Ritsumeikan Academy
Competency Framework Special Website

How to deal with Japanese culture, including the way of learning method, especially communicating with the supervisor.

After spending time with my Japanese and Chinese friends, I realized that I have learned how to balance life and study.

Nobody is there to help you, it is you and only you can help yourself.

During my PhD journey, I developed resilience through repeated rejections of my research papers for publication. Each rejection was disheartening, but I chose to view them as opportunities to grow. I carefully analyzed reviewers' feedback, sought guidance from my supervisor, and refined my work. One memorable instance involved a paper that was rejected twice. Instead of giving up, I revised it thoroughly and submitted it again, eventually achieving acceptance. This process taught me to persevere, adapt, and embrace challenges, transforming setbacks into stepping stones. These experiences strengthened my ability to recover from failures and continue striving for my goals.

It was when I learned how to cope with stress and overwhelming feelings when I compared myself to my friends in the same major. It is a fact that I cannot always be as passionate as my friends but I realize that these kinds of things depend on personal preference. I still have tried my best so I have no regret after I failed or succeeded.

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.

I am currently in my final year of studies at Ritsumeikan, and I am doing job-hunting at the moment. I have applied to many companies, have not heard back from majority of them, and gotten rejected by those that I went for an interview with. Despite that, I never gave up and I am still continuing my job hunt as I am determined to stay in Japan. After each unsuccessful attempt in finding a job, I would always reflect on what I did, and how I can improve myself in my next interview opportunity. I am also working harder than ever, finding jobs on all platforms possible, and trying to network with new people, which is something that I have never done before in the past. Albeit still not having land a job yet, I can see that there is a gradual improvement in myself throughout these few months as I am becoming a stronger person while learning new things about myself and the world.

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.

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.