After graduating from IDEC, I have been working as a development education and public relations officer at the JICA Hokkaido Center. When you hear the name "JICA," you probably have a strong image of working overseas. However, JICA's projects are very wide-ranging, and it is becoming more and more important to work at domestic bases in order to return the knowledge gained overseas back to Japan. Amidst that setting, I am in a much closer position than others to the Japanese general public. Using my experience as a JICA volunteer and the knowledge I gained at IDEC, I plan international cooperation events for citizens and organize seminars for teachers and students. I am also in charge of accepting internship students and managing events together with them. 

The public relations work I was in charge of during my internship was very broad in scope, and to be honest, I could do whatever I wanted! To put it another way, there were no set tasks, so I had to develop my own ideas to get started. I created pamphlets for events, made questionnaires for the center, etc., and now I am engaged in the same work as a PR person. [Laughs] I didn't choose my internship or my current job because I wanted to work in public relations, but because of various connections, I have come this far. It is difficult to create something going from 0 to 1, but I feel that it suits me.  

Bolivia is the first foreign country that I ever lived in, and I returned to Japan with various emotions. I chose to do research on education in Bolivia because I was still in the throes of those intense feelings. I also thought that I would like a job that involved working abroad, since I felt comfortable living outside of Japan and thought that my activities were going well. However, the more I proceeded with my research, the more I began to think about my attachment to the land where I was born and raised, and how I could give back my experiences and knowledge. As a result, I began to think that it would be better to work in Hokkaido rather than overseas. I also began to think that it would be nice to have a job related to international cooperation in the field of education. I was fortunate enough to find an opening for my current position. Because of my family's circumstances, I decided to take this job as if I had been called to it.

During my internship, I learned the importance of feasibility in business. As a public relations officer, I have been able to do a lot of things. I have also made suggestions. However, none of them have been realized because we have not taken the steps to actually implement them in our office. I learned once again that in order to carry out our work, we need to expect and achieve an infinite number of requirements, even if they are small.　

n the previous sentence, I wrote that feasibility of the work is important, but internships are work experience. Because it’s a work experience, think of all your failures and successes as your reference material, and be bold about it! I also hope that you will take the initiative to build relationships and learn from your seniors in your career and life outside of work. In both research and job hunting, output is important for input. However, there is no place where you can voice your thoughts before the real thing... In such a case, I recommend that you use the career counseling service at the career center to better organize your ideas.