Impact Action Sport Photography
Middle school is awkward, the weird midpoint between elementary and high school.
Himari Kadosawa, now a senior at New Albany High School, found middle school, especially lunch, even more awkward since she couldn’t understand her classmates having just moved to the area from Yamaha, Japan.
“I just pretended like I understood what they were saying, and I was just smiling the whole time, even though I didn’t understand anything,” Kadosawa says.
After months of Google Translate and fake smiles, Kadosawa was able to connect more and make lasting friendships. As a result of her own challenges, she created a lunch buddy program with the hopes of helping other students adjust to their new American lives.
From Japan to America
When Kadosawa moved to America she was very excited, however, it quickly felt less like a movie and more like a foreign TV show without subtitles.
For the first few months, she relied on Google Translate to make it through each day, sometimes sitting silently with her classmates. It took time, but she slowly grew her skills and friend group.
“I appreciate (my friends) a lot because I know it was hard for them to talk to me… but they’ve been friends with me the whole time and they helped me a lot with my school too,” Kadosawa says.
By high school, Kadosawa was participating in track and field, cheering on the sideline at basketball and football games and volunteering regularly with J-to-A, a nonprofit that helps Japanese students transition to school life with tutoring and mental health services.
Helping hand
Kelsie Wonderly
Kadosawa first connected with J-to-A when she moved to the area and was looking for help with her classwork. The communication barrier was not the only challenge she faced as she slowly realized how much all of the changes were affecting her mental health as well.
“I couldn’t share it with my family because they were also having a hard time too,” Kadosawa says. “It didn’t feel right to tell them because they were doing so much for me. Also, my friends, I just couldn’t tell them how I (felt) in English because being next to me was just a lot for them, especially because I didn’t understand English. I just pretended like I was okay.”
This gave Kadosawa an idea. What if she could open more conversations between English learners (EL) and their fellow students? So, she started the Lunch Language Buddy Program.
In this program, EL students are paired with volunteers to help them buy lunch and be a friend to talk to. The pair is given discussion topics such as school traditions and activities that new students may not understand.
Kadosawa hopes this program will not only help EL students, but their fellow native English-speaking students understand other cultures by digging deeper into their new friends’ stories.
“Learning about other cultures broadens your perspectives and world,” Kadosawa says. “If I only knew about Japanese culture and how lives in Japan look like, I wouldn’t be able to do so much (of the) accomplishments that I have done in here.”
Kelsie Wonderly
She also wanted teachers to understand the challenges of EL students, so she created a video describing helpful tips for teachers to implement. Before she knew it, the district showed the video at the school’s teacher in-service day.
“Many of the teachers told me that it was so helpful to hear about what actual EL students think because they never got an opportunity to ask about what actual EL students felt,” Kadosawa says. “That was the happy moment for me that they said it was helpful.”
Future plans
Impact Action Sport Photography
Although Kadosawa’s program has just gotten off the ground with its first volunteer meeting, she hopes that the power of a simple question will leave New Albany schools different than when she first arrived.
This experience propelled Kadosawa to pursue international relations in college, hoping one day to be an international student coordinator at a college.
For now, Kadosawa enjoys looking back on the happy moment when it all clicked for her.
She sat at a lunch table, surrounded by friends, and finally got an inside joke.
“In middle school, I just pretended like I understood what they were saying, …” Kadosawa says. “But the moment that I could understand what they actually said and it made sense in my head, it was amazing.”
That joy and point of connection is something Kadosawa wants for all English learner students, and hopes that with Lunch Buddies, it is possible.
Maggie Fipps is an editorial assistant at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
