2023 Portraits of Student Diversity at Keio

Born in Hirakawa, Aomori Prefecture, Ren started her acting career in her hometown after being inspired to become an actor when she saw the NHK television drama series Amachan in junior high school. She later moved to Tokyo and enrolled in a performing arts course at a private high school. Ren applied to Keio University through the self-recommended admissions exam. "If I didn't pass, I was going to concentrate on a career in acting," she says. Ren is enjoying her student experience, spending her days having lunch with friends in the Hiyoshi Campus courtyard and developing new academic interests through general education courses. Between her busy schedule, filled with acting in films, stage productions, TV dramas, and commercials, Ren says she can be herself at university. Ren is working on her graduation thesis in English based on William Shakespeare's tragedy Titus Andronicus and says she would like to perform in a Shakespeare play someday.

(Original article published in Portrait in the Autumn 2023 (No. 320) issue of Juku.)

Yotaro recalls how, in elementary school, he fell in love with chemistry after his teacher showed him how ions work. Yunosuke, who struggled to prepare for his university entrance exams, often thought of how helpful it would be to be able to view molecular models on some kind of digital device. The two met during clinical training for their pharmaceutical science program and immediately hit it off. Yotaro and Yunosuke went on to create 3D visualizations of different structures, such as crystal lattices and enantiomers, which are complex structures that are difficult to comprehend in 2D. They then made these educational resources available on a website, which featured close to 40 different modules for students of different levels, from elementary to high school. "We hope that these resources will allow students to develop a deeper understanding of the essence of chemical phenomena rather than simply memorizing them." Last year, the pair also won prizes in two startup pitch competitions. Between their busy schedules, they are working on new teaching materials. "We're developing a feature that uses avatars to transport students inside a cell, letting them experience the process of protein synthesis from a first-person perspective." They hope to launch the new feature this year.

(Original article published in Portrait in the Summer 2023 (No. 319) Issue of Juku.)

*All affiliations, years, and titles are current as of the time of their respective publication.
*These articles appeared in the Autumn 2023 (No. 320), Summer 2023 (No. 319) issues of Juku.