Happy New Year Everyone

Big shout-out to everyone, thank you so much!

Technical difficulties solved!

The technical difficulties have been solved and the widget to donate online is back up!

What Your Money Is Going Towards

          The program I am participating in is the ASF Intercultural Japan High School Program. The program will last eleven months and I will be leaving sometime in March 2014. The program is full emersion which means I will be staying with a host family and attending a local high school. I will be expected to learn the language and all classes will be taught in Japanese.  I could be placed anywhere in Japan but won’t know my exact placement and host family till a few weeks prior to departure. One thing I am very looking forward to is the rigorous academics. Being valedictorian of my class I am always looking for ways to expand my knowledge and Japan’s emphasis on education is just what I have been looking for. For a more in-depth overview of the program I invite you to check out the program website http://www.afsusa.org/study-abroad/high-school-abroad/display-program/?destination=44&category=151#.

            The tuition covers a range of expense that other programs generally leave out. By helping pay for my tuition you are helping cover my host school costs and tuition, my round-trip international travel, orientations prior to departure and after my arrival, insurance, and 24-hour emergency assistance. Not included in tuition, but also included in my fundraising efforts, is a $1000 budget for a school uniform. As a school uniform is required for Japanese students and are very well maintained there is not a guarantee that host volunteers can find a used uniform for ASF participants. For this we are asked to budget from anywhere from $500 to $1000 for a school uniform. For further information as to where my tuition goes feel free to visit Where Your Tuition Goes on the ASF website, http://www.afsusa.org/study-abroad/scholarships/tuition/where-it-goes/. Thank You So Much for Donating!

Donation Boxes and Thank you!

I have my donation boxes made so If you are interested in helping me fundraise or are willing to have one of my donation boxes in your local place of business Please let me know! I would like to thank everyone who has donated so far and has supported me in my pre-departure efforts. It means so much to me that other people want to support my dreams. A special thanks to the Scholarship donors who charity helps make my dream a reality!

My Journey to Japan is almost here

My name is Lizzy Reagles and I hope to be going to high school in Japan soon! I would be participating in a study abroad program in Japan where I will live with a host family and go to a local high school. It is a total emersion program so all classes will be taught in Japanese. To be able to participate in this trip would really be a once in a life time opportunity. 

I have won two scholarships for this program already. The Global Leaders Need-Baded Scholarship and the Western Carolinas Scholarship. With the scholarships I have been able to cover $5,000 of my tuition, which leaves $9,000 left to cover. I am currently putting together different fundraising efforts to help pay for the tuition. Because the amount left to cover is still a large amount I am asking for help from the community. Every little bit helps! I have joined the AFS Sponsor an AFSer program, which allows my friends and family to made secure non tax-deductible donations through my blog. Every donation goes directly to my AFS program tuition. No amount is too small--I know that times are tough, but every little bit will help me get a little bit closer to my goal. 

Thank you so much for reading this, and I would greatly appreciate it if you could forward this message to anyone else who you think might be interested in sponsoring my AFS experience.Keep checking back here to read more about me and keep up with my adventures once I actually get to Japan!

Rate and fast, Japanese Junk food

Candy and Soda shown
Ramune soda (Hello Kitty)
Ramune carbonated soft drink melon flavored
Yan Yan
Mangosteen Gummy Candy
chocolate of the interesting kind