Ritsumeikan Academy
Competency Framework Special Website

Over the past year at the Intelligence Computer Entertainment Laboratory, I've grown significantly in my ability to set and pursue goals independently. During our lab seminars led by my professor, I consistently pushed beyond assigned tasks. I began proposing my research ideas, designing experiments, and working late into the night to see them through. When faced with setbacks or unexpected results, I didn't give up. Instead, I adjusted my approach and kept going. This self-driven attitude led to several breakthroughs in our game AI projects. My initiative caught the attention of my peers and my professor, who encouraged me to present my findings at a conference. This experience taught me the value of self-motivation and perseverance in academic research.

As a student pursuing a doctoral degree, we were required to think proactively, identify problems around us, and propose effective solutions. Being a Doctoral Student automatically positioned me as a "senior" student in the laboratory, making it essential to become a role model that students from other levels could look up to. With limited time and the high expectations of producing novel research, I often had to take the lead in starting discussions and setting clear goals right from the start. When discussing research topics with my professor, the conversation dynamic shifted from directives like "You should do this to obtain this" to more collaborative conversations such as "What do you think we should do to obtain this?" this kind of approach consistently challenged and strengthened my initiative mindset.

When I was swimming, sometimes I was still a little bit away from the finish line, and at that time I felt a certain amount of fatigue, but I would still keep swimming to the finish line.

I am currently pursuing my PhD, and throughout my research, I have faced numerous challenges, including many failed experiments. Living abroad and dealing with the pressures of research, along with concerns about the future, has often left me feeling frustrated. During these difficult times, I have been fortunate to have the unwavering support of my professor, assistant professor, and administrative staff. Their encouraging words and moral support have been invaluable, helping me navigate my research and motivating me to achieve my goals, making life in Japan much easier.

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.

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.

Same as answer one. I have been more critical of myself and started taking notes and doing journals to keep track of what I have been doing the past few months, and have been trying to change my approaches.

Developed as I grew up

In this case, currently in my second semester, I have gotten an oppurtunity to work in a dedicated manner on this semester's Project Based Learning(PBL) in addition to working on a research along with one of my professors. This has given me a chance to improve my Intiative skill, Self-efficacy, Teamworking skills and my Understanding capability. So far, due to Ritsumeikan facilities and accessibility, I have been able to work on the projects in a consistant manner.