[:en]Mei Maruo 
Hometown in Japan: Kobe
University in Japan: Kyoto University
Major & School Year: Astrophysics, B3
Host Advisor: Prof. David Alexander, Dept. of Physics and Astronomy
Host Lab: Rice Space Institute
Research Project (PDF): “Simulating the Asterospheric Magnetic Field of Exoplanet Host Stars”
Recipient: Best Poster Presentation Award (1st Place)

Why TOMODACHI STEM @ Rice University?

Through TOMODACHI STEM Program, I am eager to know more about top graduate schools in the U.S. I want to do my graduate study in such environment where they offer both strong academic studies and world-class research programs, both with
lively discussions and interdisciplinary collaborations including experts in other fields. During the program, I look forward to exchanging perspectives with my collaborators in the U.S. as well as deepening my understanding of astrophysics to picture myself studying in the U.S. as a graduate student more clearly.

Goals

• Absorb both astrophysical proficiencies and Rice’s culture as an undergraduate astrophysics major to the full extent.
• Experience the world-class lab environment in America and compare with the molecular biology lab I currently go to.
• Trade career perspectives with other researchers and make close relationships with people at Rice including the other participants

Excerpts from Mei’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 & Tips for Future Participants

Week 01: Arrival in the U.S.

Time passes by so quickly. It has already been a week since I came to Houston. There were many meetings, lectures, and parties, and I was able to have a lot of cultural experiences. I cannot tell everything, but here I will mention some of the things that inspired me this week.

Our first group activity was the “Houston Mural Tour.” Although it was raining, it was a very nice opportunity to interact with the other participants while sightseeing in a beautiful city. I was surprised at how humid Houston is, similar to Japan, but one undergraduate student told me that this is rare among the U.S., and so many people struggle with the humidity when they first come to Houston.

Monday, Feb. 26^th, was our first day at Rice University and I enjoyed it a lot. Several people told me that the campus is small, but for me, it was too big. I got lost more than three times this week, but people were kind enough to help me out. Perhaps the size of campus made me feel more scared when I got lost out of Rice campus, even though it was not at night. The other fact I find interesting is the “frog wall,” which according to the tour guide sounds like a chirping frog if you touch it right. It is because I find that this reflects on aspect of American culture: Try to enjoy your life to the full extent. This is a part of what we learned at the Intercultural Communication lecture given by Sarah, too.

A graduate student told me that a Ph.D. program is similar to a marathon: One has to continue their hard work for a long period. Therefore, she also told me not to cram everything at once, but to enjoy your life and bring back the energy every once in a while. I want to find my own way to enjoy my life and conduct a research at the same time. This concept was also mentioned during the Rice Space Institute Seminar spoken by Leland Melvin, a former NFL player and NASA astronaut.

During my first weekend in Houston, I decided to go for an eight-mile run in the morning. I was able to see many buildings in the Texas Medical Center, houses, and Rice University from a different angle which was very enjoyable. Then, I went to Discovery Green Park to go roller-skating with my friends. We took the Houston MetroRail and saw many areas of Houston. I was even able to see one of the murals again from the metro. It was a nice and refreshing time, but I got worn out and couldn’t study as much as I wanted to. Considering this, one of my goals for this program will be to both enjoy and work hard fully.

Reflection on U.S. vs. Japanese Culture
If I had not taken the Intercultural Effectiveness Survey and heard Sarah’s lecture about Intercultural Communication, I would not have realized that I am currently facing several differences between Core U.S./Japanese values. At the same time, without these opportunities, I would not have seen myself and my reactions to these experiences objectively.

“Take Charge/Control” is one of the Core U.S. values I have seen a lot during the past few days. This means to reach out for what you want and make one’s life’s circumstances better. I knew this idea from my prior stay in the U.S., but I had never verbalized it. Therefore, it clicked for me when I learned this during the lecture. There was one time where I found this out at the hotel: My roommate and I asked the front desk and were able to get four more towels. This was because we decided not to use the dryer after washing laundry. Since we did not have enough space to hang our clothes, we wanted some extra towels to put them on the ground so we can lay our clothes and dry them out. We were not sure if asking for four more towels was acceptable, but by hearing Sarah’s former student’s episode when she got to taste many flavors of ice cream before buying one, we gave it a try. Thankfully, the front desk confirmed our request without hesitation so our clothes were nice and dry by the next day. Even though there have been times when my request was not accepted (I could not get a microwavable cup), I still remember the phrase that helps me keep asking out to make life better: The worst that can happen is that someone will say no.

