No. 05
How school life in Hayama gave me
the strength to overcome any obstacles.
Nokia Higurashi
After Graduated Elementary,
St.Michaels University School
(Middle School & High School)
Through Hayama International School, many students have nurtured international perspectives,
and are spreading into different paths.
Here are some of the students.
- Q1.When and why did you enter Hayama International School?
- Nokia:I joined when I was four years old. My dad had been searching for aninternational school before I was born, and then he found this school,because it's close to where I live.
- Q2. How were the days at Hayama?
- Nokia: I started learning English here when I was very small. I don't think I had toomuch of a problem with English.
I learned native English with all the English speakers, teachers and staff.
I don't remember crying about not wanting to go to school or anything,because I think I knew that HAYAMA was fun and more about havingexperience with English rather than studying a lot like normal schools. - Q3. What events do you remember from Hayama?
- Nokia: My favorite event, I think, would be Halloween, I liked to make stuff like art,and I still do. So I remember I stayed up making my own costumes and stuff.I liked cardboard and other crafts.
- Q4. What were your paths after you graduated here?
- Nokia: After I graduated from Hayama in grade 6, I went over to Victoria which is in Canada in BCand I entered the school called St. Michaels University School which is a private boardingschool, boarding Day School. I started in grade 7, stayed until grade 8 in middle school,and then entered high school. Now I'm in 12 as a prefect. I'm starting my grade 12 year inSeptember.
- Q5. What brought you to the school in Canada?
- Nokia : I went to a summer camp in Canada, which led me to apply to a Canadian High School ormiddle school, I guess.
I'm from grade six, and I got in, and I started going to Canada from grade seven. Now I'min grade 12. And I’m starting to apply to college or universities and thinking of studyingfashion design, in either New York or France. - Q6. What do you want to do in the future?
- Nokia: I think I want to make clothes that are unique and different from other things like thenorm, I guess, because I think I was a bit of a weird kid. I was different, I think. So I thinkI'm gonna put that personally into clothes and make it cool.
- Q7.How does Hayama affect you now?
- Nokia:Personally, I believe that attending a school with a diverse student body, where noteveryone knows Japanese, provided me with the experience of engaging with peoplefrom various backgrounds. This experience helped me become more confident innavigating the global landscape. I think it gave me an advantage compared to others whomight find themselves in a new country without any knowledge of English.
I think learning English is one of the best skills I've learned in my whole life because itopened up such a big opportunity for my future. Because if I didn't end up continuing orstudying English here, I think I would be stuck in a Japanese school studying like 24/7right now. But since I learned English and went to Canadian High School, I'm able to haveso much fun and new experiences every single day, and I think it gave me the confidenceto go outside of my country and outside of my comfort zone to study in Canada.