[:en]Mio Kamasaka
Hometown in Japan: Yokohama, Kanagawa
University in Japan: Tokyo Institute of Technology
Major & School Year: Polymer Chemistry, B2
Host Advisor: Prof. P.M. Ajayan and Dr. Robert Vajtai, Dept. of Materials Science & NanoEngineering
Host Lab: Ajayan Research Group

Why TOMODACHI STEM @ Rice University?

I chose this program because this is one of the few unique programs that I can belong to a laboratory and experience conducting research in America. This is a precious opportunity for me to have a solid image of doing research and studying abroad after graduation. The professors at Rice University have comprehensive knowledge from many different fields, so they are arousing my new interests not only in my major but also in other fields.

I would also like to communicate with people from all over the world, and I’m excited to have a chance talk with and have discussions with students on campus. Having both daily conversations and discussions in my research will surely brush up my English skills.

Goals

• Learn how to speak in English logically through discussions
• Broaden my knowledge and do my best in research
• Communicate with many people and enjoy international exchange
• Clarify my future goal by getting firsthand knowledge of what the researchers’ lives in America is like

Excerpts from Mio’s Weekly Reports

• Week 01: Arrival in the U.S.
• Week 02: First Week at Research Host Lab
• Week 03: Interview With a Female Researcher
• Week 04: Research in the U.S. vs. Research in Japan
• Final Research Poster Presentation
• Week 05: Science & Technology Policy Study Tour
• Final Report

Week 01: Arrival in the U.S.

I found many different things between the U.S. and Japan through the first week, so I would like to write down especially about the weather and the townscape.

The temperature is so comfortable to go out in the first five days though I expected it is would be too hot in Houston. It is humid and warm like the season of May or June in Tokyo and I am pleased with this weather. However, we got wet with rain on the weekend. I was surprised that it began to rain so suddenly and we didn’t have much time to open our umbrellas. I hope there are many sunny days during the rest of our stay in Houston.

As I looked out at the town from the window of the bus and walked around Downtown Houston, I realized that there are many differences about the townscape between Tokyo and Houston. In Houston, many of the buildings are so broad and short, there are many more cars than trains or pedestrians. I think everything in Houston including Rice’s campus is huge while Sarah said that Rice’s campus is small in the U.S.. I can’t help looking at a map whenever I move to another building on the campus. Moreover, I was surprised that there is no subway in Houston. According to what Aki-san said, one of the problems in Houston is that the government of Houston doesn’t invest much money in the infrastructure. It is dangerous to develop underground and construct subways because of it. Also, there are so few manholes that the streets often flood often even if it rains not so much. Through this, I found it interesting that Houston and Tokyo have opposite features. Houston has broad land and inadequate infrastructure while Tokyo has small land and well-conducted infrastructure. I am eager to find other differences or similarities between these two cities as much as possible during our stay.

During this week, we took part in many seminars and visits. All of them were so impressive and I would like to write about the Dow Chemical Company visit.

I was really looking forward to visiting Dow because I am really interested in working at a foreign chemical company. Dow is the biggest chemical company in the world and there was a panelist who got Ph.D in the department of polymer science which now I am majoring in. I was able to ask him two questions about his research and working style in the U.S.. I think the important point of his answer is that the company does not choose the people but the people choose to work at the company in the U.S.. I felt that the people really enjoy working there and I liked the atmosphere. Through this visit, my interest in working at a huge and cheerful company like Dow became bigger. The only regret I have is that I went blank and couldn’t say what I really wanted to say when I asked him some questions. He gave me his e-mail address so I must contact him as soon as possible. I tend to have butterflies in my stomach when I speak in English in front of many people, so I am going to try to talk to as many people as possible to get used to speaking clearly and loudly in English.

I also heard some memorable words through not only seminars or visits but also conversations. While we were going to Dow, I talked to Ms. Deborah Grant, who is a director of development of U.S.-Japan Council. She was raised in Japan until she was 25 years old, so I thought she knows both of good points and bad points of Japanese. I asked her that what she thinks the strong points of Japanese because I feel most of Japanese including me are not good at speaking what we really think and I had little idea of good points of Japanese. Then she told me very interesting thought of Geert Hofstede, who is well known for his research on cross-cultural groups and organizations. He describes national cultures along six dimensions. I found a book, “Cultures and Organizations” on the internet so I want to read after I go back home to get more tips for cross-cultural understanding.