Another “Take Charge” experience happened when I first met my lab professor. I told him I was very interested in graduate schools in the U.S., and asked him if I can sit in on his class. He said okay, and he included me into his class (ASTR 554 001) even on Canvas; Rice’s online course management system. I am very happy that I can experience not only research but also classroom lectures in the U.S. My aim for participating in this course is improve my classroom discussion skills. I suppose this “Take Charge” attitude suits me well and that is one thing I learned about myself.

I still have not spotted myself bumping into my “Japaneseness,”, but there were times where people in the U.S. did not react the way I expected. My mentor, who was born and raised in the U.S., uses the word “sorry” very often, and she calls our professor, “Professor Alexander” even though she can call him, “David.” I believe this fits more closely with the Core Japanese value, “Wa.” I did understand that not all American people act the same way, but this helped me break down my stereotype and comprehend it more clearly. I enjoy finding out how different people think and react differently.

Question of the Week
In class in Japan, I learned that for example if someone says, “We don’t want this to happen,” and if you agree, then you say, “no,” which is the opposite of how you would respond in Japanese. However, I get confused with their tone, or by them adding the word, “right?” at the end. I saw in some people’s face a question mark when I said, “no,” in some cases. How can I distinguish the time I’m suppose to say “no,” from “yes?”

• Sometimes, we do answer affirmatively to a negative statement.  For example, “I hope it doesn’t rain tomorrow.” We would then say, “Yes, me too.”  Or “I hope our live cells don’t die.” We could say, “Yes, that would be bad.”  So, we are saying yes that we also hope something will not happen. This may be what you are referring to.

Preparing for Research in the U.S.
My research is about finding some theoretical magnetic conditions for a habitable planet. I will be working on this by theoretically changing the parameters of a code that mimics the solar magnetic flux. Prior to coming to Rice, I had a different topic but my professor changed it a couple days prior to my arrival and the details of my final topic was fixed after I arrived. He said this topic is going to be presented in a conference and may be published so I am excited to possibly contribute to that. My professor spends at least one hour every couple of days with me for me to ask questions. I appreciate this opportunity very much and work hard to come up with good questions. For this, I try to verbalize my understanding in order to find out what I do not comprehend yet.

The preparation I did while I was in Japan was to read a lot of papers. I started out with the review papers and then read the longer ones because I knew they would have more description. Even though it did not help me prepare for this new topic specifically, I got used to reading research articles. I hope this skill will help me find what is needed for this topic. My mentor, who is a Ph.D. student, is helping me out with the codes. I also got to meet her lab mate, office mate, and her classmate. I am also going to take my professor’s graduate course class, so I hope that helps my understanding of this topic’s background as well as improving my discussion skills.

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Week 02: First Week at Research Host Lab

My day usually starts at six. By nine, I go to the lab office, which is just for Yukari and I since we both work at the Rice Space Institute. My mentor has her office on the same floor and I get to chat, ask questions, or go for coffee not only with her but also with other lab members whose offices are near mine. For my research, I start out each day by finding some key factors that could influence the magnetic field of the stars by doing a literature review. Then I calculated the magnetic fields into a code to model a potential habitable star. For lunch, I bring my own sandwich and attend any lunch seminars that may be held. One weekly astronomy seminar is called AU, and I find it vey funny because we use the word AU for “Astronomical Unit,” very commonly in Astronomy. There are benches in front of our building, Herman Brown Hall, and I see many graduate/ postdoc students hanging out there in the evening. I usually leave my office before it gets dark but there have been times when I’ve gotten very motivated and did not notice the sunset. I still do get disappointed easily, but by experiencing the fun part of research, I am more confident that I can pursue my goal of becoming a researcher.

