Tia Goes to Japan with the Rotary Exchange Program
| Have you ever wondered what it would be like to spend a whole year 6,000 miles away from home? When you're expected to learn an entirely new way of living and a brand new language as well?
In August of 2012, instead of preparing for her senior year of high school, Tia Agate left for Japan to be a foreign exchange student as part of the Rotary Youth Exchange program. Tia Agate is a 19-year-old student at Normandale Community College. She is currently studying Mathematics and Civil Engineering and plans to transfer to a 4-year institution by the Fall of 2016. Tia is the youngest of four children, and since she was young she enjoyed traveling and cooking. |
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| Tia Agate |
At our meeting on September 1, 2014, Tia shared with us some of her experiences from her trip to Japan. She talked about all the different places she visited, about her school, and even about how great the food is! One of the most interesting parts of Tia’s presentation was when she talked about her visit to Hiroshima, the site of the World War II atomic bombing. She explained to us that the residents there were not hateful towards the American’s because of the dropping of the bomb, which to her was a bit surprising.
It was amazing to see how such a young girl reacted when she was exposed to such a different culture. By the end of the meeting, everyone in the room was amazed by all the knowledge Tia took away from her experience in Japan. Her stories were so real, we were all craving Sushi by the end of the meeting as well.