My name is Menghe Xu and I serve as the representative for the Komatsu Summer School Executive Committee.
Since 2014, Komatsu Summer School has been providing high school participants with the opportunity to “know others and know themselves.”
When I was 18 years old, I left China and came to Japan to study abroad. Because I had grown up in a closed community, I believed that there was a “right” answer to my path so I tried my best to follow the course that was laid out for me. Therefore, when I came to Japan and was put in a free environment called “college” and saw so many options, I became confused about how I should live.
That is when I came across the Komatsu Summer School. In 2014, the first year of the program, I participated as a university staff member and met university students and high school school students from diverse backgrounds as well as working adults who are active and passionate in different fields. This was the first time I began to think, “What do I want to do?”, “How do I want to use my strengths to contribute to the world?” and had a lively learning and living experience.
Later, as I met various people, I realized that there were many people who were bound by the “right” answers to their path, just as I had been. As a program that is in a rural area of Japan, I want to create a place where high school students can have encounters and opportunities, and let them them know that life is full of choices and it is fun to live on your own terms. I also dream that the people who were impacted by Komatsu Summer School form a large circle and have a positive influence on the world.
This year marks the seventh year of the Komatsu Summer School which has been supported by many people in Japan and abroad. From the benefits we have received from you, we will do our best in supporting the young people who will create the future and contribute to society.
We would like to ask for your continued support into the future.