Messages from current students and graduates
MESSAGE FROM GRADUATES ?
Graduate Interview: Yuki Mizutani
Graduated from Shukutoku Sugamo High School, a private school in Tokyo
Destination: Imperial College London (UK)
-You spent four years as a member of the first class. What kind of undergraduate life did you want to have when you enrolled? Do you think you were able to achieve that?
I wanted to study hard, interact with many people, and broaden my horizons and network during my time at university. Looking back now, I feel that I was able to achieve the student life I had hoped for. This is not just due to quantitative results such as grades, but also to the various experiences I had, such as building relationships, volunteering, internships abroad, studying abroad, industry-academia collaborative projects, and presenting at academic conferences.
-Was there anything that you were passionate about while you were a student?
I was especially impressed by the activities of the student group (AIESEC) and the collaborative research with external companies in my third and fourth years. Throughout my third year at AIESEC, I was involved in promoting overseas internships and designing and managing programs to improve English language skills for group members. This was a rare experience that I was able to have as a university student, different from club activities. In addition, for the collaborative research, I studied statistics and GIS (geographic information systems) under the guidance of my seminar teacher, Atsuyuki Okabe, and spent over a year engaged in marketing research on the theme of site selection, learning a great deal.
-I would like to ask you about your undergraduate study abroad, which is the main pillar of your undergraduate studies. Please tell us why you chose that study abroad destination. Also, what did you want to learn and acquire through your study abroad? Please also tell us about the areas in which you feel you have grown.
Study abroad location: University of Malaya (Malaysia)
The reason I chose University of Malaya is because I thought that by studying abroad at a top university, I would be able to grow while competing with excellent peers. Also, I wanted to study the international relations major I had studied at GSC from the perspective of developing countries, learn the differences, and think more about what international relations should be. I studied international relations, foreign policy, and politics of developing countries while studying abroad. In Japan, I learned from an aid perspective, such as ODA and the role of volunteers, but in Malaysia, there were more approaches from a religious perspective, as well as the role of regional communities such as ASEAN and the EU, and I was able to understand the differences in that sense. The best thing about studying abroad was that I was able to expand my network. Being able to talk and interact with many local students and international students from other countries was a great asset. I still keep in touch with many of my friends, share things with each other, and it inspires me.
-Please tell us your motivation and circumstances for applying to graduate school, and what research topic you plan to explore there.
There are two main reasons why I aimed for graduate school. First, it is for my future career and to achieve my goals. In the future, I would like to go into the consulting industry and work to promote service management that utilizes technology, especially in the healthcare industry, and play a part in realizing a society that pursues better health for people. In order to achieve this, I thought it was necessary to study business management and healthcare. The second reason was because I had grown a lot during my study abroad at University of Malaya. I decided to go to a top university abroad because I thought that I could grow as a person by putting myself in a higher level and more challenging environment. I would like to mainly learn about the healthcare system in the UK and explore how it can be applied to Japan and other Asian countries.
-Looking back on your four years of learning at GSC and your own growth, please write about the areas in which you felt (or were able to) grow during your first through fourth years and why.
▼ First year
I took advantage of the long summer and spring holidays to participate in overseas volunteer and internship programs. During the summer holidays, I volunteered at an animal protection NGO in Malaysia, improving my English skills and deepening my understanding of different cultures. Volunteers from over 20 countries gathered and spent time together, respecting each other, which became the starting point of my university life. During spring break, I interned at an international school in Washington DC, USA, as part of the management team, where I was in charge of arranging accommodation for students, planning after-school activities, supervising exams, and conducting competitive analysis of other schools in the city.
▼2nd year
In preparation for my undergraduate study abroad in the second semester, I registered for a large number of credits in the first semester and was busy every day. In addition to classes, I also worked part-time, participated in club activities four times a week, and prepared for the study abroad program during those four months, which was a good practice for me in schedule management.
▼Third year
The seminar started with small groups creating content for a tourism app that introduces the attractions of the region. As an extension of this, in the second semester, students joined Professor Okabe's research team on their own and engaged in joint research with external companies. Prior to this activity, students thoroughly studied statistics and GIS, and realized their own growth in terms of skills.
▼ 4th year
I focused on preparing for graduate school, collaborative research, and writing my graduation thesis. In addition to that, the IELTS course offered by the undergraduate school to support overseas graduate school admissions was particularly helpful. When I finally applied, I was able to achieve an overall score of 7.5. It was only thanks to the English education and special courses offered by the undergraduate school that I was able to achieve a score high enough to aim for a top graduate school overseas.