<p>Hi guys,
I’m here to talk about my greatest summer experience ever.
Ever since I was young, I was that shy student who never participated in anything, led any discussion, or dreamed of changing the world.
Last year around this time, bored of last days of winter break [omg, my 5-week winter break is sometimes excruciating…], I decided to look for some internship or program to participate in the summer [2008].
From my school’s listserv, Dickinson College’s Dickinsonconnect, I found this program called, Japan-America Student Conference [JASC].
“The longest student-organized conference in both Japan and the US since 1934… alumni such as Henry A. Kissinger and Japanese Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa…”
So I am an East Asian studies major and enrolled in the Pre-Health program, and Japan would be my focus, so this sounded kind of interesting…!!!</p>
<p>I went onto the website of the International Student Conferences which oversees the JASC, and found lots of info about the program.
I immediately got the application form and started filling out stuff because it attracted me in many different ways:
- one month long conference with a bunch of new people I’m gonna meet.
- a bunch of new JAPANESE friends I’m gonna make. [yeah, I was desperate for some]
- each applicant needs to choose a roundtable topic of his/her preference to be a member of during the conference; there was one about MINORITY ISSUES, which I’ve been really interested in since I’m a minority living in the US and my group is the biggest in Japan. [You guessed right, I’m Korean!!]
- travel throughout the US for relatively cheap price [the participation fee is $3000, but I paid only $1000; I got sponsorships from my school and a personal friend]; we went to Portland, OR -> LA -> Missoula, Montana -> Boston</p>
<p>Not only did I learn about my roundtable topics, but other international topics and how they relate to Japan and the US together… environment, tradition and modernity, science and ethics, etc.
Not only did I make tons of Japanese AND American friends, from all these prestigious schools… The University of Tokyo [like 10 people… No.1 Univ in Japan], Waseda, Keio, Harvard, Wellesley, Wesleyan, Cornell, University of Hawai’i, Dickinson, to name a few… I also had the opportunity to network with many interesting people, like a strategic planning assistant at Boeing, Consul General of Japan in Boston, Portland, and LA, and CEOs of companies who are JASC alums.
At the end of the conference, 8 delegates from each side are chosen to become the next year’s student executive committee members… yeah I cannot believe that I am one of them. Me, who was so shy, never wanted to participate in anything. My deepest appreciation for what the conference had done for me naturally made myself commit for the Conference by organizing this year’s JASC. </p>
<p>Are you interested so far?? </p>
<p>2009 61st JASC will be held in JAPAN from July 24th to August 21st. Every year, the conference switches the host country.
This year, we will start in Seattle, fly to Tokyo, then go to Hakodate in Hokkaido, come back to the main island to Nagano, then finish in Kyoto/Osaka before flying back to Seattle.
The participation fee is still the same, actually, of $3000! This, believe it or not, **includes **the airfare to Japan!
You just need to pay for yourself to get to and from Seattle, WA, which is our American orientation site [7/24-7/27].
You can ask your school for sponsorships, and many schools HAVE sponsored students participating in the JASC.
If no sponsorship from school, you can fundraise on your own, which have been also successful in the past; full or partial amount.
Prior to the conference, there is a requirement to write a research paper based on the topic of your roundtable of 8-10 pages, roughly.
This sounds like a summer enslavement in front of your computer monitor, but don’t worry… I did and it wasn’t that bad… lol.</p>
<p>Who is eligible? ANY college student, grad student, or PhD student in the **US **no age limit; if you are a Japanese student, you must apply via a different procedure on our counterpart at [Japan-America</a> Student Conference@“ú•ÄŠw¶‰ï‹c](<a href=“http://www.jasc-japan.com%5DJapan-America”>http://www.jasc-japan.com).
This is very important… You **DO NOT NEED TO SPEAK JAPANESE, OR MAJOR IN EAST ASIAN STUDIES OR JAPANESE. **
The conference is held in English; forums, discussions, everything is held in English, so no need to worry about Japanese… actually we encourage people who know little or nothing about Japan and the related to come join and learn something new… share your knowledge of American economics, history, laws, health, development and learn about those in Japan!</p>
<p>Anyways… If you are interested, please take your time to visit the ISC website, and you will find info on JASC!!
The website has everything you want to know about the conference.
But here it is the e-brochure in case you want a quick look of this year’s conference: [[size=5]e-brochure!](<a href=“http://iscdc.org/images/stories/jasc%2061%20ebrochure.pdf"][size=5]e-brochure![/url][/size”>http://iscdc.org/images/stories/jasc%2061%20ebrochure.pdf)[/size</a>]
The application is due on February 21st, so you got more than a month to complete and get accepted! 
Also, if you have any other questions, please e-mail me at <a href="mailto:jasc61.karen@gmail.com">jasc61.karen@gmail.com</a>, and I’ll be more than happy to answer them!!</p>
<p>Cheers!</p>
<p>Karen</p>