On March 4, six participants including me enjoyed sightseeing while others had to go to their labs. We watched the Rodeo Houston Parade, went to Cinderella at the Houston Ballet and went to the Galleria shopping mall. All of them were great, especially Cinderella. I like watching musicals and other performances, so I really enjoyed it. I am also planning to watch the musical, “The King and I” on March 18. I have many things to want to do in Houston so I might be very busy not only doing research.

Question of the Week: Who is “American”? People who live in America or people whose origin is America? The people in America have many kinds of backgrounds, so I am confused when I should use this word.

Excellent question. You are an American if you are a citizen of this nation and anyone who is born in the United States is automatically an American citizen.  You can also apply to become a naturalized American citizen which means you immigrated from another country but now wish to become a citizen of the United States.  Therefore, most people who live in the U.S. identify themselves as Americans. They may say they are Mexican-Americans, African-Americans, Irish-American, Polish-American, etc. based on their national heritage (where their parents, grandparents, or ancestors originally came from) but most Americans have a very diverse background and our families come from many different places.  So the most common identity that we all claim/share is ‘American’.

Many different peoples live in the U.S. and all are still American. America is a nation of immigrants.  Some people immigrated by choice, others were brought here by force as African-American slaves or indentured servants. The only group who are Native Americans are those who are descendants of the Indian tribes who were here before the British settlers or Spanish conquistadors arrived in the 1600s and 1700s.  For more on this topic, consult Google-sensei as many people have written about what it means to be an ‘American’. This would also be an excellent question for you to ask during your interview for your Week 3 report and/or when talking with people you meet in America. I think you will find many different answers to this question but may also find some common threads too.

• What is an American? (Cato Institute)
• Who Is an American (Latino USA)
• What is an American (Huffington Post)
• Who is an American? (The Atlantic)
• How do we define American? (Democracy Now)
• What Being an American Means to Today’s Youth (Gallup)
• What does it mean to be an American? (PBS Newshour)

Research Internship Update
This is my first time to conduct research because students at Tokyo Tech decide our major in our sophomore year and can only belong to a research laboratory in our senior year. Before leaving Japan, I had some concerns about whether I could understand some specific technical words that my mentor uses and what kind of research I would be involved in. I didn’t know much about nanotechnology which is the focus of the Ajayan Lab, for example, carbon nanotubes and nanocomposites, because I am majoring in polymer chemistry and I mainly study organic chemistry. To gain some understanding of nanotechnology, I read the textbooks about nanotechnology and inorganic chemistry. Also, my mentor, Peter sent me some papers of his research and I read them. After arriving in Houston, I met with Dr. Vajtai and Prof. Ajayan on the third day. They welcomed me and Shiho, who is also conducting her research in this lab, and encouraged us to do our best though there are only four weeks. Peter, who is a 3^rd year graduate student from Kenya, seems to be so busy but he takes care of me well and always explains what I can’t understand kindly.

My research theme is crosslinking. I have two things to use, the one is origami and the other is powdered milk. I coated origami structures with egg white and urea, mixed powdered milk with the liquid and crosslinked it with amine. I will measure their mechanical properties by Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA) and compare the results. I am really excited about using polymer and some instruments which I haven’t used before including DMA.

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Week 02: First Week at Research Host Lab

On February 28^th, I first met Prof. Ajayan and Dr. Vajtai. Shiho also belongs to the Ajayan Lab, so we started our meeting with Dr. Vajtai, Tiva, who is Shiho’s mentor, Shiho and me in Dr. Vajtai’s office. He welcomed us and encouraged us to do our best though there are only four weeks. After that, Prof. Ajayan came back to his office and we were able to meet him. It was so lucky because I heard that he is busy and rarely in his office. I was happy that he was pleased with our Japanese souvenirs.

After that, I met my mentor, Peter, who is a 3rd year graduate student from Kenya. Though he takes care of me well and always explains what I can’t understand, I felt that he expresses his opinion so strongly. I haven’t met such an aggressive person in Japan so I am sometimes confused if he was not satisfied with my skills or if he just wants to explain something to me? I want to overcome this concern by understanding his thought and personality including his background, and by getting to know how to express my opinion more clearly as well.

