study abroad for the summer in Japan. I made up my mind that going for 6 weeks was better than not going at all.

In August I finished writing my scholarship essays. September I had my English teacher edit them. By the start of October I had my entire application submitted. In February I had an interview with Betsy, the Area Rep.

I’ve known Betsy for about a year and a half (I had a foreign exchange student and we interacted because of her), so I wasn't nervous about the interview. The interview went smoothly with the exception of two answers. After saying that I had a great relationship with my parents, I proceeded to tell Betsy the completely wrong ages for them when she asked (I said; Mom: 39 Dad: 40, Actuality; Mom 47 Dad: 50). In my defense, I am terrible with ages and birthdays. Of course, I told her the correct ages of my siblings (26 and 24), so it made my mom sound as if she had a baby when she was 13. The second question was, “Whenever you are away from home for long periods of time, what do you miss?” My honest answer, which I said: my cats. I didn’t even think to say my family, which was what they were probably looking for. Becca and I decided that these two answers were what caused me to not get a full-ride scholarship.

I don’t know if I was excited in the months that were between knowing and not knowing. I thought about it constantly, imaging my host family and the fun things we would do. And sure, whenever I saw a package my heart would beat as if I had just ran a 28 mile marathon, but I don’t know if I’d call it excitement. Perhaps I don’t feel I was excited because I was so stressed with school and was taking life one day at a time. Or maybe it was because I believed that I wouldn’t get it. I know that even now I feel as if it’s just a dream or that YFU will mail me and say, “Oh man, just kidding. We meant to send that letter to someone else, sorry kid.”

I guess these are the kinds of feelings that occur when one’s dream comes true (as corny as that sounds).

So here it is, less than a month away. I’m missing so much at home-

• Graduation parties
• The ACTs
• A week of school
• Adam’s birthday
• Rachel’s birthday
• Lone Tree
• Seeing Toy Story 3 in theaters
• Hanging out with friends/family
• My cats (haha)


I am sad, but I know that I will be more sad when I leave Japan.