Yuzaburo ERA (Graduate School for International Development and Cooperation)

( Interned at Alternative Energy Promotion Centre, Ministry of Population and Environment(Nepal)from December to January in AY2016 )

 

- Reason why you chose this company, this field

The reason I chose this company was because it is one of the five top companies in Japan and many of its employees are posted overseas. So I thought it would be a good chance to be able to work overseas.

- The impact your internship had on your job-hunting activities

 

In a nutshell, your internship will give you confidence in yourself. While job-hunting, it is highly likely that you may meet others who have studied abroad. Many of them were abroad for six months or one year but nearly all of them went abroad to improve their English ability and they have not had tough experiences like those of us on the G.ecbo program. Persistently seeking a reply from the people where you intend to do your internship, or staying for two weeks in a village without any electricity in order to carry out field work, are experiences not had by students who studied abroad on other programs. Such unsophisticated experiences differentiate us from other student job-seekers. So in job-hunting, these experiences become our key advantage.

 

- Future challenges

 

For my future goal, I want to fully utilize the environment in which I find myself. Meeting up with people I have always wanted to me has special meaning and also, I want to have fun while I do my job.

 

- Advice for your juniors

 

My advice to those who are graduating after me is to be active when job-hunting and to make sure that you are satisfied! Even though I wasn’t all that interested, I decided to go to a briefing session by a real estate company. Then I realized that type of work is not for me. I think it is important to get a real sense of what doesn’t suit you. If I had not gone to that briefing session, I may still be thinking that I should have tried to find work at a real estate company. So I hope that you will be able to rid yourself of any regrets and find a job in the field that really satisfies you!

 

- Outline of the survey

 

My research theme was “What effect does comedy videos have on people’s attitudes.” In an agricultural area about 5 hours by bus from Nepal’s capital of Kathmandu, I conducted fieldwork where subjects took part in an experimental game using comedy videos and then I measured the degree of altruism (selfless concern for the well-being of others) of the local people. Now I intend to analyze the data I collected statistically, and try to find the correlation between comedy videos and altruism.

 

- What impressed you the most?

 

The culture, for example, the caste system. Nepal has long had a caste system and it still remains deeply entrenched in Nepalese society. Before I went to Nepal, I thought caste was something of the past but when I was in Nepal I heard people say “I cannot drink alcohol because of my caste.” So I was shocked to learn that it still continues today.

 

- What was the best thing you got out of your internship?

 

I now understand the importance of advanced preparation. Once their applications are approved, this internship will probably be the first time for most people to be an intern abroad. The person they need to rely on the most is the faculty in charge. I was grateful to receive lots of advice from the teachers in charge, who have lots of experience abroad, on matters that would never have occurred to me. Although the teachers may seem quite busy, don’t hesitate to knock on their doors and ask them lots of questions (not forgetting to be considerate too, of course).

 

- What advice do you have for those who are graduating after you?

 

Although you are an intern, when you arrive at your destination there probably won’t be any work there for you to do. You need to keep on being active to solve your own problems or challenges yourself. I think the most important thing about this internship is getting lots of advice from the staff at the facility where you are interned, the faculty who are there to help you, and former graduates who have already been to where you are going, and then for you to make your own plan for your internship. By the time you start your internship, at that stage nearly half of it will be done. Keep that in mind as you set about your preparations.

 


up