The members of the Ajayan Lab use two buildings, the Mechanical Engineering Building to do experiments and the Ryon Engineering Laboratory to do desk works. I always stay in the mechanical testing room in the Mechanical Engineering Building. Though I don’t meet other lab members so much, whenever I meet some of them, they kindly talk to me and explain about their research. I found it is important to ask them some questions after they explain their research. This is because they may think that I am so young to understand the whole things and they are not willing to talk about their research so much. Also, I learned that no question means no interest in America through many lectures and visits in the first week. I am willing to keep conversation with lab members as long as possible.

I also enjoyed sightseeing on weekends. On March 11th, we finally went to NASA! To go there was one of my dreams, so I was really happy to be there. Seeing some parts of the spaceships, I was impressed by their magnificence and precision. Before I went there, I had thought that only people who study space science and engineering are related to such space programs. However, while I and Sawa were going around the institution, I was surprised that she took notice what the structure is while I was thinking about what the material is. I realized that, when we make a spaceship, we have to consider astrophysics, mechanics, structures, materials, etc. I found that many kinds of techniques are necessary to make great technology. I think it applies every technology, so I am eager to get wide range of knowledge.

Question of the week: I see many people wearing cowboy hats and boots these days. Are people in Texas always wearing cowboy goods even if they are not cowboys?

This is largely because of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo which lasts for three weeks each spring and it is the largest rodeo in the U.S. During other times of the year, it is uncommon to see people in Houston wearing cowboy hats, jeans, and boots (as these are pretty hot to wear – especially in the summer) though you may see people wearing boots with jeans or even suits from time to time.  Most people in Houston do have a ‘rodeo outfit’ or two and cowboy boots that they will wear when they attend Rodeo Houston.  In fact, someone once told me you aren’t a ‘true’ Texan unless you own a pair of cowboy boots – no matter how long you’ve lived in the state.

Also, remember that the people who are staying at the Residence Inn Hotel with you are not local Houstonians.  They are from out of town and are likely staying there because they are working or exhibiting at the rodeo so you may see them wearing cowboy hats and boots every day.  Since the hotel is so close to the Rodeo it is very popular among people from out-of-town who come to Houston during this rodeo season.

Question of the Week: I tend to say limited words when someone says “How are you doing?” to me. I know it depends on its situation and person who talks, but I am willing to get some tips.

In the U.S., most people don’t expect a long response to the question “How are you doing?” or “How are you?”.  When asked at the start of a conversation, it is more likely a greeting than a true question.  When people ask me this at the start of a conversation my most common response is “Good”, “Pretty Good”, or “Busy” depending on the day.

However, if someone asks you this in the the middle or towards the end of a conversation it is more likely to be a ‘real’ question where the person is trying to express that they care or are concerned about you. Sometimes, you might hear someone ask, “No, how are you really doing?”.  That is a sign that you are free to be as open and honest as you can.  In this situation I might say, “Oh, I’m pretty okay but I am feeling very stressed out right now trying to balance work and school.  It’s hard to meet all of my upcoming deadlines.”  That is more a full/honest answer and then we might have a more in-depth conversation about work/life balance or juggling multiple competing demands and deadlines.

So, it slightly depends on when you are asked this question, who is asking you this question (a good friend/colleague vs. just an acquaintance or someone you don’t know very well), and at what point in the conversation the question is raised.  This is one example of where English can be an imprecise language as the same question can mean different things in different contexts.  For more see “Why ‘How are you?’ is not a Real Question in English”.

Research Project Update
My research is about polymers, the same as my major in Japan. I cover origami structures with some polymers and do mechanical tests with Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA). The results can be seen by stress(MPa)-strain(%) curves. The ones covered with polymer typically will be stronger than the normal ones. Peter gave me some suggestions during these two weeks and we did some experiments. He told me to choose one of the following theme when I prepare a poster. I tested the strength by changing the shapes, the polymers and the number of shapes covered with polymers. I learned how to treat polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and polydimethyl siloxane (PDMS). Now I can use DMA as well. What I do is simple but I have to attach importance to consideration. I will start making poster as soon as possible in this week.

