Amelie Rennie is a junior at Dee-Mack high school and has been going here for three years. She is in the Scholastic Bowl and National Honors Society. In her free time she enjoys learning new languages, cooking/baking, and reading books as well as playing piano.
Amelie took a trip to Japan and explained that, “I have been obsessed with Japan and Japanese culture since around 6th grade, and I started studying Japanese in 7th grade. I learned it by myself through reading, textbooks, and lessons on YouTube. Through learning Japanese, I made a Japanese friend. Her dream was to visit America and make a friend, but she couldn’t speak any English, and my mom knew the person she was coming to America to stay with, which was her mom’s friend. Anyway, we met in person and then once she went back to Japan, we continued to send each other e-mails almost every day and became really close. Eventually, she invited me to come to Japan to stay with her and her family for 10 days. So, I continued to study Japanese and saved up money, and in August 2024, I flew to Japan by myself and made my dream of going to Japan come true. While I was there, I only spoke Japanese, which was crazy but also really fun, because I had never really gotten a chance to learn what I had used before. Even though I only stayed there for a short period of time, I felt like I learned a lot. I stayed in a city called Morioka in Iwate, the northernmost prefecture of mainland Japan. While there, I visited The UNESCO World Heritage Site Chuusonji, a golden Buddhist Temple built in the 12th century. I also went to karaoke with my friend and some of her friends from school, stayed overnight at a hot spring hotel, tried lots of new and interesting food, and rode a bullet train. It was one of the best experiences of my life and it made me fall in love with Japan even more. My next goal is to go to college there!”
Last year she went to a Japanese Speech contest sponsored by Consultate-General in Chicago. She won first place in the high school competition and her speech was about music and how it can help people from all different backgrounds and cultures form bonds.
Some fun facts about Amelie are that her dad grew up in England and she is a huge Beatles fan. Her favorite color is blue and her favorite movie is The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.
It has been such a pleasure to learn about Amelie, stay tuned for the next Beyond the Bell!
