After completing training in Spain this February, Tehya Hinkson, Art teacher and Fashion Club advisor, is now returning from leading her first EF student trip through the central and southern regions of Japan. Education First (EF) offers students international tours focusing on learning aspects such as language and culture through travel. Overall, 17 students attended and the group flew into Tokyo, visiting Kyoto, Osaka and Nada.
Choosing the destination was just the first on the list of Hinkson’s tasks. Searching for a place that would capture the interest of both her and the students, she set her eyes on Japan. She figured that the global rise of Japanese culture, such as music, anime and celebrities made it worth visiting.
“Personally, I’m a huge anime fan, I love anime,” Hinkson said. “But I also just love the culture there. I’ve studied about it and I’ve learned about it, and I think it’s just become a very prevalent place to know about.”
While her passion for the culture made the choice easy, the actual organization of the trip required some effort. Hinkson had to balance the logistical hurdles of international travel.
“The planning portion can be a little bit busy just because we’re trying to nail down all the details.” Hinkson said. ”We’re trying to get all our travelers’ information, but I just try to remember that it’s fun.”
Beyond the logistics, Hinkson found ways to bridge the gap between the upcoming trip and her daily work in the classroom.
“I also try to incorporate it into my classes,” Hinkson said. “I brought some little goodies back for some of my students, and I talked about it beforehand.”
Despite the long hours of preparation, Hinkson believes the reward of seeing students navigate a new environment makes the process worthwhile. For her, the real value lies in watching students embrace initial discomfort.
“I think that it’s so magical when someone has an experience outside their comfort zone that they really enjoy.” Hinkson said. “Especially in Japan, you are in a completely different country, you do not speak the language. The culture is so different, and it can be really easy to let yourself be overwhelmed by that and to not be able to enjoy the experience.”
Although most of the significant milestones occurred during the journey itself, some of the biggest leaps happened before the group even arrived in the country. For some, the adventure began the moment they set foot in the airport.
”We had a student who was on the trip with us, who had never flown before and he flew to Japan for the first time, which is just so brave and amazing,” Hinkson said. “He had the best time and every time we had a tour guide he was always asking so many questions, and it just made my day.”
As the trip continued, Hinkson noticed a shift in the students’ confidence. Their initial hesitance about the foreign environment began to dissolve.
“I saw people grow in just the nine days that we were there,” Hinkson said. “At the start, they were kind of uncomfortable with things. So just seeing even that little bit of growth, like being pushed out of their comfort zones was amazing.”
For Hinkson, the trip proved that learning can happen just as easily outside of a textbook as it can inside one.
”I loved it, because it just shows that, yeah, history is not always the most exciting thing and you are learning, but if you let yourself learn in this fun way, it can really open your mind and broaden,” Hinkson said.
