One Country... One Dream... (Japan)
Donation protected
Sometimes in life, an opportunity is placed before us that could change our lives… Hi my name is Alex and I have been accepted into the CIEE summer abroad language immersion program. Before I get into details on exactly what the program is or why I would like to go to the country selected, here is some interesting background information on me…
Who am I?
I am a junior in High School and throughout my life I have always strived to do well. There is nothing that I have ever become engaged in where I have given up; I won’t go down without a fight. Clearly my determination and hard work has paid off when you take a look at my Academic and extra-curricular Achievements:
GPA (weighted): 4.53
GPA (unweighted): 3.97
Member of the High School Track Team for 3 Years
Member of the High School Math Team for 2 years
Member of the High School Robotics Team for 2 Years
Straight “A” Student Since 1st Grade to the present
Member of Odyssey of the Mind Team
Played baseball for 10 years
Community service member with my Church
Where do I want to go?
The one place that I have always wanted to go was Tokyo, Japan. Thanks to CIEE and their global merit scholarship program, I have been given the opportunity to realize my dream. The trip itself would take place from July 6 to August 4. However, the trip is not free. The scholarship program gave me a total of $3300 of the over $8000 necessary for me to actually go on the trip. Not only do I have to raise about $5000 dollars, but the deadline for the money is in April! This leaves me only a month to make my dream come true! With April right around the corner, I am reaching out for help to allow me to obtain my goal and go on the trip of a lifetime.
Why do I want to go to Japan?
Technology and Robotics are a lifelong passion of mine which I discovered at a very young age. I spent hours mesmerized by anything related to the computer. After entering 6th grade, I acted on this technological calling and started programming computer games. Since then I have expanded my knowledge of programming and technology by taking computer courses and learning more complex languages. While in 8th grade, I met the person who developed the Google car – who had previously worked in Japan – and had also worked on Honda’s ASIMO humanoid robot. After a long talk with him, I began to realize that this is the career path I wanted to pursue. He is fluent in Japanese and I aspire to follow his path and learn Japanese which I believe is the language of technology.
The culture of Japan is also something that I am so enamored by. I love watching Anime in Japanese that is subbed in English simply because of the way the language sounds. To me, the pronunciation is so foreign in my mind that it is almost addictive to hear. In addition to the anime, Japan can be considered the technology capital of the world with companies ranging from Honda to my favorite video game company, Nintendo.
Japanese itself is a language so foreign and new to me that it will absolutely be a great challenge to learn. I have always wanted to experience a language and culture that is different from that of the US.
Japan is also a technology stronghold, a culture, and an inspiration. So many things have inspired me to want to go. From the people I have met to my early exposure to technology; I see it all in Japan. I feel that going to Japan will transform me. In turn, I will use this experience to make an impact on society and further my ability to achieve a lifelong dream as a leader in the next technological revolution.
Why should you support me?
Despite how badly I may want to go on a trip or how inspired I have been to experience something, when it comes down to it, there will always be a price tag. But does that price tag have to stand in my way? The answer to that question is no. My life can be changed with the support of anyone who would be willing to help me achieve my monetary goal. Why have I not managed to get the money by other means do you ask? Well, let’s go into that…
In January 2015, I was diagnosed with a life-altering condition known as Crohn’s. Basically what Crohn’s is, is an inflammatory bowel disease which is impacted by some of the foods I eat and forces me to be on a medication. The reason I am sharing this, despite it being personal, is because I do not want any sort of a medical condition to define who I am. As of now, despite it still being a part of my life, I have overcome all of the grief that had been thrown at me and the emotions that started to weave my life. I realized that there is no reason to let this condition define me.
Either way, I did not escape this world of terror overnight. For a while, life was actually really hard and I had to buckle down and work more seriously than I ever had in the past. This is primarily because of how determined I was to keep up with my grades and athletics. However, when it came to summer time, I was in no spot to do much of anything. I tried, but there seemed to be problem after problem. Some nights I could not even sleep because the condition kept me up. For this reason, I was unable to get a job where I could make money or apply for any essay contests or something of that nature. Although today I still do not have a paying job, I do participate in many community service activities as an intern at a local IT business helping build computers for underprivileged kids. Unfortunately because of this I do not have a steady source of income where I could have saved up money in preparation for an opportunity such as this trip to Tokyo. Sadly, this conclusion was hardly, if at all in my control. I wish I could go back and change the past, but evidently, that is not possible.
Due to the amalgamation of hardships over the past few years, I currently do not have the money needed to fund my trip, but I ask that all of you reading this to please aid and support me in so I can fulfill my dream of traveling to Japan on this once in a lifetime opportunity.
