A Report from an SJA Student Alum

This article was written by Jack Nelson.

Looking back from my perspective as a senior at Carleton College, I am grateful for the many opportunities I have had because I chose to study Japanese at Yorktown High School. When I graduated in 2020, I was worried about what college in the time of Covid was going to look like. To be honest, it wasn’t great. Taking most of my classes – including Japanese – online from my dorm room was an isolating experience, and opportunities to socialize were limited. But I soon found a community in my fellow Japanese students and the Japanese department faculty and staff, and that community has lasted throughout my time in college.

Even though I am majoring in Chemistry, one of my main goals for college was to study abroad in Japan. For two years I took classes, worked as a Japanese tutor, and participated in online language exchanges, all while hoping that Japan would lift its Covid-era restrictions on foreign visitors. When I applied to the Associated Kyoto Program at Doshisha University, it was on blind faith that by the time junior fall rolled around, I would be able to go. It wasn’t until I was on a plane from LAX bound for Osaka in August 2022 that I allowed myself to believe that it was really happening – I was finally going to the country I had dreamed for so long of visiting. 

I was lucky to be in the first wave of foreigners allowed to study in Japan after Covid, which meant that Kyoto was not as crowded with tourists as it often is. While I was nervous at first to actually speak Japanese, I decided to just throw myself into it. In addition to taking classes, I explored Kyoto on my own and with friends, and traveled to Osaka, Nagoya, Tokyo, Shimane Prefecture, and Okinawa.

I joined my local gym, went to a baseball game, guest taught English in a Japanese middle school, hung out with a local host family, went hiking and chilled on the beach at Lake Biwa, visited museums and temples, became a public transportation pro and a regular at my local convenience store, and ate and ate some more. Along the way I met up for the first time with many of my Japanese grandmother’s cousins, which added a personally meaningful dimension to my time in Japan. Plus, my apartment was just a block from Nintendo’s corporate headquarters, which (not gonna lie) thrilled my ten year old self.  

Studying in Japan both challenged me and expanded my understanding of the world in so many ways that I will carry into my future. I also know that wherever I go, if I can find others who have an interest in speaking Japanese and learning about Japan, I will find a community where I will be welcomed. All of these experiences were possible because I had the opportunity to study Japanese in Arlington Public Schools, and I hope that other kids in the future will have the same opportunities I had. I would tell any student considering taking Japanese in high school to go for it. Yes, it’s hard work, but the payoff will be worth it!

Jack Nelson is a former student board member of SJA and a 2020 graduate of Yorktown High School in Arlington VA, where he took classes from Ma Sensei. He also attended the Virginia Japanese Summer Governor’s Academy and participated in a US-Japanese exchange program called High School Diplomats.