Taking on both academics and extracurricular activities with full force. The experience of "seeing things through to the end" builds confidence for life.

Profile

Graduate of Sugamo High School, a private school in Tokyo

Born in Saitama Prefecture. He joined the track and field club in his first year of junior high and dedicated himself to club activities for six years through junior high and high school. As an 800-meter runner, he came close to breaking his high school's all-time record. After retiring from the track and field club, he focused on studying for university entrance exams. Citing reasons such as "loving to do experiments," he entered "Gakumon 3" at the Faculty of Science and Technology, Keio University. After entering university, he joined the competitive dance club, and in his fourth year as an undergraduate, he placed seventh nationwide in the 61st All Japan University Dance Sport Championships. He received the "Fujiwara Award," which is given to students who have shown outstanding performance in both academics and extracurricular activities. In his second year, he advanced to the Department of Chemistry, and from his fourth year, he joined the Functional Materials Chemistry Laboratory. Currently, as a first-year master's student, he is researching the "Synthesis and Optical Property Evaluation of Organic Dye-Modified Metal Nanoparticles Using the Self-Assembled Monolayer Method."

[*] Academic year at the time of the interview (October 2017).

I attended a combined junior high and high school in Tokyo, and I joined the track and field club in my first year of junior high. My life in high school also revolved around club activities. In high school, as an 800-meter runner, I participated in morning practices five days a week, fixed practices three days a week, and competitions on Sundays. My goal in high school was to break the two-minute mark in the 800 meters, which was the school record. I wasn't originally exceptionally good at sports, but I practiced without compromise, and in my third year of high school, I was able to achieve a time of exactly two minutes. In the end, I missed the school record by a fraction of a second, but I was blessed with great teachers and friends, and dedicating myself completely to the track and field I loved is a fond memory from my high school days.

My high school was strict about academics, so we had daily quizzes and assignments. Although I was busy with club activities, I believe I always did the minimum amount of studying. I started studying for entrance exams in earnest in May of my third year of high school, after retiring from my club. However, for the first month or so, I couldn't really get into studying, and my results on the mid-June mock exam were disastrous. Seeing my club mates get good scores on the same exam motivated me to really switch gears and tackle my exam studies. From the summer of my third year onward, I think I studied at home for about five hours on school days and over ten hours on weekends. Thanks to that effort, my grades gradually improved.

In my second year of high school, we had to choose between a science or arts track, so I started thinking about my future at that point. As for subjects, I liked history and chemistry, but I chose the science track out of a vague desire to contribute to society through manufacturing. What I like about chemistry is that there are classes with hands-on activities like experiments. I thought it was simply interesting how the color of a solution would change during an experiment, so I hoped to study more chemistry at university.

Regarding university selection, I wanted to "challenge myself by aiming for the highest-level university possible." I was considering several universities, but a tutor at my Juku was a Keio graduate and recommended it, so I decided to visit the Hiyoshi Campus. The Hiyoshi Campus, which I was seeing for the first time, had a very open atmosphere, and the students looked like they were having fun. I remember thinking, "It would be great to spend my university life in a place like this." For these reasons, I decided to aim for the Faculty of Science and Technology at Keio.

I considered the Keio University Athletic Association's track and field club, but I gave up on the idea because the practice times conflicted with my class schedule. I wanted to continue with sports in university, and while I was wondering what to do, I was recruited by the competitive dance club. Competitive dance was uncharted territory for me. Of course, I was anxious, but I was drawn to the club's welcoming atmosphere and the passion of the senior members, so I decided to just jump in and join. I've always been confident in my decisiveness and guts (laughs). Once I actually started competitive dance, I found it to be a much deeper sport than I expected and quickly became engrossed. During my undergraduate years, in addition to the two regular weekly practices, I spent my days practicing with my partner during breaks between classes. Thanks to those efforts, I was able to place seventh nationwide in the All Japan University Dance Sport Championships in my fourth year. Unlike track and field, competitive dance is a sport that requires a partner. I think I learned the difficulty and importance of building a relationship of trust as a team.

