We recently reconnected with our YBS graduate, Katie — the very first American student at YBS. She played a meaningful role in shaping our journey toward becoming a truly bilingual school. She became fluent in Japanese (yes, she even debated with teachers in Japanese!).
Now she is 16, and still carries the same bright smile and thoughtful heart — only now paired with a quiet confidence and a clear sense of direction.
Today, Katie was selected and enrolled at the highly selective The Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science, an early college program housed at Western Kentucky University.
Each year, students from across Kentucky’s Commonwealth apply through a rigorous selection process. From applicants representing schools in 47 counties, only 98 students are chosen.
Katie is one of those 98!!!
At just sixteen, she lives on campus and takes a college course load. By graduation, she will earn both her high school diploma and an associate’s degree — a remarkable achievement that reflects not only academic excellence, but courage and vision.
What Did YBS Mean to Her?
When I asked Katie what she remembered about YBS, her face softened. She didn’t answer right away — she smiled first.
“I remember just walking around and talking with people,” she said.
“Having fun. Every day.”
She laughed as she mentioned the small outdoor balcony playground — that little space that somehow felt so big when they were young.
At first, the memories sounded simple. Ordinary, even.
But then her voice shifted.
Living in Japan, she explained, changed her in ways she didn’t fully understand at the time.
“Being in a different country when you’re young changes you. It made me more open-minded — more receptive to new experiences and different kinds of people.”
YBS was never just a school building. It was a meeting point of worlds.
American military families. Japanese local families. Different languages, different customs, different ways of thinking — all sharing the same classrooms, the same playground, the same everyday moments.
For a child, that kind of environment becomes normal.
Difference becomes familiar.
Diversity becomes comfortable.
Katie reflected that if she had only attended a school on base, surrounded mostly by students similar to herself, she might have grown up more cautious — maybe even hesitant — about stepping outside her comfort zone.
Instead, she learned early that “different” is not something to fear.
It is something to engage with.
And that quiet confidence — built in small daily interactions years ago — is something she still carries with her today.
That experience matters in her life.
Challenges After Moving Back to the U.S.
Katie moved back to the United States in early 2020 — just as the world was beginning to shut down.
The timing made everything feel even more uncertain.
But even before COVID changed daily life, the cultural shift itself was powerful.
She remembers how different everything felt.
Public spaces felt different.
The atmosphere at school felt different.
Even something as simple as walking somewhere alone — something she had done naturally in Japan — suddenly wasn’t the same.
“In Japan, I could just walk places,” she said. “It felt easier to navigate.”
Back in the U.S., she felt that difference immediately. The rhythm of life. The energy in schools. The way people interacted. It was familiar, yet not.
It would have been easy to shrink back.
But she didn’t.
Instead, she did what she had learned to do years earlier — she kept going.
“School is slow,” she laughed. “You just go every day, and eventually you get used to it.”
There was something simple in that answer. But beneath it was resilience.
At YBS, she had already learned how to move between cultures.
She had learned how to speak up, how to adapt, how to connect with people who were different from her.
She had learned that unfamiliar does not mean impossible.
So when life shifted again, she didn’t panic.
She adjusted.
Day by day. Step by step.
The confidence built in a small international classroom in Japan quietly became the strength that carried her through a global transition.
That is the kind of “living power” education hopes to give —
not just knowledge, but the ability to adapt, to grow, and to keep moving forward when the world changes.
And in Katie’s case, that foundation was already there.
Her Message to Current YBS Students
When asked what she would say to current YBS students, Katie didn’t hesitate.
“YBS is a special opportunity. Make the most of it. Talk to people who are different from you. Engage. Learn from them.”
Simple words — but they carry weight.
Because she has lived the difference.
YBS is not just a school. It is a crossroads of cultures.
Languages overlap. Perspectives collide. Friendships form across backgrounds that might never meet anywhere else.
And when you grow up in that kind of environment, something powerful happens.
You stop being afraid of “different.”
You become curious instead.
Katie believes that daily exposure to multiple cultures doesn’t just make you tolerant — it makes you confident. It gives you perspective. It teaches you how to step into new spaces without shrinking.
That confidence travels with you — into new schools, new countries, new challenges.
Her message isn’t just advice.
It’s proof.
Lean in.
Start conversations.
Be brave enough to connect.
You never know how far those small interactions might carry you.
And that confidence did not stay in the classroom.
It became the quiet engine behind her decisions — the courage to apply to a highly selective academy, the strength to move away from home at sixteen, the resilience to adapt to college-level academics, and the clarity to pursue a future in science.
The confidence she built in a multicultural classroom became the power that now moves her forward.
It allows her to step into new environments without shrinking. To sit in rooms filled with high-achieving peers and still be herself. To choose an accelerated path not out of pressure — but out of purpose.
Most importantly, it gives her the freedom to imagine bigger possibilities.
Confidence does not just help you succeed. It helps you expand.
And in Katie’s case, it has become the foundation for her achievements — and the quiet strength that allows her to thrive, fully and unapologetically, as herself.
A full circle moment
During the conversation between our founder Fumi and Katie, they shared a memory from years ago — riding a Ferris wheel together in Japan. At the time, Fumi was struggling with her business, and little Katie told her:
“When you look at your problems up close, they feel huge. But if you go higher, they look small.”
Katie doesn’t fully remember saying it — but it meant so much.
People of different ages, different nationalities, different roles and perspectives.
When we engage with someone who is “different” from us, our viewpoint shifts.
A view we could not see before suddenly opens up.
That is exactly what happened on that Ferris wheel.
The value of an international school is not just about learning different languages.
It is about sharing space with people of different ages, cultures, and backgrounds, and learning and growing up together beyond the differences.
Time spent in such an environment gently removes invisible limits, expands perspectives, and opens doors to new possibilities.
What Katie taught on that Ferris wheel remains, even today, one of the foundational beliefs of YBS.
Now she’s the one going higher.
Academically. Personally. Courageously.
And we couldn’t be more proud.
Katie, YBS will always be your home.
We can’t wait to see how far your curiosity takes you — maybe all the way to the stars.