U.S. high school student help with exchange to Japan

[fuyudaisuki]

Hello! First of all, I think I should start out with an introduction.
My name is Michael. I'm 16 years old and I live about 40 miles southwest of Washington DC.At the school I currently attend, I will be graduating June of 2015, but I've always wanted to study abroad, especially in Japan. I've always had a thing for Japanese culture, the language, the traditions; it's all fascinating to me and I'd love to learn it all. A few of my friends have done exchange programs to Japan before but I never bothered to get any information about how they did it, even though I really wanted to as well.(I never thought I'd be able to do it so I never bothered though now I've decided to get off my lazy butt and try to achieve something I've always wanted. But of course, I have absolutely no idea how to go about it! As it stand right now, I'm in grade 10 in America. (I'll be starting grade 11 classes in April this year so that I can graduate next year, if I can't get over to Japan, that is.)
Would it be possible for me to get into an exchange program?
I'm not sure if this information is needed but I figure that I'll give you guys a glimpse of my financial and medical situation, because it'll probably effect something.
I came from a pretty poor family. Though my family lives with my grandmother, who made $100,000+/year for 43 years, but she hates to spend money. Like, reaaallyy hates it. So I can't expect much financial support from her, though she might lend me a slight helping hand. (We have a really good relationship.) She is also opposed to me getting a job of my own (because education comes first) and there's really no persuading her in that area. (She didn't get a good education so she struggled to get where she got to and she doesn't want that hardship for me.) So are there any exchange programs that don't cost THAT much? (One of my friends had to pay around $4,000 for her exchange and another one had to pay around $10,000.)
As for my medical situation, let's start with that I'm transsexual. (Male-to-female) Though I haven't done anything besides seen a therapist yet so I'm still fully considered a male: look the part and everything. That isn't the main thing I'm worried about that, I just that I'd bring it up. Just in case. Anyway, the main thing is that when I was 10 years old, I had a brain surgery. I lost pretty much all feeling through out the entire right side of my body and my balance is pretty crappy now. Those are pretty much the only residing side effects. Though I've been able to fully cope with the lack of feeling and can function on a pretty much normal level now. However, that's not what I'm really concerned about either, lol. I did have a tumor in my brain and there is a SLIGHT chance that it will/can grow back, so I see a neurologist and have an MRI once a year to make sure nothing is happening that we need to be worried about. Will that be effecting things as well? I mean, of course it will, but what I'm really asking is: Will if prevent me from getting into an exchange program?
Also I would like to add, yes, I am one of those kids that got into Japanese stuff through anime and manga. Though I do very much so like that stuff, that is NOT my main reason to want to go to Japan. As I said, I've pretty much always been interested in other countries culture and customs, especially Japan's. I don't expect Japan to be anything like it appears to be in anime or manga and I don't expect the things that happen in anime and manga to happen to me.
ANY help would nice. ANY advice would be nice.
Another thing I'm going to add before I'm done is that I'm not sure how much your GPA, attendance, school record, and whatnot matter but since about grade 6 I've been doing pretty poorly in school. As in barely passing the grade with a D average. This school year I've missed so many days that I almost was sent to Juvenile Detention Hall, that's kind of embarrassing.. I've also only gotten in trouble in school once, and that was because my teacher was very strict and I didn't even do what I was blamed for on purpose. But now I'm starting to pick up my grades and going for a better attendance record.

 

[Glenski]

You said you never asked your friends how they managed it. Start there. Talk to them.

Also, the best place is to see your school counselor, because he will know the names of programs that send kids abroad. Like Rotary Club or Lions Club or many more. Some pay your way, some just give an allowance.

Your medical condition might be the biggest hindrance. That will probably depend on the organization sending you or the schools to which you apply. How long do you want to stay? Will the Japanese school credits transfer, too? Learn those things. Best of luck.

 

[fuyudaisuki]

You said you never asked your friends how they managed it. Start there. Talk to them.

Also, the best place is to see your school counselor, because he will know the names of programs that send kids abroad. Like Rotary Club or Lions Club or many more. Some pay your way, some just give an allowance.

Your medical condition might be the biggest hindrance. That will probably depend on the organization sending you or the schools to which you apply. How long do you want to stay? Will the Japanese school credits transfer, too? Learn those things. Best of luck.

I would do that but, unfortunately, I don't really have any way to contact them anymore. Once they left we kind of really stopped talking and before I knew it they're gone in the wind. I got a little bit of information about it from one. He said that he was talking to his counselor about how he always wanted to study in Japan and the next thing he knew, he was all set with a program. I'm pretty sure there'a few more steps involved than that.

Thanks, I will talk to my counselor about it. I've heard about the Rotary Club and that it's a really good club. My friend who paid ~$4k went through in that club and she said they paid for basically everything and that they even gave her a small monthly allowance.

Ahh, I knew that would cause a problem. I'm pretty much fine now though. My doctors think that the chance of the cancer growing back are very minimum to virtually nonexistent, but that probably wouldn't matter right? A chance is still a chance. Question: If something regarding my medical condition were to arise while I was in Japan, would the organization that sent me get in any sort of trouble?

I'd like to stay as long as I can. I've considered going for a perm-residence, but I'm not sure how well that'll go, but frist I need to start with actually getting my way over there, ha. I'm not too sure what you mean by the Japanese school credits transferring. I'm assuming you mean that the credits I get in school there transfer to my overall school record? So if I have 5 credits from an American school and I earn 5 credits at a Japanese school, they would come together to equal 10 credits on my overall records, right?

 

[Glenski]

I don't think the organization that sends you would suffer any blow to their reputation, especially if you have a proper doctor's support or affirmation.

Perm residence? Uh, that means living here forever without naturalizing. I have PR. But to say that's what you want without ever having set foot here is putting the cart about 100 meters in front of the horse! You may not like it here, so don't think so far down the road just yet.

Yes, credits here transferring to your U.S. school. In my experience, they usually do NOT transfer, so you'd have to make them up when you return to the U.S. I can't answer your other question. That's dependent on the school you are in and the one you exchange with. That's a counselor's job to answer, and an easy one, I would think.

 

[fuyudaisuki]

I don't think the organization that sends you would suffer any blow to their reputation, especially if you have a proper doctor's support or affirmation.

Perm residence? Uh, that means living here forever without naturalizing. I have PR. But to say that's what you want without ever having set foot here is putting the cart about 100 meters in front of the horse! You may not like it here, so don't think so far down the road just yet.

Yes, credits here transferring to your U.S. school. In my experience, they usually do NOT transfer, so you'd have to make them up when you return to the U.S. I can't answer your other question. That's dependent on the school you are in and the one you exchange with. That's a counselor's job to answer, and an easy one, I would think.

Okay. That's thing I was especially worried about. I really don't want anyone getting in trouble because of me.

ah, yes. I know. It's something pretty monumental to say at the moment but I've got a feeling I'll like it. But that's probably just my naivety and ignorance. Like I said, I first want to cover getting my way over there first.

So, some transfer the credits and some don't? Does it depend on where in Japan you go? Such as if you go to Tokyo or Kyoto ?

 

[Glenski]

Talk to your advisor. He will have more resources to answer that.