Episode
The eight competencies developed at Ritsumeikan Academy.
We introduce how they are developed through daily experiences, along with diverse episodes.
*These episodes are based on responses actually submitted by students at every level of education—including elementary, junior high, and high school students, as well as university and graduate students—in the Quantitative Survey for Ritsumeikan Academy Competency Framework conducted in the 2024 academic year. Information that could identify individuals has been removed or modified before publication.
Competency
Episode
- Classes
- StudyAbroad
- ExtracurricularActivities
- ClubsAndSocieties
- StudyingOutsideOfClass
- Research
- SchoolEvents
- ExtracurricularLessons
- Community
- Family
- FriendsAndPeers
- TeachersAndMentors
- Goals
- Effort
- Achievement
- Growth
- Collaboration
- SeekingAdvice
- GivingUp
- Worries
- Happiness
- Anxiety
- Confidence
- Change
- EntranceExamsAndQualifications
- JobHuntingAndInternships
- PartTimeJobs
I learned that without taking the initiative and dedicating time and effort towards something you want to achieve; you won't ever succeed. I learned to sacrifice short-term gains and pleasurable activities (e.g. wasting time watching TV/YouTube, playing video games, hanging out with friends) for meaningful pursuits, such as my PhD, my job, and the skills I wanted to work on. If you want to achieve something, you just have to work hard at it, every day, and you have to give up the things that would otherwise take up that time.
Initiative
As a member of Wadaiko Raku at APU, I was preparing for the Tenku festival performances while balancing work, classes, tests, relationships, leading, and my health due to an injury. While this greatly relied on my resilience, I feel like my multi-tasking ability was improved to the greatest degree. We practiced taiko tirelessly for many months every single day, in between classes, during off-days, despite sickness, alongside assignment and project deadlines too. I feel our performance was a great success, and I did well in all of my classes, despite struggling a lot.
Multitasking
When I'm busy with many school works and daily life, I think I managed it quite well and finish everything before the deadline.
Multitasking
In APU there are a lot of group projects and group projects can either break or make friendships. I had to initiate the group to do things that they may seem not interested in. Giving constant reminders, initiate meetings, set a goal and set a schedule for the team. All these teamworks are tiring but it made me hone my leadership skills. I got the opportunity to get out of my comfort zone to initiate discussions and be a facilitator. I can safely say managing people is one of the hardest things to do. I had a really bad experience for my marketing class last semester where I had to talk on a lot of leadership roles when it is a group project where everyone is supposed to also take their own fair share of initiatives. However, in the end with much patience, continuous push the team managed to do well and I got an A plus as my grade. I am truly grateful for it.
Initiative
A lot of group work in my College led me to assume leadership positions because in all of my groups, no one wanted to do anything, so I ended up having to step up for myself to give my whole group a good grade.
Teamwork
I was conscripted into the Korean military for 18 months. I am Korean American and an American citizen therefor I am not necessarily obligated to enlist. However, I chose to do so to overcome my personal limitations regarding adaptation and better myself as an overall individual. It was during service where I truly learned the rewards of trying your best. I was able to overcome my personal limitations and after discharge (with flying colors) I had some time to self reflect and figure out the base of my issues in life. With the skill sets and mentality I had obtained from the military, I am now doing much better in my academia and everyday life.
Resilience
Resilience is a critical competency that I have recognized as essential to develop during my studies. In the past, I would often feel overwhelmed when things didn’t go perfectly or when I faced setbacks in achieving my goals quickly. I tended to give up easily, feeling defeated by my imperfections. However, through reflection and experience, I have started to understand the importance of persistence and patience. I’ve learned that great things take time and effort, and it’s okay to make mistakes as part of the learning process. This realization has helped me bounce back from challenges, stay motivated, and continue working toward my goals despite obstacles.
Resilience
There were many times when I felt that I could have scored better in the test during my first two years in the university. However, after some time I realized that simply giving up will not solve anything, thus I decided to accept my past failures, and concentrate more on my future goals and achievements. This experience helped me to develop the resilience, and ability to look forward.
Resilience
When: During my internship in the summer of 2022. Where: At a marketing firm located in the business district of my city. Who: I worked closely with a team of five interns and reported directly to a senior marketing manager. Additionally, we collaborated with clients to gather insights and feedback for campaign development. What: Our primary task was to develop a promotional campaign for a small business client launching a new product. The success of the campaign relied heavily on understanding the client’s needs and translating those into a clear and compelling marketing strategy.
Teamwork