[No. 154] Masahito Kitagawa

Having been given this opportunity to write, I took a moment to look back on my nine years at Keio University. I considered what I learned and how it has influenced who I am today. Beyond my academic studies, I had encounters with many people, including professors, friends, senior students, and junior students. I also had numerous valuable experiences, such as presentations at seminar camps and research meetings, off-campus study sessions combined with excursions, and graduation trips. It wasn't all fun; I faced many challenges, but now, with the passage of time, I realize that every one of those experiences was a building block for my personal growth.

Since my junior high school days, my sole aim was to become a math teacher. I chose my desired department from among those where I could obtain a math teaching license, and for my job search, I focused exclusively on teaching positions, not applying to general companies. The reason I chose the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering from among them was my conviction that it was a department that would satisfy my intellectual curiosity about "whether I could contribute to society by using mathematics as a tool, rather than just pursuing mathematics for its own sake."

I was able to join the Kurita Laboratory, which specializes in urban OR (Operations Research). For the two years I was a graduate student, I was also working as a part-time lecturer at a private high school, so I could only go to the Yagami campus two or three days a week. Juggling my teaching duties at the high school with my studies and research in the master's program was quite demanding, but thanks to Professor Kurita's encouragement, I was able to see it through. Additionally, several junior students in the Kurita Lab also aspired to be teachers, and we were able to inspire and motivate each other. While job hunting is a central topic of conversation for students for a time, the process for teaching positions is completely different from the general system. I remember how refreshing and happy I was to be able to talk with others about the same job-hunting topics.

In graduate school, due to scheduling constraints, I couldn't freely take all the lectures I wanted. To meet the required number of credits, I took several lectures outside my field. It was tough at the time, but I formed a connection with the professor from one of those courses, and that experience is still useful to me today (as I will describe later).

Currently, I teach mathematics to junior and senior high school students while also serving as a homeroom teacher. Due to the recent high school-university articulation reform, educational policies in junior and senior high schools are gradually changing. There is a growing emphasis not just on teaching knowledge and skills, but also on critical thinking, judgment, and expression, as well as the need for active learning. When I recall the lectures at the Faculty of Science and Technology, I realize they incorporated these perspectives from the very beginning, which has been extremely valuable in planning my own teaching policies.

I also lead an in-school project to promote the fun of science, and as part of this, I take interested students on a tour of a university campus every summer. On these occasions, I have received cooperation not only from Professor Kurita, of course, but also, by a fortunate connection, from the professor who taught the lecture in a different field that I mentioned earlier. Furthermore, I have received support in various ways from a friend from my Keio Senior High School days who is now an associate professor at another university and was a member of that professor's lab, as well as from researchers from other universities whom I met at research meetings. I am reminded daily of how the many encounters and connections I've made are definitely and beneficially linked to my current work.

In the current educational field, the term "student autonomy" is often used. However, this is merely a situation where the term itself has begun to be emphasized and advocated. Its importance and necessity have not changed at all over time. It is difficult for others to force autonomy, which is why the educational field struggles with it, but I believe the Faculty of Science and Technology, Keio University provides an environment that places a strong emphasis on student autonomy. I hope that all students will cherish their encounters with people and lead a student life where they can fully exercise their own autonomy.