Wade S (Year 10) was the successful recipient of the 2025 Mishima Scholarship award, where one student participates in a two-week study tour program at Mishima High School, Shizuoka Japan. Wade has made incredible contributions to the College through his role and an International Ambassador. Read on to hear about his experience:
My name is Wade, and during the Term 1 school holidays, I had the opportunity to go on the annual Mishima Scholarship trip. This is an incredible experience that I highly recommend if you’re in Year 7 or 8, you should start working towards it, and if you’re in Year 9, I strongly encourage you to apply. This trip is a great opportunity to improve your Japanese, make new friends, and explore new things.
One of the best parts was staying with a homestay family during my time in Mishima. They helped me improve my Japanese through general conversations that I could somewhat understand. They were so welcoming that I never felt homesick and didn’t want to leave by the end of my stay.
Most of my time in Japan was spent in Mishima, a quiet city about 100 km from Tokyo. There, I reunited with the global class that visited Australia last year and met the new global class that will be coming to Australia next year to attend Reynella. I attended school and joined students in their lessons. I also went to Fuji-Q, a huge amusement park, with my homestay family on my day off.
I visited Hakone, which is famous for its massive active volcano, its black eggs (which are said to add seven years to your life), and the incredible view of another active volcano—Mount Fuji, the tallest peak in Japan.
The final days of the trip were spent in Tokyo, where I experienced the Shibuya Shuffle, visited Tokyo Skytree and Senso-ji Temple, rode the Thunder Dolphin roller coaster at Tokyo Dome City, and explored the huge shopping district of Akihabara.
This trip is breathtaking. I learned so many things, saw some things that you can never see anywhere else and got to experience things that I’ll never forget. I would like to thank the international program for allowing me to experience this, along the Mishima school and the global class for making this such an amazing experience.
