Welcome to the Student Voice Series. The series interviews students at our English-medium programs. Once a month, the International Admissions Office will release an interview with our students. We hope these interviews can be helpful to you when thinking about choosing to come to Ritsumeikan University.
Post by International Admissions Office
Shaiful Nizam from Malaysia
College of Information Science and Engineering
Information Systems Science and Engineering (ISSE) course*, 3rd Year
*The College of Information Science and Engineering will be relocated to Osaka Ibaraki Campus in April 2024. Visit our website for details.
Firstly, Information Systems Science and Engineering (ISSE) is a course conducted 100% in English, this was the primary motivating factor for me to choose RU. Secondly, RU is one of the top universities in Japan. With these two factors combined, I decided RU was the best choice for me.
College of Information Science and Engineering at RU is the largest ICT college in Japan.
Explore more about the program and the college!
How did you find out about RU, ISSE course?
I discovered RU by accident at an Education fair in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, back in 2017. I went to the fair out of curiosity, I had no plan on looking for any particular university. When I got to the fair I discovered a number of Japanese universities and all of them were only offering courses in Japanese, as I expected. Except for one university. That was Ritsumeikan University. When I found out they were offering courses in English, and it was in the field that I was interested in, i.e. Information Technology. Since I have worked in the IT industry as a web application developer then, I was eager to expand my skill set. I jumped at the opportunity and enrolled for the 2019 Spring intake.
Outline of your course
ISSE is a course designed to help students get their foot into emerging fields in Information Technology such as Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, just to name a few. It is not surprising that a large portion of our studies focuses on programming.
ISSE is different to other IT or Engineering courses, as it uses a "project-based" learning or PBL concept. This means, in addition to the theory classes, it also has emphasis on learning by doing projects. This is embodied in the PBL Labs that begins from the first semester up to the fifth semester, with each semester presenting a new challenge.
Check ISSE course curriculum more!
Can you describe your class choices for previous semester and next semester?
The first two semesters were mostly made up of compulsory classes, and so we did not have much choice in what classes to take, except for our Liberal Arts classes. In the third and fourth semester (the second year), we get to decide the path we wanted to take. For me, I have decided to take the path towards Intelligent Systems and Big Data, and Distributed and Embedded Systems. So in the previous semester I had taken classes like Artificial Intelligence; Network Systems; Statistical Analysis, Simulation and Modeling, just to name a few. Next semester I would be taking classes like Applied Informatics and Web Information Engineering.
At the beginning, my career plan was to find work in Japan after graduating from RU. Recently, I have been thinking about forming a startup company. I see that Japan is a country that encourages innovation and this has encouraged me to explore this option.
Have you lived in a university dorm?
For my first year in RU, I stayed at BKC i-House for 10 months, which is the maximum length of time a student is allowed to stay at a university dorm in BKC. Living in the dorm gave me the opportunity to take part in cultural exchange events and tour events that were organized by the Resident Mentors (RM).
One of my favorite spots on campus is the Student Gymnasium. I have started working out since I came to RU, in order to keep a healthy lifestyle. The gymnasium is well-equipped and students do not need to pay any fee to use it. Another favorite spot, more accurately several spots, are what I call my study spots. There are a few of them all over campus, depending on the time of day. There is the 2nd floor of Union Square, the conbini (コンビニ) or convenience store side at Link Square, and the PBL labs.
Do you eat at the canteen?
In my first year in RU I regularly ate at the canteen on campus because it was convenient, since I was staying at BKC i-House. My favorite dish is Kara-age. I also had the 100-Yen breakfast often when I had a 2nd period class. Ever since I moved out of i-House in my second year, I have rarely eaten at the canteen.
"100-Yen Student Breakfast" is available at Union Food Court from 8:00 till 8:40, with a combination of a bowl of rice, miso soup and two small dishes of your choice. Check out more about Dining on Campus
Tell us about your daily schedule
My daily week day schedule is as follows:
8:30AM - Wake up, do my morning routine, including a morning bath.
9:00AM - Eat breakfast.
9:40AM - Walk to campus. It takes 20 minutes, and another 10 minutes from the main gate to the classroom.
10:40AM to 6:00PM - School work.
6:00PM - Go home by bus, or walk home if I feel like it.
7:00PM - Take a bath and dinner.
8:00PM - Do assignment and revision. If there is any spare time, play games.
1:00AM - Sleep.
I make it a rule to go to sleep by 1:00AM, unless it is a Friday night, and we do not have a replacement class on Saturday the next day. As for my evenings, I do not go out in the evening after classes.
When you decide to come to Ritsumeikan University, be prepared to do a lot of self-learning. For that, you need good discipline to balance your time for studying and having fun.
Apabila anda memutuskan untuk datang ke Universiti Ritsumeikan, bersiap sedia untuk melakukan banyak pembelajaran sendiri. Sebab itu, anda memerlukan disiplin yang baik untuk mengimbangkan masa anda untuk belajar dan beriang-riang.