Holly Waldner

This week, we’re spotlighting the Vice Chair of our very own South Chapter - (Gunma, 2022-2024)!

I really got stuck in, becoming an AJET committee member, and Fashion Section Editor for AJET CONNECT, and participated in local festival parades and cultural events. One of my favourite events of the Gunma AJET calendar was the weekend of canyoning. As a child, I was timid and...adverse to the outdoors. I never climbed trees or did cartwheels like the other kids, so doing something like canyoning was a huge endeavour for me. I was nervous about stepping on slippery rocks at first, never mind the drop down a two-storey waterfall that was to follow. The first year, I was terrified, but after I zipped down the waterfall into the pool below, I had a confidence in my body that I never felt before. Suddenly, I was doing things that I would never have dared to before; and it opened me up to a year of saying "yes" to adventurous things. Yes to climbing a volcano in Nikko, yes to ziplining through Godzilla's mouth on Awaji Island, and yes to coming back again the following year, this time helping to encourage others who had been as scared as I was.

Japan has so many opportunities for budding adventurers, so if you're on the fence, I encourage you to be brave and give it a go. I have only recently left JET, but the connection to JET immediately helped me to unlock doors to places I didn't think possible.

None of this would have been possible without JETAA, so I joined JETAA South, and I am hoping that our chapter will continue to grow in the future.

Are you a JET alum with a story to share? Get in touch to be featured in an upcoming Senpai Spotlight.