Early in the day, the sound of excited children fills the halls of Garden Road Elementary. Most of the kids run around the playground looking for something to do. Their eyes fall on another student, though not quite like them. A bit taller, a bit older, but friendly and smiling. They realized they had spotted Titan Ambassador JJ Basch. 

   He gets to visit kids at the local elementary schools to tell them about high school. In a flash, there is a line of students asking for Basch’s original Titan Ambassador trading card. 

   New treasure in hand, the kids gleefully skip away. Ambassador, senior and co-president of MUN (Model United Nations), Basch plans to move to the Netherlands for his undergraduate degree. He has been accepted to study Archeology at Leiden University after his senior year. 

   International seemed like the right choice for Basch.

    “It was between in-state or international, because out-of-state was the most expensive option, and I just wasn’t willing to stay in-state,” Basch said. 

   When studying archeology, geography is very important, and if the program is not close to real historical sites, book learning can only go so far and many sites are in other countries.

    “There aren’t any really good places to study archaeology in the states,” Basch said. 

   Basch is a big history buff, but has never been into the military side of it. He wanted a path to pursue the anthropological side of the past. 

   One of the biggest challenges in his way is that there are minimal resources for American students going out of the country. 

   “If you look things up, it’s a lot more difficult to find an accurate source, like for acceptance rates or what you need to do,” he said. 

   Basch said his biggest challenge has been the anxiety over something going wrong late in the process.

   He was already accepted, but things like getting a student visa, and finding housing makes the road to university much more complicated.

   Outside of planning for college, Basch does many extracurricular activities. He loves singing in choir and plans to continue in college. 

  Basch has participated in theater productions here, but plans on stopping after high school. He is excited for his upcoming role in Curtains, which is a big singing role for him. Basch also volunteers at the San Diego Humane Society.

  “JJ is a well rounded type and represents a lot of interest groups on campus. He has the ability to be a chameleon and blend into other groups as well,” Titan Ambassadors advisor Aaron Jaffe said.