Post-course student activities

Currently working in JICA industrial development/public policies, working on suggestions for industrial development fields.

When I was at the graduate school, I studied global politics, but I began to think I would rather be involved with international aid, and joined JICA. I am kept busy by the work at hand day after day, and almost never have any reason to call on my knowledge of global politics. However, thanks to the mindset and broad views on international society that I learned at university, I feel I’ve been able to avoid losing sight of the most important thing: What it is I am working for. Additionally, I feel that the skills for conveying ideas to others that I learned in presentations and essay preparation are still very useful.

Many in the graduate school may be aiming to become researchers, but awareness, an ability to speak properly and a wide world view are all essential. I learned a lot at the graduate school, not only knowledge, but techniques and mental skills as well, and I am very grateful for that today.

When I failed the test to become a teacher during my faculty days, I decided to try the doors of the graduate college. Now that I’ve achieved my dreams and become an English teacher, I looked back to see what I gained from graduate college, and the list is extensive. Specialized knowledge on education – focused on teaching English and adapted linguistics – searching libraries, processing experiment data from email attachments and other information processing abilities, to list just a few. I also have the cognitive power necessary to go in-depth on a single problem, and the ability to make an essay or presentation from the results that will actually catch someone’s attention.

But more than that, the best part was the confidence that came from completing essays that initially made my head spin, and the connections with the teachers, as well as my friends among the students, who helped me through those difficult times.

Currently, I bridge the gap between theory and practice as an English teacher, and hope that one day I will be a part of developing and expanding English education in Japan.

My seven years in Kobe University gave me many things. The first is that I met many people. I met new friends and found new ways of thinking through the teacher-held seminars in a variety of fields, and they opened the world for me. Every day, I would find a new, fresh experience or thought. Having already graduated once and gone out into the world, this “ivory tower” life, as some called it, was simple but very enjoyable. Of course, my days of studying weren’t all fun. The frustration of lack of progress in research is a constant part of life here. In this, my time studying overseas gave me a second gift. I came to understand that every great work took patience; no great flower bloomed overnight. Now that I stand on the other side as a teacher, I realize that there are many things I could only experience as a student. I would like any applicants to make the most of their university life.

Looking back, the graduate college was a mix of people with experience in the outside world, those from the university, exchange students, those from other universities, and so on, all mixed together and frantically trying to learn.

I currently specialize in a field called cultural anthropology, but I studied a different field in my university years. I could barely tell left from right, and the only reason I made it through was support from my friends, and the teachers helping me to learn the barest basics, right from the beginning. It wasn’t limited to anthropology, of course; there were very close relationships between students, and between teachers and students on every course, making a perfect environment for someone like me, setting foot in a new field.