Jamal Grant:
Engineer.
Non-Profit Founder. 
World Traveller.
Japan Trip Participant.

When I first heard about the Japan trip as an 11th grader in high school, I turned down the opportunity. I thought I was no good at learning new languages, I had no desire to learn about things that I thought weren’t relevant to me and I did not want to sacrifice my beloved basketball season to take an extra class. However, with much encouragement from Greg, I decided to take the risk to add this additional class to my workload and drop my senior year basketball season. This decision has paid dividends for me in a number of ways to this day through the life-long friends I’ve made, my love for travel, appreciation for culture and willingness to take chances.

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Over the course of the Japanese class and trip, I was able to build relationships were enhanced and strengthened by our experiences on the trip. I forged friendships that will last a lifetime, across lines of generation, race, and class that I would not have felt as comfortable crossing before this experience.   These friendships have led me to funding for my college tuition, travel opportunities as far as the Himalayas, and a broad network of peers and mentors that supports my current success.  Because of a trip with so much knowledge-sharing, laughter and great discussions, I was able to build such strong relationships with people who have shared a desire to learn and try new things.

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The Japan trip experience has helped reaffirm, in my life, the importance of open-mindedness and stepping out of my comfort zone. I used to always say that I would never live anywhere but Boston—a statement that I made well before I had really been anywhere else, not coincidentally; but with experiences like this one, I have gained an affinity for traveling and, subsequently, a desire to see and learn about other places.  Before Japan, I had traveled to 2 places outside of Boston. Since Japan, I have traveled to 11. Most recently, in February, I traveled to Rwanda where I studied the Rwandan genocide, the culture and the country’s history. The trip planted some of those initial seeds of curiosity, appreciation and desire to learn about the people and places that make up this world. 

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The Japan trip, for me, was many things; it helped to build self-confidence in my ability to learn languages and, has helped me redefine my definition of a “good” investment and has allowed me to build relationships and interests that still contribute to my life and activities today. The Japan trip became one of the best teachers in my life- bringing me insight and value that could never be replicated in a classroom. I went there expecting just a good time and some fond memories, but left with a start of a paradigm shift in my perspective that has been developing ever since. I would like to leave off with a quote from Miriam Beard that I have found to be more applicable than I would have ever previously imagined as a high school student. “Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” 

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