Hashi.org Announces American Scholarship Winner!

Hashi.org is proud to announce the winner of the 5th annual Travel Scholarship to an American citizen! This year, choosing one winner amongst the many oustanding applicants was far more difficult than in any previous year. And, the number of applications received exceeded previous application periods. We received many outstanding applications, with essays describing a variety of backgrounds. Semi-finalists included International Studies students with aspirations of working in an embassy, a medical student learning to combine Western and Eastern medical practices, and double-major students (International Relations/Asian Studies, International Studies/The Arts, et al).

But our winner is majoring in advertising with a minor in Japanese and Business, who will be studying at Toyo University through the ISEP exchange. He is a musician as well, and writes his own music and is deeply interested in Japanese music, and looks forward to sharing and performing while in Japan. And while there, he'll be joining up with a group to help with the tsunami and earthquake relief effort in the Sendai region.

Again, our judges of the applications found this scholarship decision the hardest one yet. With so many worthy applicants, with admirable accomplishments and aspirations, it was extremely difficult to choose just one. But the winner’s application proved to be the finest example of the ideals and goals of hashi.org. While there were many worthy submissions, Hashi.org is proud to award a $1,000 travel scholarship to Trevor Gradin! Congratulations!