Online Celebration | Yuko Takeda, Dean of the Faculty of Nursing and Medical Care
2020.10.20
My graduate school mentor received the prestigious "Sanjo no Hikari Sho" (Light on the Mountaintop Award), an award co-sponsored by the All Japan Hospital Association and the Japan Hospital Association that honors individuals over 80 who have made outstanding contributions to building a better society through their remarkable work in the fields of health, healthcare, and medical sciences. As his former students, we wanted to plan an opportunity to share in this joy together. Since online gatherings have become so common recently, we decided to apply this format to a celebratory party.
The gathering was centered around the graduate students he supervised during his five-year tenure teaching at my alma mater's graduate school. We reached out to just over 20 people, and by collecting video messages and other greetings in advance from those who could not attend, we were able to ensure everyone could participate. Despite the short notice, we were able to take full advantage of the benefits of an online event, allowing people from a wide range of locations to join without any travel time.
Even though we have all become quite accustomed to online formats through classes and other activities, this was our first attempt at a celebratory party. We prepared a program that included a toast, and I went into it with great anticipation and a little anxiety about how it would turn out. For the main program, we prepared a presentation on our professor's achievements and a slideshow of photos from our time as his students, hoping it would trigger memories and encourage everyone to share their recollections. Even with memories dating back more than 20 years, each participant recalled different things. It felt as though the collection of these fragments painted a vivid picture for each of us. We even relived the deadlocks and tensions of writing our master's and doctoral theses. It struck me how, although our positions have changed, similar scenes are still playing out today. While you can't set aside time for casual conversation like you can at an in-person event, perhaps one of the unique charms of an online gathering is that everyone can proceed while focusing on the same topic. We planned for the event to last 90 to 120 minutes, but the time flew by, and we reached the end feeling reluctant to say goodbye.
With restrictions on in-person meetings, online formats are being used in all sorts of situations, including classes, academic conferences, and interviews. When you participate, you see a wide variety of creative approaches, many of which I'd like to try myself. The challenge of interactive communication is always present, but this time, because all the participants clearly shared the desire to celebrate together, the conversation developed around a common interest, making for a very fulfilling time.
In the "With Corona" era, where forming human relationships is a challenge, and in an educational setting where we still cannot adequately express our welcome to new students, I want to think about how we can apply this experience.