This week, there was a public event called, “3MT,” which stands for Three-minute Thesis held on on Friday. It was very interesting not only because I was able to listen to graduate students presenting on a wide array of interesting research fields, but also because I was able to reach out and communicate with them and other participants before and after the presentation. Outside of campus, for example at the Rodeo or in the shuttle bus, I often hear people speaking with more southern accent. For the Houston Rodeo, I was not sure if I would have fun since I do not understand the concept of damaging the animals just to entertain humans. Although at first I did feel bad about the animals, it was very exciting and by truly having fun, I now can grasp why this is such a popular event. On Saturday, my friends and I went to the Farmer’s Market. Just by going there, I could easily tell how Houston is dependent on automobiles; the sidewalks are narrow and the air quality was somewhat low. From such experiences, I realize the importance of actually trying. Also, I feel my cadence is becoming better by having conversations in English with numerous kinds of people and getting centered in English.

• Program Comment: Keep in mind that many of the events at the Rodeo, such as barrel racing for horses, are skills that horses and people needed to work/run a ranch where cattle are raised.  So, while the Rodeo may be primarily entertainment today many of the people participating may still be real cowboys/cowgirls in that they own or work on a ranch and raise and sell cattle for their living.  So, each of the competitions are reflective of something that you would need to do in the ‘real world’. For example, if you are herding sheep your horse and its rider must be able to ‘turn on a dime’ to stop sheep from running away from the herd and understand each other very instinctively similar to what you see with barrel racing. 

Research Internship Update
Are there other planets than Earth that are inhabited by life? In recent years, many exoplanets, some of which may be habitable, have been discovered orbiting other stars fulfilling a long-standing dream of humankind. For example, Proxima Centauri b, Ross 128 b, and the TRAPPIST-1 planets are newly discovered exoplanets that are potentially suitable to support life, as we know it on Earth. Now, it is important to shift from a discovery-phase to a science-phase. Since planets orbit stars and most stars have strong magnetic fields it is important to know how a star’s magnetic field interacts with that of its planets. It is well-established that a high stellar magnetic activity can erode a planet’s atmosphere if the planet does not have a strong enough field of its own to protect itself.

My project is to characterize the magnetic activity of stars that have possibly habitable planets around them by reviewing the literature on these planets to determine the physical relationships to various stellar parameters (e.g. rotation rate, cycle duration, activity levels). These relationships are then used as input to a flux transport model that simulates the emergence and evolution of the stellar magnetic field. This model simulates an exoplanet host star with its activity levels and magnetic field distributions, allowing us to explore the star’s magnetic interactions with the exoplanet. In the past week, I have identified a number of key relationships between stellar rotation rates, cycle duration, flux emergence and meridional flow. I have started using the flux transport model to simulate the magnetic field for a range of stars with different rotation rates.

Question of the Week

My hotel room’s and my office’s sink has a red sign for cold water. Attached has a red circle for the right one, but on the left, there is the letter H and indeed the hot water comes out from the left. Is this normal? If not, do these happen a lot?

• You will find many different styles of sink and tub faucets in the U.S. This style is a bit older, as most newer faucets just have one handle. You just use the handles to adjust the temperature to what you prefer when you turn it on. I’m not sure why red on this faucet means ‘hot’ (you would think it should be blue) but in the U.S. what is always correct is that the right side is Cold and the left side is Hot unless the sink/faucet has been installed improperly.
• Many public restrooms in the U.S. now have automatic faucets that you just put your hand under to activate but in older buildings (like what you find on many university campuses) you may find a variety of different types of faucets.
• In the U.S., there is usually there is just one spout though unlike in the U.K where there are typically two separate handles and spouts and you have to mix the hot and cold water to your desired temperature in the sink.

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Week 03: Interview With a Female Researchers

Compared to the old days, it has been much convenient to buy Japanese food in the U.S. and vise versa. It has been easier to travel to the other countries as well. America and Japan are getting similar in several ways, but they still have very different customs and are different in many other ways. Here I will write about what I learned and thought about my interviewee and the differences/similarities in the U.S. and Japan. My interviewee, Alison, is completing her second year in Rice’s graduate program as Solar Physics major. There were three main points that I was interested in: why she chose her major, her extracurricular activities, and her not-so-good experience as an undergraduate.

