A Distinguished Title

I am in my 19th year at NIC International College, a school that for almost two decades has allowed me the opportunity to come across scholars from many walks of life with many intriguing goals, aspirations, and experiences. Sometimes, howe ver, our interactions with each other teach me something as important as the lesson that I am trying to instill in them.
One particular example of this that I thought was worthy of sharing appeared in early November of this year.

It occurred on the afternoon of November 9th in Japan. I entered a classroom at NIC and announced that the new president of the United States would ndoubtedly become Donald Trump. The announcement brought gasps from the mouths of my students, who felt incredulous at my then very rough prediction. Surprised that they even cared about who had won, I decided to take advantage of this election cycle and probe them further. I first decided to take some time out of class to ask them questions about what they knew about the U.S. election, its system, and some of the candidates vying to become the 45th U.S. president. To my surprise, all of them knew the main candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.
However, after inquiring even further, I discovered that they were also familiar with candidates such as Bernie Sanders, the Democratic candidate who had lost out to Clinton, and even Republican candidate Ted Cruz. I then started more fielding questions from them, providing some gems of knowledge, and before I knew it I had ex plained in great detail the entire electoral college system, the two-party system and platforms, and even the checks and balances system, which covers the powers of our executive, legislative, and judicial branches. It was a great spontaneous lesson that everyone was engaged in.

And then...the discussion turned to Japan. Quite impressed and curious about what they had asked about and answered concerning the American political system, I decided to then ask about the political process in Japan. However, the interest waned somewhat and I drew some blank stares and confusion from my students, indicating that either a lack of interest had set in or that they simply had no idea how their government worked. I pressed harder but the more I pressed, the more everyone snickered and feigned (or actually possessed) a lack of knowledge about the topic. To my dismay, they just had no information to have a serious cademic discussion about politics in Japan. I thought about why and then recalled being 18 years old and not interested in politics, too. Had som eone asked me these things at their age, my expression would not have been unlike theirs.

This, of course, then became an extra homework assignment, a common tactic I like to resort to when they cannot answer my questions in class. They were to explain to me how their prime minister is elected and the various powers of Japan 's government system. I required them to write a minimum of 300 words on the topic. What I received the next day was brilliant. I collected the assignments and we talked about them in class. I then commented that they were soon to become cultural ambassadors who would be asked such questions without the benefit of being able to look up the information online. Their worried looks indicated that this distinguished title was one they didn't want to weight of carrying, but I think they generally liked the idea of being the go-to source of information about Japanese culture to someone somewhere in the future. Their worry turned to excitement as I continue to talk about how great it is to exchange information with those from another culture.

And I think this pretty much sums up life at NIC. Moments like this when the textbooks are put aside and practical learning enters the classroom are what make teaching and learning at NIC International College Japan a special. I look forward to engaging more future scholars and helping them become aware of this distinguished title they will soon bear. When everyone understands his or her special role in becoming a cultural ambassador of Japan to those encountered abroad in the U.S., the UK, and elsewhere, true learning is realized.
Good luck!