What I Want to Tell Future Students by Hiromasa Aramaki

Through AASL volunteering, I could experience a lot of things. I think the experiences are going to become assets. I engaged in volunteering which is focused on tutoring refugee children in math, grammar or science. 

When I went to class for the first time, I absolutely remember that I was so upset and nervous because I did not have confidence to teach something in English. But a little bit later I recognized that it did not matter. Almost all of the kids were so talkative, positive, and tried to listen to me carefully. I was so impressed by their motivation, attitude and curiosity. I can again recognize the importance of attitude, positive thinking, curiosity, and challenge through this volunteer experience.

Fortunately, some kids remembered me after my first time there, and they began to talk to me more freely. I could make good relationships with kids and talk about many things with them. It was a good experience for me!

In AASL we can get information about prickly topics and learn a lot. For instance, I learned about race in class. Actually in Japan I did not think about race. So it was so stimulating. In addition to this, I could learn about stereotypes. Through this class, I could break my lens and avoid stereotyping.

Finally what I want to tell future AASL students is that if you take AASL, you can experience wonderful things and break a lot of negative things through volunteering and classes. I think the experience greatly serves our future.