Without her parents’ support, her success might not have been the same. Both of her parents were college educators, and they encouraged her to go to university from the beginning. They were surprised with her desire to major in STEM because her family were all in the liberal arts, but approved of her major and cheered her on. Astronomy became her undergraduate major since she was both interested in telescopes and was good at math and science. She decided this in her undergraduate program, but she also said she had a hard time choosing her major among the STEM fields. She enjoys this major primarily because she can use her math and science knowledge on top of her programming skills, and draw a big picture in the cosmos. Her graduate degree is now Solar Physics because Prof. Alexander‘s research was intriguing to her. The overall ratio between men and women in the Physics and Astronomy department is around 4:1, which she believes would be more evened out if only more women looked into the Astronomy. For me, 4:1 already seemed like a good number compared to what mine is like in Japan (10:1), so it was interesting to know her perspective. Although she realized more men than women are in this field, she was not affected by the fact. She and I both assume this happens because society implies to girls that they should tplay with dolls in childhood and take art classes in high school. I do not think such experience is unnecessary, but I hope we all can have more opportunities to experience more. The extent may be different, but I feel the root of this problem is the same in both countries.

“Things other than research are also important to me,” she emphasized. Because graduate programs are typically five years, it is essential to keep oneself motivated for a long period of time. She used to play rugby as an undergraduate on a women’s team, and currently belongs to a football club and the Graduate Student Association at Rice University. There, the gender diversity is about the same, and she can have more of a community. She still has not thought thoroughly, but by valuing her free time, her plans after graduation includes working in industry. She mentioned “enjoying other things” might include having a family and raising a child in the long run. I cannot say I know many graduate students in the U.S. let alone in Japan, but my U.S. graduate students’ image tends to include extra activities than my perception of Japanese graduate students. At the same time, I see some labs with lights on late at night at the BRC, so I am not entirely sure about this. For me, personally, I enjoy belonging in several communities, and by attending some sports events and lectures during my stay at Rice, I believe that actually helped me focus on my research more.

Sometimes, one gets mistreated as a minority. Her experience as the only female undergraduate, including her TA’s in an astronomy class, was something very uncomfortable. Her words were not taken seriously by her group members even though she kept making the right suggestion. Her group members listened to the male TA’s but not to her words when she was saying the same thing. Moreover, she got a lower score than her teammates on an oral test done as a group. It made her very upset, but she said these are the things we have to be conscious about, and keep moving forward. I was very surprised at how she was treated and was fascinated at how strong she stayed. As much as we have to change the society, I want myself to become more resilient, and strong like her. I am glad that I got to meet my role model at Rice.

Women in the STEM fields are still a minority in both countries. I believe we have to all work on this to create diversity, both globally and locally. Conducting a research experience in a different environment definitely has expanded my vision, and by accepting such perspective, I hope myself to have more strength to enjoy even the difficulties.

Research Project Update
This week, I wrote some codes to run the flux transportation model (SFT) to simulate the magnetic fields using the potential field source surface model (PFSS). While I had my SFT code run, I also worked on the codes to combine the different Rossby number’s data: By finding the maximum flux magnitude and extracting such data from the SFT file I created, I normalized all the flux magnitude and drew them out together by phase cycle. This way we can easily compare how different Rossby numbers affect the star activity. Another code I wrote was to find out the ratio of open to close flux. This is another way to compare different Rossby numbered stars.

Question of the Week
Why do people in the U.S. do not have the custom of wearing a mask? I heard wearing masks make people think they have serious diseases, but in Japan, people wear just to prevent small issues, which is effective.

• It’s just not common in the U.S. or in most European countries. This is primarily a custom in Asian countries and originally masks were typically only worn when biking or riding a scooter to work in heavily polluted cities like Beijing and Shanghai or during major dust storms. It was not until after the 2009 Bird Flu epidemic that masks became much more popular to wear in many Asian countries.  Today, they serve multiple purposes in Japan, such as being worn during allergy season but also being worn sometimes to ‘hide’ from others and some people in Japan have criticized this role of masks being used to hide your face.
• They probably are not so common in the U.S. or European countries overall as our air is, typically, much cleaner than in many large, densely populated Asian cities and most people drive to work in cars rather than commuting in subways, by bike/scooter, or walking on densely crowded streets.
• See the section on Face/Sickness/Surgical Masks in the U.S. on our Medical Information in the U.S. Resources page.