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Week 03: Interview With a Female Researcher

In the 3rd week, I interviewed two female members of the Ajayan Lab, Tiva and Keiko. Tiva is a female post-doc from Iran and Keiko is a 2nd year graduate student from Japan. I would like to write down their academic career background, career path, international experiences, features of the Ajayan Lab and thoughts of being a woman in STEM.

Keiko came to U.S. when she was a first grade student at Japanese high school because of her father’s business. During her high school life in Ohio there were many summer programs that enabled her to experience undergraduates’ life. When she attended one of them, the people showed her a demonstration of making a solid by mixing corn starch and water. She felt it is really cool and found that materials sciences is related to the stuff we use every day. Then she decided to study in the field of materials science. Throughout her undergraduate life at the University of Illinois she found that she likes doing research and writing reports so she decided to pursue Ph.D. She is now pursuing a Ph.D. in Materials Science in the Ajayan Lab at Rice University.

She is planning to go into industry after getting her Ph.D. The three experiences she had in industry when she was an undergraduate inspired her. She participated in one Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU), got an internship position at Toyota Research Center in Michigan and did a part time job at a start-up company next to her university. She was interested in working in industry through these research experiences at these companies.

Now she belongs to the Ajayan Lab, which is one of the largest laboratories at Rice University. She said that this is really free and flexible lab. There are around 50 people and 10 research themes. She said that the advantage of this lab is that we can decide our research theme by our own, not by our boss. She also mentioned the differences between research in university and in industry. In university research, we have clear goals and must be able to do research until we give up. On the other hand, what people in industry look for is if it will be good to make products and research themes can be easily changed. Though research in industry seems strict, the facilities are great because there are technicians to fix them. In my lab, many people use the machines and they have to do the maintenance by themselves. This is one of the reasons she wants to go to industry.

She also said that she felt few difficulties in terms of international experiences. She likes the international environment where people accept those who have other opinions. She likes the environment in U.S. better than one in Japan. She said that there are few international students in Japan though there are many people who are interested in doing research in Japan. This is because the labs in Japan are not open to international students compared to U.S. and it is not good for just any students. When I asked her what the strong point was of Japanese research, she answered that researchers in Japan are good at fundamental research because they can do everything efficiently and make everything perfect. She said that Japan is a leading country in research and they publish many good papers.

She mentioned that the number of Japanese women in STEM is one of the lowest in the world. Because of this, it is difficult for young female students to imagine what it is like to be a professor or post-doc. She also said in Japan universities don’t have obvious goal while some state schools in U.S. have set goals to have 30 % or 40% of female students in STEM in a couple of years. In the U.S., female students/researchers are treated as not women but as students/researchers. The maternity leave around giving birth is so short, but it expresses the thinking. Also, men in U.S. participate in housework and building family rather than in Japan.

She recommended me to come to U.S. because we can be treated fairly regardless of gender or race. Also, she said such an international environment is good for women in STEM. But, of course, it depends on each person and I should consider what I really want to do in the future.

Tiva has many study and research experiences in some countries. She got a bachelor and master degrees in the field of physics in Iran. After that, she moved to Sweden and got another master degree and Ph.D in Physics and Materials Science. She worked for one year at the same lab after her Ph.D and then finally came to Rice. The reason she studied physics is she liked astronomy since her childhood. Through her research at an astronomy lab, she realized that she likes physics even if it’s not related to astronomy. At that time, nanotechnology was a hot topic and to go to Sweden was one of her dreams, so she decided to study Materials science in Sweden. After getting her Ph.D, she wanted to do research in another country. She knew Prof. Ajayan and he accepted her, so she could get a competitive international post-doc funding to go out from Sweden for two years. She does research on catalysis, especially regarding energy production and will stay at Rice until June 2018. She hopes to have her own group in Sweden in the future because she likes both teaching and research.

She said every country has its own type of communication not only in society but also in academia. There is no hierarchy and people in lab are like friends in Sweden while they are competitive and not open to discuss what they do in the U.S.. But the people in the Ajayan Lab do different things, so they are not as closed about discussing their research. She said that respect is good but sometimes hierarchy makes us uncomfortable to tell our ideas to our boss. She likes the atmosphere of the lab in Sweden and the Ajayan Lab. The better thing about the Ajayan lab is that there are many female students and researchers and, in comparison, she was the only woman in the lab in Sweden. People in Iran do theoretical research which she is not very interested in, so she thanks to the environment which accept international students in Sweden and U.S.. But she also mentioned that the facilities are not so good because we have to share them among many people.

