Among the many politics and economics courses offered in English, I enrolled in Global Governance or International Politics, among others, in which I was especially interested. In the courses, American teachers taught Japanese politics in English, and I found the cross-cultural learning style intriguing. As I further studied politics through these courses, I realized that the scope of my interest expanded into the realm of international politics. My objective of taking courses taught in English was to prepare myself for studying abroad, but they unexpectedly provided me with an opportunity to ascertain what I truly wanted to study, which was a great benefit for me.

Studying in the seminar raised my interest in culture-oriented public diplomacy as exemplified by the Cool Japan Strategy, which motivated me to study at the University of Kent in the U.K., a university well renowned for its international politics program, from the second half of my third year. Initially, I had planned to study foreign policy at Kent, but as I proceeded with my studies, I became interested in philosophy and political thought, which constitute the foundation of political actions such as diplomacy and elections.

In the U.K., I lived in a university dormitory with nine other students including Middle-Eastern British, Indian Swiss, and Botswanan students. Having lived with friends with even more diverse roots than my seminar peers, I ultimately concluded that we are all the same, just human. Of course, while there are small cultural differences in our dietary customs and daily lifestyles, the same things make us all happy and we are likewise all disgusted by the same things, such as coming across old garbage. I realized that for some reason we all share the same core as human beings. With regard to intercultural exchange, I learned how different cultures can be through communication studies, and how we can connect with one another despite our differences through my life abroad as a student.

Having studied abroad, I was drawn by the prospect of pursuing a future in the global arena, including furthering my studies as a graduate student or working for an international agency. I returned to Japan in June of my fourth year, so I had some spare time before the fall semester started in September. Considering it an opportunity to take on a new challenge, I decided to participate in an internship program at the United Nations Information Centres (UNIC), where I could put my English skills and knowledge of politics to use.

Under the internship program, I gained experience in a wide range of jobs including collecting newspaper articles on the United Nations, supporting the administration of events and conferences, and taking junior and senior high school students on guided tours of the United Nations University building. Through the program, I became aware of the importance of public relations. Also, by working at an international organization, I learned that UN staff, who seemingly lived in a different world to me, were in fact engaged in tasks that were relevant to us. I had many opportunities to answer phone calls and reply to emails on behalf of the staff, which was also meaningful in that I was able to experience life in the real world before graduating from university.