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

It is very hard for me to talk about lab differences between Japan and the U.S. not only because I only had four weeks of experience in one single U.S. lab but also because a non-Japanese principal investigator was leading my prior lab in Japan. I rather think the core value and the approach towards research is the same: the goal is by no means to have a good academic research by working hard and discussing well.

At Rice, I was able to have meetings with my professor often, maybe due to the small lab size, and that helped me verbalize my understanding and make my next steps clearer. I believe verbalizing what I comprehend and what I don’t is an important skill no matter what lab I belong to. In terms of the work pace, there was more at Rice perhaps because I was doing computational work whereas I was doing more hands-on experiments in the biology lab in Japan.

During my final week in the lab, I focused on analyzing the simulated data as well as preparing for my poster presentation. For the latter, we had a seminar on how to give an effective presentation, and even had a chance to get advice from the professional coaches. I wrote my elevator pitch and said it out loud repeatedly, sometimes by myself, and other times in front of other participants to have more feedback. Describing my research concisely was not easy, but thanks to everyone who supported the improvement of my research and presentation skills, I placed first in the poster session and got a NASA Women LEGO set as a prize. This prize was perfect for me since my study was about the space, and I was interested in a female NASA researcher’s talk. The other day I had the opportunity to talk with her in person, and she inspired me in many ways. Along with the Dow Chemical Study Tour, it was interesting to learn more about the industrial field that, before, I basically knew nothing about.

Question of the Week
I see many places in the U.S. have snow, even now, and people told me some schools in other parts of the country get closed due to the snow pretty often. How do they catch up on classes if they have a lot of snow days?

• Yes, this year has been a particularly long winter in the U.S. with lots of areas receiving heavy snow fall. It slightly depends on where you are in the U.S.  If you go to school in Minnesota or Buffalo, New York where there is lots of snow every winter they very rarely close schools unless there is absolutely no way to get out of your house due to the heavy snow fall.  But in areas of the country that don’t get a lot of heavy snow most years (or typically don’t get snow at all) they will close schools for even a very small amount.  This is typically because they don’t have the equipment like snow plows and sanders to make sure the roads are clear of snow and ice and most people don’t know how to drive in winter/snowy weather.  This is true of places like Houston, Georgia, and other Southern States where snow and ice is very rare.
• In the U.S., K-12 schools typically must have a set number of ‘contact’ or ‘classroom’ hours during the school for students to be able to qualify for funding from the state government. Some extra hours are built into the school schedule in case of storms or natural disasters that require the school to close early but if schools are closed for too many days then yes, they will have to make up the time.  Often, they do this by slightly extended the school day, say by 30 minutes each day or cancelling some of the days off that have been scheduled for teacher training or other holidays. In some cases, schools may extend the school year so that students and teachers have to come to class for additional days before the summer holiday begins.  Each school districts makes their own plans/arrangements for how to make up missed time so even in the same state different towns may have different approaches.  This flexibility can be helpful as most states in the U.S. are quite large and that way if Philadelphia, PA schools have to close due to a storm but the storm is not so bad in Pittsburgh, PA the Pittsburgh schools will stay open.
• When colleges/universities have to close due to snow or other natural disasters, typically they don’t have to ‘make-up’ these days/hours in the same way. Instead, professors may hold their lectures via webinar, assign additional take-home work/assignments/reading, or simply cut out one or two topics from the syllabus if they run out of time to finish everything that was planned. No one likes doing this and there are some things that are very difficult to ‘make-up’ or teach remotely but most professors and students find a way to still ensure all of the necessary/most important topics are covered.