Though the number of female researchers is small, there ARE opportunities, she said. Why there are not many females who study STEM is, obviously, she said, that being a woman brings with it a lot of responsibilities for family. It doesn’t matter which country she is from. For being in Houston, she sacrifices her family. She came to Houston with her son while she left her husband in Sweden. They can’t meet each other until she finishes her 2 years at Rice and her son must spend a lot of his time at home alone. It is really difficult to keep the family together while doing research. So we should consider how much I love this research or how much I want to have a family, then decide which is more important for me. Her husband didn’t disagree to live apart, but she said that he must not be happy. To balance between career and this kind of responsibility is not easy. She said to me the following thing; “If you are not sure, don’t start it. And if you are sure, you fight.” At the end of the interview, she introduced a female researcher, Millie Dresselhaus, who got a Ph.D after they had three children and encouraged us.

Sarah’s Comment: Prof. Millie Dresselhaus is a true pioneer in the field of physics and for women in STEM. She was a good friend of both Prof. Kono and myself and served as an advisory board member for a grant we had from the NSF for five years. Millie recently passed away, and it was a very sad day for all those who knew her and for the field as a whole. To learn more about her impact on science and women in STEM see some of these links below though you can find many more articles on her through a quick search of Google-sensei.

• American Physical Society: Mildred Dresselhaus 1930 – 2017
• Mildred Dresselhaus ‘Queen of Carbon’
• Remembering Mildred Dresselhaus
• Mildred (Millie) Dresselhaus and Her Impact on Science & Women in Science
• No ‘Quit’ for the Queen of Carbon
• GE Commercial “What if we treat scientists like we treat celebrities?

Reflection on Interviews
Through these interviews, I learned many important things. I would like to write down three of them.

First, I found that their ways of talking was so clear and persuasive. Tiva was never at a loss for words and talked about the most important things slowly. Keiko said the abstract and then mentioned the details. I can use these ways of talking not only in English but in any language, so I want to imitate them when I want to persuade someone or share important things.

Also, Keiko taught me about the interesting differences between research in university and in industry. I was surprised that Keiko and Tiva were not satisfied with the facilities in the lab and the reason is that the lab is so big. I thought that the larger the lab is, the better the facilities are, so it was opposite from what I expected. Through listening to her stories, I found that I prefer doing research while thinking about customer to just doing fundamental research, so my interest in going into industry has increased. Though there are no programs like REU in Japan and we can only belong to labs in our senior year, I am willing to search for some more opportunities to do research after going back to Japan.

Moreover, I learned from Tiva that the most important things you must  consider a lot and choose. I had known that she came to Rice with her child, so she starts her work early and finishes it by 5 pm to go back home. I had thought that she can do such a busy life because she is a powerful woman and a person who has no hesitation to do anything. But I was surprised at what she said, “My family is not happy.” I didn’t know she thought that doing research in U.S. was not only her dream but also a sacrifice for her family. She said that it is so hard for women to pursue both personal life and her career perfectly, so we must consider a lot and decide what the most important things are, and then go for them. I found that I must both compromise some things and work hard for others. I mean we have to make decisions not to choose some ways and work on what we decide to do with the biggest enthusiasm. I think it is difficult to choose what I really want to do, but what she taught me must help me when I have to make a decision on something in the future.

Research Project Update
In the 3rd week, I finished testing the structures and started making my poster. It was hard for me, especially the introduction and motivation. I had to think about what the importance of origami structures in science and engineering and why I used them in my experiments. I realized that I had been doing just what Peter told me to do in the past two weeks and had no idea of such things. I found that it is important to that your purposes and motivations are clear when doing research. Peter gave me some tips on what I should know and search more, so I was able to make my poster draft by Monday. But I have to understand more deeply about my research and work hard until the poster session on Friday.

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Week 04: Research in the U.S. vs. Research in Japan

I compared and contrasted how my experience conducting research in U.S. with what I expect research will be like in a Japanese lab though I don’t yet belong to a lab in Japan. I found two big differences between the lab in U.S. and Japan.

