ISU student heading to Japan to represent US in World Expo

POCATELLO – An ISU student will embark for Japan for her third time this summer.

Samantha Carrell, who lives in Pocatello and will graduate from Idaho State University this semester, will be one of 89 youth ambassadors representing the United States in the 2025 World Expo in Osaka, Japan. There are 161 countries that are sending youth ambassadors to the event, which will go for six months — from April 13 to October 13.

“(The ambassadors) come from all across the country. They’re all amazing people (from) tons of different backgrounds, so I think together we’ll be able to present a very good view of what America looks like today and what we’re trying to do as a country,” Carrell said.

Carrell, 23, was born in Minnesota, but grew up most of her life in Antioch, California — that was until “my parents were looking for a better home for our family,” ultimately deciding to move to Pocatello.

Rather than go to college somewhere else, she chose to attend ISU to pursue a Bachelor’s in Fine Arts. One reason she did so was because she was interested in pursuing a minor in Japanese, which the university offered.

Another reason was to stay in Pocatello.

“Being able to wake up, roll over and just see trees and mountains and hills (and) the clouds in the sky, amazing,” Carrell said. “I love California to death, but it’s a very busy place sometimes, so you can get kind of lost in the pace of that and forget to look around. It’s much easier to do that looking around here in Pocatello.”

Carrell’s interest in Japanese culture started while still living in California when her family participated in the Sister Cities exchange program. This gave her the chance to travel to Japan and stay with a host family and meet another Japanese student when her family hosted them.

“I made a lot of friends there … and that fostered a lifelong love of Japanese language,” Carrell said.

In college, Carrell again seized an opportunity to go to Japan by participating in the study abroad program, going to Kansai Gaidai University in Hirakata, Osaka, Japan, from fall 2023 to spring 2024.

“I thought this would be a really good opportunity to connect with people abroad and to foster that connection between Japan and America because it’s always been really important to me,” Carrell said.

These experiences abroad helped her stand out from the approximate 1,500 people who applied to become a youth ambassador.

“Having that cultural experience is exactly what we were looking for — someone who has been out of the country and someone who speaks multiple languages, and Sam checks both those boxes,” said Carlo Capua, chair of the Sister Cities International Board of Directors.

Carrell is a part of the Fall Cohort, which means she will help to represent the U.S. at the country’s pavilion from mid-July to October. Each country at the expo has its own pavilion showcasing its unique aspects, with youth ambassadors there to guide visitors through the experience.

Capua described the pavilions as “multi-million dollar” booths and said 28 million people expected to go to the expo.

“When visitors come in, they take them on tours, and they talk to them about the culture or the new technologies or innovations that are happening in the country,” Capua said.

The youth ambassadors are all between the ages of 19 to 27 years old, and they are from all over the country, representing 47 different states.

“They are the most remarkable young men and women I’ve ever met. Most of them speak multiple languages. They have international experience… They speak a total of 22 languages. So any visitor, practically from anywhere, who comes and wants to learn about their country in whatever language, they’ll be able to do a great job,” Capua said.

The theme for this expo is “Designing Future Society for Our Lives.” Carrell said that she hopes to have “inspirational” cross-cultural conversations on this theme at the expo.

“I think the goal of the expo is to have more discussions on (the theme), so I’m really looking forward to hearing other people’s opinions (and) seeing other people’s concepts,” Carrell said.

Her only set-in-stone plans after she graduates in May is the World Expo, but she hopes her career path will allow her to continue to live in Pocatello.

“The ideal would be to stay in Pocatello,” Carrell said. “My main job goal is to find something that helps me connect to people, help them out with the skills I’ve learned in college, and just contribute to my community.”

Capua said that one of the benefits of the expo is that the youth ambassadors get to take the ideas they learned and bring them back to their communities.

“It’s good for the students. It’s good for the communities. They’ll have a chance to bring all of that information and that know-how back to their cities. So it’s a win for everybody,” Capua said.