Introduction

My name is Adam Crachiola and I am currently 15 years old. I live in Troy, Michigan and I attend Troy Athens High School. I have been interested in Japan for a very long time. When I was in the 3rd grade, the Matsumoto family, a family from Japan, moved to the subdivision where I live. I became very close friends with Kentaro Matsumoto. As our friendship grew, he and his family introduced me to some of the customs of Japan. This friendship opened my eyes to Japanese culture and sparked an interest in me about Japan. Sadly, Kentaro and his family moved back to Japan when I was in 7th grade. However, I still keep in touch with Kentaro, Ayane, Yuka, and Mr. & Mrs. Matsumoto through e-mail. (They even visited last summer for their vacation.) Knowing them made me want to learn more about Japan. My interest in Japan did not fade. When I found out that Japanese was offered as one of the foreign language classes at high school, I chose the class with great anticipation. I completed my first year of Japanese and knew I wanted to continue. A short time after the beginning of my sophomore school year, my Japanese II teacher, Mrs. Lowry informed my class of the availability of scholarships to Japan through sponsors of Youth For Understanding. I decided I would give it a try. Mrs. Lowry wrote a letter of recommendation for me, which I appreciated very much. I dont think I could have done it without her. I applied for several scholarships and I wrote several essays. Probably the most difficult for me was the one-on-one interview. All along, I knew the chances were slim of receiving one of the scholarships because there were applicants from all over the country. After several months of waiting, I finally found out in May that I won a Japan America Friendship Scholarship! I will only know 2 years of Japanese through my high school courses before leaving to Japan. Even so, I am very excited! I have wished for a very long time to visit Japan and this opportunity came to me.