First, there are some undergraduates in labs in U.S.. I became friends with Steven, a sophomore student majoring chemistry, the same as me. He comes to the Ajayan lab around 8 hours per week after or between classes and his mentor is also Peter. I was so surprised that, though he is still sophomore and his major is chemistry, he made a 3D printer! He said that he was able to do this because he was encourage to do so by Peter and Peter said that he made Steven to do so to use for some graduates’ research. But, of course it is such a precious opportunity for undergraduates to make something in a lab and communicate with lab members while graduates can save time to prepare for their research. It is win-win situation for both of them. In Japan, only senior undergraduate students can belong to labs and it is so difficult to do research for freshman, sophomore and junior students. I hope there are more opportunities for undergraduates to do research in Japan as well because we can know the atmosphere in the labs, clarify what we are really interested in, and refer them when we decide which lab to belong to when we became senior.

The second one is the frequency of talking to other lab members including professors. My lab, the Ajayan Lab, is one of the huge labs and there are around 50 people. Though it seems we rarely have a chance to talk to our professors, they open the doors of their offices whenever they are there for lab members to come in and talk to them freely. Dr. Vajtai also talked to me a lot and asked me to have meetings once a week. Through these meetings, I could clarify what I didn’t understand and what I should’ve considered more. That is because not only his feedbacks have perspective but also it is really important to listen to others’ opinions and get new viewpoints. While students in U.S. ask a lot of questions to their bosses, Japanese students hesitate to do so not to be seen we haven’t studied enough. I realized that the more I ask questions and show what I don’t understand, the more I could get knowledge from many points of view. I would like to keep not to hesitate to express my doubts and ask questions after going back to Japan as well.

During this final week at Rice University, I was so busy preparing for the poster session. It was hard for me to make a poster and explain specific scientific words because this was my first time to conduct research and have a poster session. However, Dr. Krupa gave us a lecture about how to make a poster and prepare for the poster session, it helped me a lot to carry out these things. Also, Dr. Vajtai and Peter gave me some tips about the background and theory of my research, so I was able to finish making poster. In the poster session, I really enjoyed talking to 15 people from different fields. I explained my research to undergraduates, graduates, professors, workers at a chemical company, and even a lawyer. The most difficult thing was that I had to change what to say adapting each person. It was helpful to have prepared two script, long version and short version, because I was able to decide what to say in each time immediately. I was really impressed by each question and I realized that I had something not to having considered. One of them was a question about why I chose these polymers. I used them because Peter said to me do so and I didn’t have enough reasons. I found that we must have reasons in each procedure.

I already miss Rice University and Houston because not only the weather but also the people are so warm there. The people I met in Rice and Houston gave me many tips about their life. I could also hear some Japanese graduate students’ voices. They taught me a lot of information of getting Ph.D in U.S. whenever I asked. Aki-san always welcomed me to her office and helped me a lot. Of course, I really thank for the lab members to accept me as a researcher. I am willing to imitate their eagerness to conducting research. In short, these four weeks are wonderful and memorable for me. I want to keep in touch with the people I met there and hope to meet them again then show me grown a lot in the future.

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Final Research Poster Presentation

Project Title: Origami Inspired Stiff Structures (PDF)

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Week 05: Science & Technology Policy Study Tour

This was my first time to go to Washington D.C.. I had seen some pictures of the monuments in the National Mall in my textbooks when I was a junior high school student, so I was really looking forward to seeing them live. I took a lot of pictures in front of the monuments, especially I was pleased with seeing the Lincoln Memorial. That place is famous for Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” speech. I was surprised at what Sarah said that there were full of people in the park when he gave the speech. In Houston, we watched “Hidden Figures”, which is a movie about African American female mathematicians who worked at the NASA during the Space Race. Though the racial discrimination until 60’s is well known, I got to know some tips of their real lives through this movie. I thought it is important to remember what was actually happened not to repeat such a terrible thing.

