Welcome to the Student Voice series. The series interviews students in our English-medium programs. Once a month, the International Admissions Office releases an interview with our students. We hope these interviews can be helpful to you when thinking about choosing to come to Ritsumeikan University (RU).
Post by International Admissions Office
Moeno, from Japan
College of Global Liberal Arts (GLA), 4th year
Ritsumeikan University Alumni Association Future Human Resources Development Scholarship
College of Global Liberal Arts Scholarship for Study Abroad
Ritsumeikan University Study Abroad Challenge Scholarship
I was attracted to the dual degree program with the Australian National University, ANU. Also, since more than half of the students are from various countries and diverse backgrounds, I expected to broaden my world view and values through interaction with such people. I was also very interested in the content of the classes themselves, as they all provided me with completely new insights.
Did you get help from your family to look for English-medium programs? Whose advice impacted you the most to choose this program?
I wanted to enter GLA, but I was not sure if I could enter GLA with my English ability. However, my mother encouraged me to give it a try and go to the department I wanted to enter.
All RU campuses are in Kansai (Kyoto, Osaka, Shiga). How did this affect your choice to come to this area, out of all the other areas of Japan?
I was interested in what kind of learning experience I could get, so the location of the campus did not influence my choice of college.
First year: Most of the classes are required, and elective classes were either "Fundamentals of Philosophy" or "Programming." I had to take four courses per semester and took "Knowledge and Innovation," "iGLA," "Research Design and Research Methods," and "Philosophy Basis" in the first semester. In the second semester, I took "Statistics," "iGLA," "Cultural Studies," and "Civilizations in World History".
Second year: ANU classes started. Two ANU classes are required, so you can't choose them. For ANU classes, I had to take "The Origin of Political Order in Asia" and "Understanding Peace and Conflict" in the first semester. At RU, I could choose from many different types of courses, such as "Contemporary World History," "Media Theory," "Art History," "Japanese Philosophy," and "Design and Society". It was great to be able to take a variety of courses that interested me.
Third year: I took a full load of classes at ANU. I had planned to go to Australia to study at ANU, but due to COVID-19, I had to study online. For the ANU courses, I took "International Relations in the Asia Pacific", "Japanese Foreign and Security Policy", and "Pacific Studies in a Globalizing World". It was especially interesting to study Japanese politics and history from a different perspective. However, all the classes were difficult for me because the ANU students were of a high level and actively participated in class discussions.
Fourth year: Two required ANU courses and two research seminars. For my thesis, I explored the themes of "similarities and differences between J-pop and K-pop idols" and "the effects of positive and negative words on plant growth".
Overall, there were no major changes in my interests in classes over the four years, and I took more and more courses that I was attracted to or that seemed interesting.
GLA Year-End Party
How are your relationships with your supervisor, classmates, and lab members?
GLA is a college with a large focus on active learning, so the class sizes are small. Because of this, students are very close to their professors, who are always available to answer questions in a friendly manner. Also, you can easily make friends on campus through group work, tutorials, and even in G-House (the GLA dormitory).
Semi-party
In GLA, you will have opportunities to take ANU classes and visit Australia. This will definitely give you a great learning experience at ANU, as ANU students are academically motivated, and the classes are well-designed and unique to Australia.
Many ANU students had a clear idea of what they wanted to study in university and what they were taking classes for. Some of them wanted to become diplomats, so their motivation towards their studies was very high, which impressed me. This will widen your perspective of the world and give you new insights.
Also, having a degree from both ANU and RU will widen your future choices, too.
One of RU's courses was "Play and Playfulness," and the class had a profound impact on my life values and way of thinking. The class was a study of the definition of "play" from a philosophical perspective, and I learned about many different ways of thinking. One of the most impressive ones was that "play" is something we do for the simple reason that it is just fun or that we like it, and that it is about living in the moment.
Also, the part that convinced me was that in life, we often do things now for the sake of one future (doing A for the sake of B), but it is important to strike a balance between actions motivated by simple reason and actions for the future.
I really enjoy being a student at RU. I have 5 part-time jobs, and I enjoy working with others and gaining social experience.
When I was helping with an online study space, elementary, middle, and high school students from very different locations were studying in the same space. At that time, in front of students who are working much harder than I was in middle and high school, I had to think about how to motivate them, and how to make them feel happy to participate in the study space while interacting with each student. This experience gave me new insights and led to personal growth.
Could you introduce your favorite things or spots on campus?
I like the 5th floor of the Osaka Ibaraki campus, where the Global Lounge is located, because a lot of GLA students gather there and we can study together.
Global Lounge
Living in the dorm was quite fun for me as there were many people from diverse backgrounds, and we could hang out with them anytime.
Living in the dorm enabled us to hang out and work on group presentations much easier. One of our group project members lived in the dorm, and we worked on the project and discussed it all night long. The group presentation went really well, and we realized face-to-face communication created better results.
All-night group work at the dorm
What do you like to do in your spare time?
I really like to hang out with my friends after school and have fun with them.
It was quite memorable when my Chinese friends took us to Haidilao, and we had our first experience eating Chinese hotpot.
First Haidilao with my Chinese friends
Also, my friends and I went overseas every vacation, and it was so much fun when we met other friends in Thailand and hung out together.
Thai trip with my friend
I hope that you focus on what you like to do and what excites you, and when in doubt, choose "the fun way" to have a fulfilling and enjoyable student life.
自分の好きな事は何か、ワクワクすることは何かにフォーカスをし、「迷ったら楽しい方」を選択して、充実した楽しい学生生活を送ってください！