The Japan Exchange & Teaching Program Alumni Association of Northern California Announces its 2021 Scholarship Recipient
San Francisco, CA – The Japan Exchange & Teaching Program Alumni Association of Northern California (JETAANC) recently announced the recipient of its 2021 scholarship. Ryan Moore, JETAANC Scholarship Coordinator, proudly named Mikhail Studenkov of Homestead High School in Cupertino, California, as the award winner. The JETAANC scholarship selection committee chose Mikhail based on his academic excellence, sustained interest in Japan, embrace of the arts, and strong work ethic.
Mikhail is a multilingual—Russian, English, and Japanese—high school student with exceptional grades and advanced placement scores. He earned a 5 (highest possible score) on the AP Japanese examination. He is a member of Homestead High School’s Japanese National Honor Society and is also a jazz musician. High praise voiced by his teachers details his extraordinary work ethic, open-mindedness, and his respectful demeanor with others.
In the summer of 2020, Mikhail was scheduled to go to Okinawa for an internship program hosted by Study & Intern Okinawa. Unfortunately, like many other high school students, Mikhail had to cancel participation due to the pandemic. Despite this, he took the initiative to engage in a virtual student exchange between Sunnyvale, California, and its Japanese sister city Iizuka, Fukuoka Prefecture. Mikhail and his fellow students convened Zoom meetings, which focused on language exchange, with high school students from Iizuka. He served as one of the program’s online content creators.
Mikhail will enroll in a five-year dual degree program—BM in jazz studies at the Eastman School of Music and a BA in Japanese from the University of Rochester—in fall 2021. He hopes to research Asian influences on jazz and will have the chance to learn calligraphy from Keiko Nishioka.
Annually since 2002, the JETAANC has been honoring high school seniors who have demonstrated academic excellence, possessed an interest in Japan, made outstanding contributions to their communities, and who have been accepted into an accredited college or university.
Contact: For more information about the JETAANC Scholarship, contact Scholarship Coordinator Ryan Moore at scholarship@jetaanc.org.
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