Shine a Light Series: Part 3

Shining light on the lives of those who have lost their lives to this cause is my main mission. Today’s story is the life of my dear friend and classmate, Kokoro Higa. Kokoro was a foreign exchange student my senior year of high school. She was from the town of Okinawa, Japan. During her time in America, she played varsity basketball, attended school events, and even joined some clubs. Koko is most associated with her infectious smile as well as her English skills.  

My favorite memories with Koko surround basketball. In Japan, Koko’s basketball position was a post. In America, however, I was the true post. Being bigger than her, it was hard to believe we played the same position. However, you have to remember people in Japan are typically smaller than those in America. One of my other favorite memories of Koko is how often she would teach me words in Japanese. I loved being able to talk to her about her culture. I would ask her a new element every time I was with her. Another one of my favorite things is how we would make fun of each other. Even though she learned English in Japan, she still was not able to fully pronounce all of the English letters and sounds. She would always blush super big and say my name. I knew she could not help it, but I still gave her grief because I loved making her laugh. She would also make fun of me for trying to learn Japanese and not being able to remember how the words she taught me.  

Kokoro and I keep in touch even after she went back home to Japan. It was so hard because she was 14 hours ahead of me. I would think about her time to time, then I would hit her up to remind her that I missed her. We always talked about how much she missed America specifically Ohio. Her goal was to come to college here in America because she truly believed we had better education than that in Japan. My goal was to always go visit her in “Owki”. I had always been fascinated with Okinawa because we have a military base there. One of the last memories I shared with her before she went back to Okinawa was letting her drive my car. Looking back, it probably was not the smartest decision. However, the laughs we shared I will keep with me for the rest of time.