From August 2025 until February 2026, I worked remotely as an intern for the Kizuna Across Cultures (KAC). KAC's key program, Global Classmates, pairs up a high school class in the United States learning Japanese with a high school class in Japan learning English, and together the two classes engage in target language practice and mutual cultural exchange by writing responses to topics and replying to others via an online Learning Management System. KAC is a non-profit organization which aims to enable underprivileged communities to participate in international cultural exchange, who would otherwise not have the opportunity to do so.

 

As an intern, my role was to be a Senpai for 5 different class pairs. As Senpai, I oversaw the students' interactions, encouraged cultural exchange, and served as a role model for the students. My responsibilities included writing original posts in both English and Japanese, replying to students' posts, handing out digital stickers to students to reward and encourage activity, participating in weekly check-in meetings with my supervisor and other Senpai, documenting each pair's progress via a weekly tracker, and hosting online video calls where students could drop-in to practice speaking in their target language and engage in conversation with other students. Below, you can find a link to the full report on my internship experience, written in Japanese.