Other Rotary Scholars--Amazing Gals

The Rotary Foundation has funded the Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship program for over sixty years. With this funding, thousands of students from over seventy nations have traveled to new places. Our vistas have been broadened, taste buds shocked (by raw herring and salty licorice) and pleased (by black grapes plucked from the vine paired with seasoned Dutch cheese.)We have had trepidity over language trouble, been challenged by new transportation (my first day on a bike here I collided with a curb and landed beneath an outdoor cafe table.)We have been frustrated by sometimes tedious classes (European Religion in the Middle Ages...)and happy beyond measure meeting new friends who hail from around the globe.

In a time of increased inward thinking, Rotary sends students around the world to have our views challenged and opened. Rotary wants us to learn how others live. By having friends from around the world, we learn to respect and understand other cultures better, as well as our own. By talking about West Virginia at other Rotary Clubs, I am reminded how singular and unique my own culture is, and I am able to share this pride with others.

There are roughly fifteen Rotary Scholars from around the world studying in the Netherlands. Four are in Utrecht. We are all girls and we hail from different corners of the world. It is notable that we are all girls, since women are still not invited to join some Rotary Clubs.

Here I will introduce the three other scholars studying in Utrecht:


From L to R, Sayaka, Paula, Leika, Robbie. A night spent making Thai and Japanese food (Thai summer rolls and Japanese chirashizushi (a rice and sushi dish shaped like a cake) and making crafts.


Robbie: Robbie is sponsored by a Rotary Club in Hawai'i. However, like the population of Hawai'i itself, Robbie is truly international. Her father is from Hong Kong and her mother is from Hawai'i. Since her parents work in the hotel business, Robbie has traveled around many, many times. She went to University in California and Germany, and spent some of her education in a program called "Semester at Sea," where students are taught on a ship, and travel around, docking in different countries. Robbie is studying Conflict Studies and Human Rights. Recently, she shared with me a story of her father's upbringing in Hong Kong, how, at the age of nine, he went to work as a child, and how food was scarce. Stories like these keep Robbie grounded and remind me how blessed I am.

Leika: I start off talking about weather with Leika, and by the end, we are talking about constitutional law. Leika comes from Japan. Her mother is from Maine, though she has spent most of her life in Japan now, and her father is Japanese. Leika is brilliant. She can tell me anything I want to know about laws and courts.

Sayaka: Also hailing from Japan, Sayaka is one of the most friendly gals you will meet. Sakayak is studying water management in Utrecht as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar. She is in her third year of a PhD program in environmental studies in Japan. Sayaka has three qualities she shares with Robbie and Leika. It is something that I believe helps define Rotary Ambassadorial Scholars around the world: 1. She is a great communicator and a good people person. 2. Interested. Sayaka is interested in the world, and engaged by ideas outside the classroom, like opera and orchestras. 3. Smart. All the Rotary Scholars I know fuse passion and compassion for the world with intellect. Robbie is interested in humanity; Leika wants to use the law as a way to bring justice to the world; and Sayaka believes in the power of environmental justice. She believes that by looking at water management we can help the world. And I? I believe in education. I want to do something to help bring quality education to the world. I believe the mind is the greatest resource we own. And so, the four scholars--Robbie, Leika, Sayaka and I--bring our visions together in Urecht, so, when we return to our respective homes, we can make a difference.