[Student Profile]
[Prompt & Essay]
If a rainbow was a person, it would make the perfect leader. It guides all the colors from one end of the rainbow to the other, while letting each color define its own path. The different colors clearly stand out from one another, but without each other, the rainbow is no more. I value the diversity of every individual, and believe that everyone’s unique experiences give them a completely different perspective. A good leader should lead like a rainbow; letting each person’s colors shine through, while guiding everyone to the right path.
As the founder and lead organizer of the Cultural Connections Volunteer Group, I strive to capitalize on each member’s experiences to best suit the needs of the group. The program pairs American high school students with students in Japan, providing ESL classes through video calls. By providing them support with conversational skills, English homework, and insight on American culture, we hope to equip these students with the necessary skills to pursue a future outside of Japan.
Instead of creating a strict set of rules for the tutors to follow, I presented my vision and set general guidelines. I wanted to capitalize on the fact that the tutors and students each had unique experiences and different learning styles. I allowed tutors to connect with their students on their own terms. For example, one of the tutors liked to play video games, and so did his student. Though it was out of the norm, they played video games together, while speaking in English through the game. This proved to be great for both parties, helping them bond while teaching conversational English. Some pairs played instruments together, while others formed a book club within the program. By highlighting individual strengths, students and tutors were able to connect in a more authentic and practical way.
As a leader, my role was to recognize growth areas and provide solutions to meet specific needs. By allowing each person to lean on their strengths to do their job within the framework that I created, I got the most out of everyone, fulfilling my leadership position.
School on weekdays, Japanese school on weekends. This has been my schedule for the past 12 years. In the beginning, I thought this arrangement was normal, and assumed that other students were also sitting in a classroom every Saturday. However, I soon learned that my schedule was an anomaly. Since I was five years old, my parents have dedicated themselves to driving me up to [city] at 8 AM to attend Japanese classes all day. The classes followed the public school curriculum in Japan, and I learned Japanese literature, Math, Science, and History. We also followed the school cultural norms in Japan, such as bowing to the teacher before each class, and greeting the principal every morning. This unique opportunity has gifted me with not only fluency in Japanese, but also has grounded me to my cultural identity.
On top of this, I attended a Chinese and Japanese international pre-school and kindergarten. It was there where I first began my Japanese and Chinese education, shaping me to be the trilingual student I am today and creating a bridge to my Japanese and Taiwanese backgrounds. Throughout my entire life, Chinese and Japanese classes have always been a part of my routine.
These classes have opened up countless unique opportunities. With the skills that I acquired, I attended the local public school in Tokyo every summer until middle school for a month. My prior experiences from the years at Saturday Japanese school had prepared me to face the academic rigor at the school, and helped me easily hurdle the educational and cultural barriers. This experience ultimately made me realize that the years dedicated to learning a language was not just about the hard skills, but also the soft skills of understanding the nuances and complexities distinctly embedded in each culture.
These experiences have given the privilege to fully explore and understand my heritage. With the understanding that comes from these experiences, I’m able to navigate the world with an open mind and flexibility.