"Today's Daring" (updated w/t translation)
During his visit at OIST last Sunday to this Monday, Mr. Shigesato Itoi, a well known copywriter and essayist in Japan received a good vibrations from OIST students. He writes his short essay "Today's Daring 今日のダーリン" everyday and today, he mentioned OIST in it. (Translation is provided below.)
His website “Hobo Nikkan Itoi Shimbun” (www.1101.com) is the most viewed “personal” website in Japan, hitting 1.5 million page views per day. His Twitter account has 1 million followers.
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[Translation of "Today's Daring (February 23rd)” by Shigesato Itoi]
For a long time, I was not good at getting along with people in the category of students.
It may have been my biased view.
Or, it may have been the circumstances under which I met them.
Somehow, I did not have a good impression about students.
However, meeting with students and graduates of Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (APU) at various occasions during the past few years has changed my view on students.
I actually admire them now.
It seemed to me that students from different countries are exposed to different cultures and environment, trying to understand each other and express their own ideas.
Above all, the students seemed very eager to learn.
This time, I visited the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University in Okinawa together with Professor Ryugo Hayano who was giving a talk.
Again, I felt something like the intense “eagerness to learn” there.
The students seemed to be convinced that a “school is a place to learn”.
According to my biased view over the past years, students were supposed to be frivolous.
But they weren’t like that at all.
By the way, OIST is also an international school with a large number of non-Japanese students.
I shouldn’t say anything without knowing well, so I will refrain from making a comment in contrast with Japanese students.
But one thing that I can say is that, it was the students of a school where people from different countries get together to study, who changed my view of students.
I ask to myself, if I was 18 again, would I want to go to a university?
Yes, maybe, I will look for a school that I want to go.
I may consider of how I would like my life to be, and choose a place that suits it without thinking about things such as ranking and name value.
Or, maybe not, I might be an eighteen that cannot think in such way.
I remember well of my shortcomings.
Thank you, for visiting this site today.
I find myself still with something like the “aspiration to learn”.