[No. 28] Masako Senoo

It has been six and a half years since I graduated from university, and I am very grateful to my former teacher, Professor Ozawa, for giving me this opportunity to write an article for my alma mater's website. I was asked to contribute this time as someone with a "unique job." Indeed, I thought that there probably aren't many people who graduate from the Faculty of Science and Technology and join the Self-Defense Forces (although I hear the number has increased somewhat now), so I decided to write this piece.

When I think back on my university days, I remember the avenue of ginkgo trees at Hiyoshi, the library, and the Yagami school building late at night. I will never forget the ginkgo avenue when I attended the entrance ceremony, having passed the university entrance exams and left home for the first time. I believe that ginkgo avenue holds a special place for many alumni. While attending the Hiyoshi campus, I lived a life typical of what one might call a diligent female university student, studying with friends in the library and working on assignments. However, by the time I started commuting to Yagami, I had completely become a night owl, napping in the library and preparing for seminars in the lab at night. There was even a time when a typhoon passed through one summer night while I was writing a program in the lab, and by the time I left, it was a clear, refreshing morning after the storm.

I don't recall being very enthusiastic about job hunting. I had a recommendation for a local NEC-affiliated company, but perhaps because I joined the laboratory of Professor Masanori Ozawa, who was researching operations research, in my fourth year, my attention naturally turned toward the Self-Defense Forces (OR originates from the mathematical approaches used by the US and British forces to study operations during WWII). I took the exam for the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force Officer Candidate School and joined the Self-Defense Forces. In my first year, I received education and training as a Self-Defense Force official and officer at the Officer Candidate School in Kurume City, Fukuoka Prefecture. I was quite anxious because I hadn't exercised much as a student, but with the support of my peers, I managed to get through it. A regulated lifestyle, field training, physical conditioning, tactics, military history, and basic defense studies. None of these are things you would experience in corporate new employee training, and once you get used to them, they are quite enjoyable.

After that, I was assigned to a unit and served as a platoon leader. In 2002, I entered the Graduate School of Science and Technology at the National Defense Academy of Japan, where I earned a master's degree in OR research alongside international students from South Korea and Indonesia. During my second year of the master's program, I gave a presentation at the OR Society of Japan conference held at the Yagami Campus, which was also my first time setting foot in the new school building. I am currently assigned to the Technical Research and Development Institute of the Japan Defense Agency, where I enjoy working surrounded by superiors and juniors who are also from Keio. There are not many opportunities to directly apply what I studied in university to my job, but my experiences as a student and the casual remarks from my professors still serve as valuable assets in my work today. Moving forward, I want to continue doing my best for the nation, drawing on the various things I gained during my university years.