High school is a unique time for students. They gain a new level of independence, but are still under the guidance and care of family, mentors, and educators. As a sophomore in high school, Emma Tatge gained an even greater amount of independence and enhanced her understanding of the world by embarking on a life-changing journey. She left her family, friends, first language, and home behind for a year to live in Japan.
Tatge applied to participate in the Rotary Youth Exchange, a school-year-long study abroad program for students 15 to 19 years old. She could have gone to just about any country in the world, but chose Japan because she knew it would be a challenge.
“Where I went, they didn’t really speak English,” Tatge says. “It was a small town, so I had to figure their language out. It was really hard, but I did figure it out and it was super rewarding. It ended up being the best year I’ve ever had!”
Students who participate in the Rotary Youth Exchange typically live with three different host families during their time abroad. This exposes the students to multiple views of the culture in the country they visit. Tatge had a unique host family experience. She lived with five different families for varying amounts of time.
“Host families, some of them are hit or miss, but sometimes you meet them and they just feel like your family,” Tatge says. “That was really awesome to experience. I never thought that I would feel like I could belong in a family that wasn’t my own, but I did. That happened with three of my families.”
The Rotary Youth Exchange is a personal, diplomatic, people-to-people program and is officially sanctioned by the U.S. State Department, according to Charles Gilliland, Rotary Youth Exchange local coordinator.
“There are a couple of things about the Rotary Youth Exchange that are unique,” Gilliland says. “It essentially gives students an opportunity to experience a culture and country. It’s a real opportunity for them to get to know about a country and for the host family to get to know about their customs and country. In the process, lifelong friendships are often created.”
In addition to creating lifelong relationships with host families, students also build lifelong friendships with other students from around the globe, according to Tatge. This is made possible by the Rotary Youth Exchange program’s practice of placing students visiting the same part of a country into Rotary districts. The students in Emma’s district in Japan were from America, Canada, Germany, and Brazil.
“We were all nervous and didn’t know what we were doing, so we all became good friends really fast,” Tatge says. “It’s really easy to bond over a shared experience like that. While I was in Japan, I also learned about Brazil and Germany and Canada. These friendships are really strong. I still talk to them.”
Along with the creation of lasting relationships, Tatge says she faced several challenges. As Tatge already said, learning the language proved to be difficult, but other challenges included adjusting to cultural differences that shape family values, being a novelty as the only American in her school, and getting over homesickness. Yet even with all the struggles Tatge faced during her time in Japan, she was not ready to come home when the time came to say goodbye.
