25/9/2008 - 2009 AFS Calendar Design Competition winners announced
Footscray teenager scores Japanese scholarship
The spirit of cross-cultural learning has been demonstrated in a poster showcasing dignity, respect for differences, harmony, sensitivity and tolerance. The poster, created by 18 year old Nancy Truong, has just won first place in the AFS Calendar Design Competition and will now take pride of place on the walls of many Australians as part of a calendar celebrating 50 years of student exchange with AFS Intercultural Programs Australia in 2009.
Nancy, a Year 12 student at Caroline Chisholm Catholic College in Victoria, will be given the chance to experience global kinship herself, winning a fully-funded scholarship for two weeks in Japan as a reward for her efforts. “I want to expand my horizons and take a journey that will expose me to exciting new places and challenge me to venture into the unknown,” she says.
The theme of the poster is Crossing Cultures, and there is little surprise that Nancy has been commended for her entry as she is a fan of all arts. Passionate about design, fashion, music and culture, Nancy enjoys visiting Melbourne art galleries with her friends. Beyond high school, she aspires to study Media and Creative Arts at university. “My passion has always been in the arts and I hope to shape a career from this hobby,” she says.
Growing up in multicultural Footscray, this will be Nancy’s second visit to Japan, after a short stop over on her way to Vietnam last year. “It had begun to snow in Japan and I found myself mesmerized by the sights of kimono clad women shuffling towards immaculate temples, while business men hurried past apathetic teenagers, displaying bazaar fashions. Although I had been studying about their culture in Japanese class, I was completely amazed. It felt like I had stepped into a new world,” she says about her experience.
“I realised that I wanted nothing more than to delve into this culture and experience the life of a high school student on the other side of the world.”
Leaving in December, Nancy will take part in the AFS JENESYS Program. Designed to support mutual understanding across cultures, the program will feature 660 students and teachers from Australia and East Asia. The two week scholarship will provide students with the opportunity to reinforce Asia-Pacific relations and establish friendships with other students from across the region.
Joining Nancy in Japan will be the second and third place winners from the competition, Steven Bardzinski from Werribee, Victoria and Laura Main from Naremburn, New South Wales.
About the AFS JENESYS Program
In 2007, the Japanese Government launched the JENESYS (Japan – East Asia Network of Exchange for Students and Youths Scholarship) Program in order to help strengthen and promote mutual understanding within the Asia Pacific region. The program provides students with the chance to immerse themselves in Japanese culture on a fully funded, two week scholarship. The scholarships are worth $8000 each and include flights to and from Japan, food, accommodation, medical insurance and a study tour of Tokyo, Kyoto and Hiroshima. Students will be exposed to the realities of the Japanese political and economic systems, and interact socially and culturally with Japanese citizens. This year, 240 Australian students and 24 teachers will get the opportunity to take part in the prestigious program.
Media Contact:
Barbara Ratusznik
barbara.ratusznik@afs.org
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