Thank you to everyone for reading my story and for supporting me.
Who am I?
I am a junior in High School and throughout my life I have always strived to do well. There is nothing that I have ever become engaged in where I have given up; I won’t go down without a fight. Clearly my determination and hard work has paid off when you take a look at my Academic and extra-curricular Achievements:
GPA (weighted): 4.53
GPA (unweighted): 3.97
Member of the High School Track Team for 3 Years
Member of the High School Math Team for 2 years
Member of the High School Robotics Team for 2 Years
Straight “A” Student Since 1st Grade to the present
Member of Odyssey of the Mind Team
Played baseball for 10 years
Community service member with my Church
Where do I want to go?
The one place that I have always wanted to go was Tokyo, Japan. Thanks to CIEE and their global merit scholarship program, I have been given the opportunity to realize my dream. The trip itself would take place from July 6 to August 4. However, the trip is not free. The scholarship program gave me a total of $3300 of the over $8000 necessary for me to actually go on the trip. Not only do I have to raise about $5000 dollars, but the deadline for the money is in April! This leaves me only a month to make my dream come true! With April right around the corner, I am reaching out for help to allow me to obtain my goal and go on the trip of a lifetime.
Why do I want to go to Japan?
Technology and Robotics are a lifelong passion of mine which I discovered at a very young age. I spent hours mesmerized by anything related to the computer. After entering 6th grade, I acted on this technological calling and started programming computer games. Since then I have expanded my knowledge of programming and technology by taking computer courses and learning more complex languages. While in 8th grade, I met the person who developed the Google car – who had previously worked in Japan – and had also worked on Honda’s ASIMO humanoid robot. After a long talk with him, I began to realize that this is the career path I wanted to pursue. He is fluent in Japanese and I aspire to follow his path and learn Japanese which I believe is the language of technology.
The culture of Japan is also something that I am so enamored by. I love watching Anime in Japanese that is subbed in English simply because of the way the language sounds. To me, the pronunciation is so foreign in my mind that it is almost addictive to hear. In addition to the anime, Japan can be considered the technology capital of the world with companies ranging from Honda to my favorite video game company, Nintendo.
Japanese itself is a language so foreign and new to me that it will absolutely be a great challenge to learn. I have always wanted to experience a language and culture that is different from that of the US.
Japan is also a technology stronghold, a culture, and an inspiration. So many things have inspired me to want to go. From the people I have met to my early exposure to technology; I see it all in Japan. I feel that going to Japan will transform me. In turn, I will use this experience to make an impact on society and further my ability to achieve a lifelong dream as a leader in the next technological revolution.
Why should you support me?
Despite how badly I may want to go on a trip or how inspired I have been to experience something, when it comes down to it, there will always be a price tag. But does that price tag have to stand in my way? The answer to that question is no. My life can be changed with the support of anyone who would be willing to help me achieve my monetary goal. Why have I not managed to get the money by other means do you ask? Well, let’s go into that…
In January 2015, I was diagnosed with a life-altering condition known as Crohn’s. Basically what Crohn’s is, is an inflammatory bowel disease which is impacted by some of the foods I eat and forces me to be on a medication. The reason I am sharing this, despite it being personal, is because I do not want any sort of a medical condition to define who I am. As of now, despite it still being a part of my life, I have overcome all of the grief that had been thrown at me and the emotions that started to weave my life. I realized that there is no reason to let this condition define me.
Either way, I did not escape this world of terror overnight. For a while, life was actually really hard and I had to buckle down and work more seriously than I ever had in the past. This is primarily because of how determined I was to keep up with my grades and athletics. However, when it came to summer time, I was in no spot to do much of anything. I tried, but there seemed to be problem after problem. Some nights I could not even sleep because the condition kept me up. For this reason, I was unable to get a job where I could make money or apply for any essay contests or something of that nature. Although today I still do not have a paying job, I do participate in many community service activities as an intern at a local IT business helping build computers for underprivileged kids. Unfortunately because of this I do not have a steady source of income where I could have saved up money in preparation for an opportunity such as this trip to Tokyo. Sadly, this conclusion was hardly, if at all in my control. I wish I could go back and change the past, but evidently, that is not possible.
Due to the amalgamation of hardships over the past few years, I currently do not have the money needed to fund my trip, but I ask that all of you reading this to please aid and support me in so I can fulfill my dream of traveling to Japan on this once in a lifetime opportunity.
Thank you to everyone for reading my story and for supporting me.
Organizer
Alex Chuckas
Organizer
Stamford, CT