JASC 75th Anniversary

Saturday November 7th, I went to the 75th Anniversary of the Japan-America Student Conference (JASC) in Tokyo. There I met up with many former JASC alumni and friends. It was an incredible event with many respected, talented, and successful businessmen/women and politicians present. Of those who have participated in JASC in the past, many have risen to lofty positions as CEO’s and Chairmen/women, as well as successful politicians such as Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

Both Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wrote letters to be read at this event. Most impressive to me was Princess Takamado’s speech. She stated that there are people that do things in life and there are those that sit at home and read about the things these people do. She continued to say that reading about those people is still much better than doing nothing at all. She then congratulated those who have participated in JASC as the doers. While I can say that many in JASC have accomplished great things, this is definitely not the case for me. I constantly feel that I am not doing enough. Despite this feeling, I continue to struggle forward and strive to achieve excellence in all I do. Hopefully someday I can look back and say, “I am a doer”. I do wonder how many of my senpai (seniors) have felt the same way in the past yet went on to accomplish the incredible things in which they have.