We visited Lehigh University in the last two days. I really liked the European campus. The most interesting thing was hearing undergraduate students’ stories. At Rice University, though I was able to talk to many graduate students and know the life of pursuing Ph.D., I didn’t have much time to talk to undergraduate students. Through the Lehigh students’ stories, I found that Rice students and Lehigh students have different opinions. Rice students said that getting Ph.D is useful whichever we go into academic or industry, while Lehigh students said that the opportunities to get jobs would be limited when we get Ph.D. I learned that each university has each view and we must choose the university whose color suits ourselves. Through these two universities visit, though the time we spend are quite different, I found it is so important to know the environment of each university when we study abroad.

During the last week, the participants spent a lot of time together though we went to different labs at different time in Rice. Talking with them, I learned a lot and I was very impressed. There are three girls who have experiences to having stayed abroad with their family, one girl who went to international schools, one girl who spend one year at Rice last year as an exchange student and one girl who will conduct research at Rice again from this September for one year. I mean other girls have a lot of experiences and enthusiasm to study and do research abroad. I also had had some eagerness to study abroad, and I was more impressed by their stories. They said that they had had difficulties at first though they seem to communicate fluently with people in U.S. now. I learned from them that to challenge and not to be afraid making mistakes made us brave and progressive.

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Final Report

During the program, I experienced a lot of things and learned a lot from them. I found the most important three things as followings.

First, I found that the challenge was not as difficult as what I expected. It was so challenging for me to even apply to this program in the last October because I had never applied to such a competitive scholarship program and I expected that we must have good English skills and prior research experiences. Though I had many concerns like this at first, in this program, I was able to ask many questions to people from different fields and finally have done the poster session by myself. These experiences made me so confident because I did what I had never thought “I can do.”

Moreover, to analyze the challenge later is more important than the challenge because we can know what I should do to enhance myself. Before the program, I wrote down some concerns what I had and classified them into three topics, English, research and my future. I also stated my daily works during the program to took pictures and keep my diary not to forget what I felt and thought. During the five weeks, I experienced a lot of new things that I cannot encounter in my daily life in Japan. I wrote down many kinds of things in my diary, from what I ate to what I learned from my research, visits and conversation. After coming back to Japan, I reread them and participated in a workshop for people who studied abroad during this spring vacation. I learned the followings about how to clarify what I learned. First, pick up some important experiences and list reasons why they are so important to each experience. Next, find some changes in myself through each experience and think how I want to utilize them in my future. Then I could clarify what I understand, what I have to study more and the changes in my way of thinking.

I decided some things to study and experience from now through my analysis. In terms of English, I am eager to keep having opportunities to speak English with native speakers, so I decided to take classes with Georgia Tech students who come to Tokyo Tech as students of summer program from June to August. The theme we will study is about sustainability, not my major, but I am excited with studying and interacting with them. In terms of my future, I am still not sure what I really want to do after graduation, but the difference is now I know that I have many wonderful options in my future though I thought to be a researcher is only the option. So I would like to do some internships in chemical companies and public agencies. And I realized that I want to do some work related with science and use English. I hope I can know what the worker’s typical day looks like through the internships.

We can learn a lot of things when we encounter new experiences and are surprised at or impressed by them. But we tend to forget what we found and learned from them unless we analyze and clarify them. Through this program and looking back it, I found the good way to do such things. These ways must be useful whenever I experience something new in the future, so I want to remember and enhance the ways of thinking regarding them.

Third, I got many great friends to talk about our future and encourage each other. I also got along with people whom I can rely on and get some advices about my future career. Some of the participants once lived abroad, so I enjoyed hearing their stories at that time. They told me the atmosphere of the places and the schools, and some things they had difficulties in. Also, one girl was an exchange student at Rice University last year and another girl was also chosen as an exchange researcher there from this September, so I got some information how to get scholarship, some good ways to choose a university and make progress in English. I got to know some Japanese PhD students as well, so I would like to ask them for advices if I decide to study abroad in the future.

Besides this, I also met many people from many countries during this program. I heard each person’s story from PhD students, post-docs, professors in some universities, and people who work in industry and public agencies. Their stories about their career paths and personal life were so interesting. I learned it is possible as long as we endeavor though I thought that to pursue both personal life and career path is so difficult. They encouraged me a lot so I also want to do my best in the future.

This program made me confident and told me many important things and thoughts. I would like to cherish people who I met through this program, continue to challenge many things and enhance myself.

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