UCL Japan Youth Challenge ② – Recent Events

The 10 days this summer were a big challenge for me. From the interview in both Japanese and English after I expressed my desire to participate at the beginning of the first semester, to the speech I gave at the final graduation ceremony, I think I demonstrated my challenging spirit, courage, and energy more than ever before.

During these 10 days, I felt that I had various advantages, for better or worse, and I did my best to keep up. Before the summer school started, I had seen the list of participating schools and their self-introductions on padlet, and I had a hunch that the top-class students from both Japan and the UK would gather, but when it actually started, I was hit right on the head with the difference in their high aspirations and thinking abilities, and to be honest, I was overwhelmed for the first two days.

Their English skills were generally high, and I often found it difficult to understand when they spoke at native-level speed. However, since the first two days were held at Rikkyo University, I felt a certain pride in providing good hospitality as the host, so I tried to be considerate in every way and pay close attention to my surroundings.

Thanks to this, participants from other schools and the accompanying teachers were able to remember our faces and names, which I think was a good start to leading to further exchanges in the future.

After leaving Rikkyo, I spent a meaningful time at Cambridge University, which is famous as one of the world’s leading universities. At the formal dinner on the day I arrived, I ate next to a female participant from the UK, a little distance from the area where the Japanese were gathered, so I only spoke in English.

The conversation was in an unfamiliar situation and covered topics that I didn’t know much of in terms of vocabulary, and I often found myself at a loss for words as I couldn’t find the right thing to say. However, the other person was dedicated and tried to understand what I wanted to say and draw out what I wanted to say, without feeling sorry for me, so I was able to have a valuable experience without feeling uncomfortable.

Many of the participants this time, both Japanese and English, always had this sort of relaxed attitude, which I think helped them overcome the language barrier during the program. There were also many people on the British side who were studying Japanese, and it seemed like there was a language barrier on both sides, so the shared atmosphere of being able to speak a foreign language with ease was probably essential in creating a comfortable and challenging environment.

In that sense, I believe that as a participant I was able to contribute to the success of the summer school.

After that, at UCL, my days were filled with lectures and discussions. The length of each class, the difficulty of the content, and my own lack of ability wore me down mentally, and I was getting increasingly tired.

Still, I made sure to raise my hand to speak up or ask a question at least once every day.

I thought that this would also show that I was actively participating in the program, and I also felt the expectations and pressure from the teachers, so no matter how difficult the lectures were to understand, I made a conscious effort to find an angle somehow, connect it to my own knowledge, and put it into words.

In the end, by doing so, I felt a much better sense of accomplishment and enthusiasm after the lecture, and the biggest benefit of all was that I was able to deepen my learning.

Furthermore, after the lecture it became a topic of conversation with friends and also provided an opportunity to exchange information with the other children who had asked questions, so I feel it was a good decision to ask questions without compromising.

I’ve never been the type to always speak up, so I wasn’t used to having a constant presence like I did this time, but during the program I had a mysterious confidence and recklessness within me, and I was probably a little high, so strangely enough I was able to take some bold actions.

Being alone among the Rikkyo students, H2 felt anxious and was at risk of backing away from the other participants, but I’m really glad that I took the first step with a “give it a go” attitude.

Looking back, as I said in the meetings and speeches, I gained a lot of things that you can’t get in a normal 10 days, such as realizing my potential and possibilities, expanding my comfort zone, and above all, gaining a little confidence in my future endeavors in the world. I really appreciate being able to participate in this program, and my self-evaluation of myself is quite high.

(High school second year girl)