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What is High School Diplomats?
High School Diplomats (HSD) is a scholarship program that brings together high school students from the United States and Japan each summer through two parallel experiences. HSD U.S. provides the opportunity for American and Japanese students to meet for eight days of cultural exchange in the United States. HSD Japan allows American students who have successfully completed HSD U.S. to apply for a full scholarship to travel to Japan for several weeks the following summer.
HSD United States
HSD U.S. is an exchange program hosted on the campus of the University of Virginia allowing American and Japanese students to live and interact with each other. Forty students from America are paired with roommates from Japan to learn about each other's country, culture, and life as they attend classes, compete in activities, and share ideas.
HSD Japan
HSD Japan is an extension of the American HSD U.S. experience. The program gives former HSD U.S. participants the opportunity to travel to Japan and gain a better understanding of Japanese culture firsthand through a tour of the country, homestay with a Japanese family, and cultural exchange with Japanese high school students.
“There is only one word in English that can describe an experience like HSD: magical.”
“I don’t know how to add the experience up completely, but I know that every single moment changed some small part of me...I cannot go back to who I was before.”