What I Learned from the High School Students of Keio Academy of New York | Masaru Tomita (Dean of the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies)
2006.05.01
This is about my visit to Keio Academy of New York last month for a faculty information session.
Less than an hour's drive from Manhattan, the suburban campus of the Academy, with its spacious lawns and a pond, is much like SFC. The sight of students in their free-spirited hairstyles and clothing, chatting here and there, is quintessentially American.
What surprised me there was that every time students passed by, they would greet me, a complete stranger, with a "Konnichiwa!" Moreover, it was completely natural and had become an established part of their culture. Americans have a custom of casually greeting each other with "Hello!" or "How are you?" when passing in a park or sharing an elevator, and this seemed to be the Japanese version of that.
The impression I got from them was of "friendly and approachable young people who assert themselves without being shy, rather than trying to act cool, cynical, or jaded." Aren't these exactly the kind of people SFC is looking for? While I realized I might be overthinking it to form such a strong impression from just a greeting, I was once again reminded of the importance of greetings.
"Greeting someone makes you feel refreshed." It was the high school students of the Keio Academy of New York who taught me such a simple thing for the first time in decades.
(Date of publication: 2006/05/01)