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Final Research Poster Presentation

Host Advisor: Prof. David Alexander, Dept. of Physics and Astronomy
Host Lab: Rice Space Institute
Research Project (PDF): “Simulating the Asterospheric Magnetic Field of Exoplanet Host Stars”
Recipient: Best Poster Presentation Award (1st Place)

My research was about simulating asterospheric magnetic field of stars that host exoplanets. I conducted this research under the advisement of Professor David Alexander, and was mentored by Alison Farrish, at the Rice Space Institute. Our ultimate goal is to find habitable planets because it has been a long-standing dream of humankind to discover life elsewhere than Earth. Since we knew that the star’s open magnetic field primarily affects the planet, we explored the interrelationship between the star’s properties and the stellar magnetic field by creating a star model. The two methods we used were sun models: Flux Transport Model (SFT) and Potential Field Source Surface Model (PFSS). SFT creates a magnetic flux on the surface of the star by inputting turnable parameters, and by using that information into the PFSS, we created a long-scaled magnetic field in three dimension. By computational modeling and analysis of the results, we found that big Rossby numbers, in other words, less active stars, have more potential for cross-section of star-planet interaction. For further research, we will look into the Alfven surface structure. Also, we will combine stellar relationships with magnetospheric modeling of Earth-like exoplanets that may provide a fuller picture of exoplanet-host star interaction and habitability.

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Week 05: Science & Technology Policy Study Tour

Our last week included many study tours along with some free time on the East coast. One of the places that we visited that had the greatest impact on me was the JAXA office in Washington, DC. There, a Japanese NASA researcher gave us a talk on astrophysics. Since I major in Astrophysics, I was really looking forward to this talk since I first learned about it. His talk was very motivating in both how concisely he explained what his research was about. Although it was a limited time, we were able to learn more about the background of the field and the details of his research. Some of the other tours, for example, the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Nuclear Energy and Howard University, gave me a wider perspective. At the DOE, we learned how the U.S. helped Japan during the Fukushima disaster, and at Howard, we had the opportunity to ask a lot questions to an African American female physicist; one of only 80 in the entire country! I learned more about how basic science is connected to increase everyone’s safety and that there are so many ways to contribute to society, whether one continues to be in academia or goes into industry. I also felt the robust collaboration going on, as I strongly hope to come back to the U.S. for my graduate program.

From participating in this program, I learned how hard it is for me to express my gratitude especially in a foreign language. By reflecting on my stay, I can say English has many ways to praise and appreciate others. Being Japanese, I sometimes felt too nervous to say such words or repeat simple words. There were other times that I thought was “Mottainai” where I had been exposed to significant information and I could not absorb everything let alone output what I gained. For example, this happened to me when we visited three institutions in one day. From this experience, I learned to verbalize my thoughts as soon as I get some free time. As I arrived home, I was very happy to meet my family and be able to lie down on the tatami, which I could not do for the past two months. I will miss spending precious times with other participants, especially with my roommate.

Question of the Week

In articles, I sometimes see sentences with two spaces in between. (I saw them at the papers you corrected for me, and I also saw them with what Prof. David Alexander corrected for me.) How do you distinguish when to have one space or two?

• This slightly indicates our age and is now often only done by people over 40 (or close to this age).  Back when most papers were written on a typewriter, the standard was to include two spaces after the end of a sentence to visually set apart sentences.  However, this standard is not necessary now that everyone uses computers. However, if you typed your master’s thesis or dissertation on a typewriter, as Prof. Alexander likely did, or first learned how to type on a computer in the late 1980s and early 1990s from teachers who  just a few years before had only used typewriters – then you were taught to double space at the end of each sentence. If you didn’t do this, your papers could be marked down (whether you wrote them on the computer or on a typewriter).  Nowadays, most teachers have grown up only using a computer and therefore students aren’t taught this outdated rule.
• So, its a generational thing that shows how technology can have great influence and staying power even long after it becomes obsolete. If you were taught to type two spaces at the end of each sentence it became second nature and something you tend to do without thinking about for the rest of your life.
  • Nothing Say Over 40 Like Typing 2 Spaces at the End of a Sentence
  • Two Spaces After a Period (Grammar Girl) 
  • If you want to ‘see’ the difference, look for the places in this paragraph where I typed with two spaces vs. only one.  Visually, it is a little easier to see where each sentence ends and begins but it looks a bit funny on a computer screen.
• However, some journals may still have print standards that require two spaces at the end of a sentence. This is why, before starting the first draft of any paper you should submit for publication, you should careful read their publication/formatting guidelines to be sure you follow them.  Otherwise, the journal may reject your submission for not adhering to their formatting standards.

