Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc. (TEMA) in association with Youth For Understanding USA (YFU) awarded a full scholarship to Kara Schuler to participate in the 2016 Toyota/YFU Summer Exchange Program.
Schuler, a student at Bishop Brossart High School, will spend six weeks in Japan this summer, living with a host family and learning about the culture and language of Japan.
She is one of four students statewide selected to participate.
Selection for this program is based on candidates’ leadership skills, civic and extra-curricular activities, academic achievement and an interest in international affairs.
YFU is a nonprofit, international exchange organization dedicated to preparing young people for their responsibilities and opportunities in a changing, interdependent world.
Three other Kentucky students will also be participating in the YFU program:
• Jackie Foster (Grant County High School) recipient of the Kikkoman/Family Careers and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) scholarship
• Hannah Herrmann (Lloyd Memorial High School) recipient of the Japan-U.S. Senate Youth Exchange (JUSSE) scholarship
• Justin Geilear (Woodford County High School) recipient of the Toyota-TEMA Employee scholarship.
Since 1951, approximately 250,000 high school students from more than 50 countries have lived abroad on a YFU homestay program for a summer, semester, or year. Each year, YFU exchanges approximately 4,000 students worldwide.
Toyota has been a corporate sponsor of YFU exchange programs since 1975. During that time, more than 450 students have been selected to receive Toyota/YFU scholarships.
“Toyota recognizes that today’s students are tomorrow’s leaders,” said Jana Martin Kemp, assistant project manager at Toyota. “This scholarship program is an effective way of contributing to international understanding among our future leaders.”
Schuler is not new to traveling and was drawn to Japan because she had been there previously. She is most excited about experiencing the culture while living with her host family.
She says, “I am excited to be involved in a new family dynamic and to get to try something new.”
All high school students who are interested in finding out more about YFU, are encouraged to visit http://www.yfuusa.org/scholarships.