Hashi.org Announces American Scholarship Winner!

Hashi.org is proud to announce the winner of the 6th annual Travel Scholarship to an American citizen! This year, choosing one winner amongst the many oustanding applicants was by far more difficult than in any previous year. And, the number of applications received exceeded previous application periods. We received dozens of outstanding applications, with essays describing a variety of backgrounds. Semi-finalists included:

• Medical student with an interest in Eastern/Western patient care

• Exchange student that has volunteered in her home town and will volunteer in Japan

• Exchange student studying to be a teacher that organized a Japan Club in her home town

• Exchange student studying gender issues in Japan and USA as well as tea ceremony

• And an exchange student who just spent the summer interning at a congresswoman’s office and plans to study gender issues to help women around the world

But our winner is a Ph.D. student studying East Asian Languages and Cultures in hopes of eventually becoming a college professor. Her dissertation is going to examine the adaptation of stories across national boundaries, particularly Japanese and South Korean. She has worked with various non-profits over the years putting on educational events about Asia. She is embarking on a year of intensive Japanese-language study and will be using the hashi.org scholarship not only to offset costs there, but to fund a trip to South Korea after her classes end experience first-hand the cultural similarities and differences between our three countries.

Again, our honorary panel of judges this year included esteemed educators and professionals, and 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 Amanda Kennell! Congratulations!