Cross-Culture Learning: Keio School Exchange

           Each year, Lawrenceville hosts a number of students from Japan through the Keio School Exchange Scholarship. These students spend a portion of their winter learning about the boarding school experience and the United States. The visiting scholars are paired with current Lawrenceville students also participating in the program; the Lawrenceville students later complete their portion of the exchange program by visiting Japan and residing with their Japanese partners for two weeks in June—fully immersing themselves in the local language and culture. 

          Hailing from Tokyo, Japan and having previously lived in Houston, Texas, Momoka Kurihara applied to the exchange program for the chance to “experience high school in America and improve [her] English skills.” Hosted by Elizabeth Duda ’25, Kurihara resided in the Kirby House for her 2-week stay at Lawrenceville. Her first encounter with dorm life showed her the “multitude of aspects of boarding school,” as she “was always a day student in Japan.” Kurihara’s initial shock at “the gigantic campus” and apprehension about “how much [she] would be able to interact with other students” due to her limited time at Lawrenceville, luckily proved insignificant. She felt that “many students were really nice…especially the ones in Kirby.” As such, Kurihara could “sense the strong bond in Kirby…and the [House members] felt a lot like a team and made [her] feel at home.” 

          Similarly, Wellness Day, a special Lawrenceville event, was a new experience for Kurihari. Kurihara observed that “Lawrenceville puts more priority on mental health [than her school in Japan],” which she sees as “definitely an upside.” Even with only a few short classes, Kurihara’s quick dip into a typical schedule of a IV Former showed her that “Lawrenceville [is different] from other schools [because] of its more advanced and interesting classes.” Taking a variety of courses from Honors Environmental Science to Advanced Poetry, Kurihara especially enjoyed A History of American Democracy in Cases, one of the U.S. history courses available to IV and V Formers. As Kurihara put it, the class “features student opinions and their perspectives,” which she sees as “really important…because teachers can learn from students and students can broaden their perspectives,” which is “good for education overall.” 

          Gaku Mori shares the same sentiment on the popular history class. As another IV Form exchange student coming from Yokohama, Japan, he applied to the Keio exchange program thinking it would “be a good opportunity to experience being in the States.” Once arriving on campus, he immediately noticed the striking differences between Lawrenceville and his school back home, where lessons were “lecture-style” and students took “18 subjects…with no free periods.” Given the relatively lighter workload at Lawrenceville, Mori was shocked when the nightly study hours rolled around in the Woodhull House and he had to put his phone away to work. Though surprising, this method proved effective, as Mori will “try to do the same at home now.” 

          Even so, Mori will miss being in Woodhull House the most. With his program partner Thaddeus Appiah-Dankwa ’25, Mori was quickly integrated into the atmosphere of the Circle. Outside of the dorm, he especially appreciated the quick pace of his Honors Biology course, as it pushed him to “actively try to remember things.” Mori also noticed that in his math course at Lawrenceville, Honors Calculus BC, the content specialized in calculus, whereas his school in Japan focused on complex planes and statistics.

          Although “difficult,” the change was “extremely enjoyable” to Mori as well. Perhaps what resonated most with Mori, however, was his Advanced Poetry teacher’s words to him; that “Lawrenceville is a place to tackle difficult things.” As such, upon reflecting on his experience at the school, Mori hopes that future students embarking on the same journey will keep in mind that “the slump is temporary [and] the comeback will be legendary.”