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Final Report

When I reflect on my experience, I came up with some thoughts:

My favorite experience in the U.S. is very hard to choose, but I would say it is the former astronaut and NFL player, Leland Melvin’s talk. His talk, “Living the Uncommon Life,” inspired me in so many ways. His talk helped my Rice experience become better by sharing with me the importance of believing in yourself, appreciating the environment, and to never give up.

Before I left for the U.S. I wish I had more confidence in myself. Between being accepted in this program and before starting, I occasionally felt that I was only chosen because I pretended I was qualified but actually am not. At Lehigh University, we had a chance to hear many opinions from experts. One professor told us about her story which I could relate to a lot. She said her first few years she thought everyone else in the program was smart except for herself. She shared an idiom “Fake it till you make it” and that caught my attention so much. Now whenever I feel that I do not deserve a chance, I would not spend too much time worrying about whether or not it was deserved and just try to make the most of the opportunity.

Spending a lot of time with my other participants was very enjoyable I still wish we had more time together. They were all very inspiring and unique in different ways and had many serious and fun conversations. I still wish I had more time to interact with them. We did meet many enthusiastic people, but since we were all doing activities together, the participants kept me motivated throughout the program.

When I look back to this precious experience, I find myself being eager to share my experiences with many people. When speaking to my family, I would you say the most important things I learned from the TOMODACHI STEM program were self-confidence and the importance of constant effort. By observing people in the U.S., I believe we need to have pride in what we do and who we are. For me, I can be proud of myself if I work hard enough. I found my own way to calm myself down, and to work sufficiently, too. (Drink milk, stretch, run, and say out loud, “I’m strong!”) When I speak to a professor, I would tell him/her the connections I made will help make be a better graduate student in the future. Without this program, I would never be able to make this connection with my host lab professor, and I appreciate very much that I had this opportunity. To a future employer, I would analyze the activities that we all did during our final week, for example my elevator pitch and five-strength personality, to show how I could be a great fit for the company. Finally, when talking to my university friends, I will share how I used to be ignorant of the world. I used to think the only way to pursue my dream is to stay in academia, but now I know that that is not the only possible way.

Final Question About the U.S.

I am very pleased to use the shower that is removable from the showerhead back in Japan. Why are the showers in the U.S. fixed?

• You can buy shower heads with a removable arm in the U.S., but these are not the ‘standard/typical’ shower heads that are installed in most homes, apartments, and hotels.  Since most American adults only take showers, not baths, there is no need to have a removable shower head to wash before you get in the tub.  However, removable shower heads are very useful for bathing small children or pets and many people in the U.S. like to use them too. You just have to go to a hardware store and buy this type of shower head and then install it in your bathroom.  They are very easy to find online at Amazon or in home improvement stores in the U.S. like Home Depot or Lowes.

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Tips for Future Participants

Pre-Departure: If I were to give pre-departure tips for future participants, I would say to look up as much information as you can. I knew this was important for my research project, but I did not know that it also applies for the hotel. I brought my own towel, dryer, and other amenities that were useless because the hotel provided for us. By bringing those, my suitcase took space and as a result I could not buy as much souvenirs as I wanted to. I also did not know what they have for breakfast. They did not serve white rice, which was not that surprising, but they did not have much vegetable either. For that, in my case, I bought box white rice and box tomatoes in order to make myself content.

• Program Tip: See the Food in the U.S. and information on bathrooms in the U.S. on our Life in the U.S. resources page.

Preparing for Research: In terms of lab research, I not only read the papers but also watched some videos that were available. Watching YouTube for example helped me know more about the personality of my host professor and lab members than I could learn just from reading papers and their CVs.

Language Study Tips: For language study tips, I would suggest that students should be aware of their weaknesses. I realized one of my weaknesses was cadence, so I carefully paid attention to others’ and emulated this when I was in the U.S.

Also, for your presentation, I would strongly suggest to practice the presentation of your poster before the coaching session with the professional coach at Rice. It would be better if you have something to have observations on rather than going in without any preparation. Once you are fully prepared, then practice. Practice makes perfect. After I made a script and had comments, I kept repeating on and on and on everywhere: while commuting, taking a bath, and even while talking with friends.

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