Pursuing Both My Dreams: Badminton and a Research Career.

I want to always keep my passion for badminton.

In the future, I want to have a research position involved in drug development.

I don't want to give up on either, and because they are goals I truly want to achieve,

I think that's what keeps me going.

If I've been able to balance my studies and club activities as a result,

it's because of the support from the many people I've met at the Keio Faculty of Pharmacy.

(As of February 2023)

When I was in junior high school, I admired the profession of a pharmacist and vaguely thought I'd like to do that kind of work in the future. This hazy vision of the future became more concrete thanks to the passionate teaching of my chemistry teacher at my alma mater, Yamate Gakuin High School.

Through these classes, I developed a strong interest in organic chemistry. At the same time, perhaps because I had always been involved in sports, I was also interested in the various reactions within the human body. I began to think it would be fascinating to connect these biological reactions with organic chemistry.

As I delved deeper into what I wanted to know, I realized my interest had expanded beyond just the profession of a pharmacist to a curiosity about researching drugs and life itself. That's when I decided to pursue a path in the field of pharmacy.

I chose Keio University from among the many pharmaceutical universities and faculties because it was a comprehensive university with a wide variety of faculties. I believe that broadening my perspective through natural interactions with students from other faculties will surely be a significant advantage.

The sport I've continued from childhood through junior high, high school, and to this day is badminton. After entering university, I joined the Keio University Athletic Association Badminton Team* and have been dedicated to matches and practice with a single-minded desire to improve.

I started playing badminton in elementary school. At the time, I was living on a remote island due to my father's job transfer, and the elementary school on the island had few club activities to choose from, so I just happened to pick badminton. When I moved to Yokohama in the third grade, I wanted to continue with the sport I had started, so I joined a local club in Yokohama.

The coach of that club was a doctor by profession who volunteered to teach on weekends. Thanks to his incredibly enthusiastic coaching, I came to feel that "badminton is fun," and I'm very grateful. In the end, even though it was a club for elementary school students, I was allowed to continue participating in practice even after I entered junior high.

The coach believed that "I want you to work hard not only in sports but also in your studies," so he taught us not just about badminton but also how to approach our studies. We had assignments each time, like memorizing the periodic table of elements, and there were rewards for those who did well, such as getting to choose snacks first. It might be an exaggeration to call it "the dual path of literary and martial arts," but the idea that "both sports and studies are interesting" may have been naturally nurtured in this club.

Scenes from the Waseda-Keio rivalry match of the Athletic Association Badminton Team

Although I had the desire to work hard at both sports and studies, when I first entered university, I thought, "The Faculty of Pharmacy is busy with practical training and other things," and felt it would be difficult to continue playing badminton. However, when I participated in a trial session for the Keio University Athletic Association Badminton Team, I received a warm welcome and learned that there were students from both the School of Medicine and the Faculty of Pharmacy who were all successfully balancing their academics and club activities.

I did my best in my own way during junior high and high school, but when I advanced in tournaments, I would face players who had been training since they were juniors. They looked strong and, more than anything, seemed very confident. I admired people like that and kept playing because I wanted to be able to win, but I couldn't win very often.

I thought that with the Athletic Association Badminton Team, I would be in an environment full of motivated people where I could focus on practice, and that maybe I could start winning. I wanted to give it another try, so I joined. I am now entrusted with the role of the women's team captain.

My interest in pharmacy, which began in high school, grew even stronger after taking classes like Metabolic Biochemistry with Professor Arita and Professor Maekawa in my second year, and it has become a clear goal to thoroughly research pharmacy. I was also encouraged by Professor Maekawa's story of being devoted to basketball as a student, which resonated with my own experience. In the future, I hope to conduct research in the field of basic biological research, such as biochemistry and physiology, to pursue what I want to know. Since I have been given the chance to study at the Keio Faculty of Pharmacy, I want to make the most of it.

I have two motivations within me: the desire to continue playing badminton and the desire to have a research position involved in drug development in the future. Because both are goals I want to achieve, I am working hard without giving up. I believe that's why I've been able to balance my studies and club activities as a result.

However, there are times when my responsibilities pile up, and I get so busy that I feel like I'm about to break. In those moments, I get through it by cooperating with my friends and upperclassmen. I believe I am being helped now by the support of many people.

The world of pharmacy is highly specialized, and I worry that as I study it more deeply, I might become unable to see beyond my specific field, which I think is a frightening prospect. I believe the strength of Keio University lies in the ability to naturally learn about various ways of thinking through interactions with people from other faculties. Receiving such stimulation should also help deepen my own thoughts. Also, even though we say "pharmacy," the fields it involves are broad, so perhaps research isn't the only way pharmacy can contribute to society. I think the great thing about the Keio Faculty of Pharmacy is that it broadens your perspective and helps you realize the many possibilities.