Of course, it was difficult (laughs). While dedicating myself to competitive dance, I also made a rule for myself to "never skip class," and I had to work a part-time job as well. My fourth year was especially busy, with many experiments. I would do experiments from 10 a.m., find time to work on my thesis, and then practice at night. The Department of Chemistry has many classes that require frequent report submissions, so I'd say I became very good at time management. However, thanks to that, in my fourth year, I was also able to receive the "Fujiwara Award," which is given to students who have achieved success in both their studies and extracurricular activities. The experience of "seeing things through to the end," no matter what it is, always leads to confidence. I think those four years really made me realize that.

At the Department of Chemistry in the Faculty of Science and Technology, there are about 20 faculty members for approximately 40 students per year, which allows for a very privileged small-group education. Because of this, the atmosphere is very welcoming. The distance between faculty and senior students is small, and they provide detailed support if you run into trouble with experiments or classes, which was very reassuring. A particularly memorable class was "Chemistry Experiment II" in the fall semester of my third year, which was my first. This was an introductory experiment to get used to lab procedures. I was clumsy and inefficient, and I was always the last one in class to finish, but I remember a senior TA from the same department who worked hard to support me. I think there are many very caring faculty members and senior students in the Department of Chemistry. Another appeal is the high quality of the classes, which allows you to learn about chemistry in depth. Even within the single category of chemistry, there are many fields, such as electrochemistry, theoretical chemistry, reaction kinetics, and organic chemistry. In the Department of Chemistry, you can learn about most of them through your classes. Also, the classes are structured to step up from a review of high school chemistry to touching on graduate-level content, so I was able to appreciate the depth and breadth of the field of chemistry.

I am currently a first-year master's student in the Functional Materials Chemistry Laboratory, conducting research on the theme of "Synthesis and Optical Property Evaluation of Organic Dye-Modified Metal Nanoparticles Using the Self-Assembled Monolayer Method." This research involves the development and property evaluation of organic-inorganic composites created by modifying the surface of one-nanometer metal microparticles with a single layer of organic dye. Generally, when an organic dye is excited by light irradiation, it absorbs one photon and generates one exciton. However, in this research, multiple excitons can be generated, which leads to the construction of more highly efficient light-energy conversion materials. If research in this field progresses, it could potentially be applied to the development of solar energy and alternative energy sources in the future.

Currently, I am working day and night on my research, aiming to submit a paper to a prestigious peer-reviewed international journal. Sometimes it's tough, staying up late doing experiments, taking measurements, or preparing presentation materials. But when I get better results than I expected, it's really gratifying and makes me feel a sense of accomplishment. Also, the members of my lab get along very well, and I think a large part of why I can work so hard is because of them.

In graduate school, you start researching your own theme with almost no prior knowledge. While getting advice from faculty and senior students, you research various things on your own and acquire knowledge... Through that process, I am learning in a practical way what research should be and how to advance it. Also, in research, it's important to communicate your results to others. I believe that through my research life in graduate school, I am gaining not only writing skills but also presentation skills.

This summer, I participated in an internship at a chemical company where a graduate of our lab works, and I experienced what research is like in a corporate setting. I found many things, like the company's philosophy, atmosphere, and research methods, to be very interesting, and I started to think, "I want to work for this company." Unlike research in my current lab, research at a company is almost always done in a team. When conducting research as a team, each member is required to discuss things as an equal, so you need a broad perspective to see the big picture and the ability to logically convey your own opinions to others. From now on, I want to polish these skills and work hard to get a job at my target company. Through my life as an undergraduate and in graduate school, I was able to learn not only chemical knowledge but also the importance of building relationships of trust and the value of "seeing things through to the end" with all my might. In 10 or 20 years, I think it would be great if I could leverage these experiences to become a leader who values the people around them.