[:en]2019 Haruka Sumi[:]

[:en]Haruka Sumi
Hometown in Japan: Osaka
University in Japan: Osaka Prefecture University
Major & School Year: Biology, B2: Sophomore
Host Advisor: Prof. Yizhi Jane Tao, Dept. of BioSciences
Host Lab: Tao Lab: Crystallography, Electron Microscopy, and Molecular Virology

Research Poster (PDF): “Express and Purify the Capsid Protein (CP) of Human Astrovirus (HAstV) VP90⁷¹⁻⁷⁸² to uncover the structure of CP”
Winner: 3d Place Award “Best Poster Presentation”

Why TOMODACHI STEM @ Rice University?
As a biology major in the future, I want to be a scientist who globally contributes to public health or an educator who works at an organization which focuses on public health issues. I applied to the TOMODACHI STEM program, because this program perfectly meets my needs. Through experiencing real, cutting edge research in the U.S., I want to improve my skills. These include conducting accurate experiments and interacting with lab members from different backgrounds. This program also helps me find issues which are not well known, but are necessary for me to reach my goals. After returning to Japan, I will develop a strategy to get closer to achieving my goals, by making full use of my experience in the U.S.

Goals

  • To experience real, cutting edge research in the U.S.
  • To learn how to build trust with people from different backgrounds.
  • To Improve my skills to deal with difficulties.
  • To Improve my academic English.

Post-Program Reflections 

  • My favorite experience in the U.S…. was spending four weeks at Rice University. The Rice University campus is clean, peaceful, calm, and filled with nature and brick buildings. I was so grateful to have the opportunity to do research at Rice and experience the campus life there.
  • Before I left for the U.S. I wish I had… packed my stuff in earlier. I had started it five days before I left Osaka but I recommend that future participants start to pack your luggage before your final exams begin. If they wait to start packing their stuff after finishing finals like me, you will find it hard to get everything packed that you can only in Japan, such as Japanese medicines, face masks, or your favorite Japanese sweets. 
  • While I was in the U.S. I wish I had… had more American food. It is obvious that local foods, like hamburgers and tacos, sold in the U.S. are much tastier than those sold in Japan. I really enjoyed local food at the restaurant or supermarket rather than making food by myself in the U.S. Not only American food, there are many kinds of food, such as Arabian, Venezuelan, Indian, Chinese, and Japanese cuisines. It was fascinating to me. Some people may think we will eat only greasy food which is not good for our health in the U.S. I believe it is not true in today’s America. There are many vegan restaurants and restaurants whose concept is to stay healthy. I even found restaurants where they sell only salads. As there are few restaurants which sells chopped salad in Japan, I really enjoyed it. Five week was not enough for me to try all the types of food available. (In Houston alone there are over 10,000 restaurants you could try!)  

Excerpts from Haruka’s Weekly Reports

Week 01: Arrival in the U.S.

When I first arrived into Houston, I was surprised to see a lot of cars and very few of pedestrians. As cars in the U.S. drive much faster than those in Japan, I am scared to cross the street alone. However, considering the other countries that I have ever been to, I realized that the speed of cars in the U.S. was not too fast. Although Japanese society is not applicable, it is normal to prioritize cars over pedestrians in the world, especially in a big city.

Water fountains are everywhere on campus ~ Haruka Sumi

Also, I realized that there were no Konbini and few vending machines. In Japan, I go to the Konbini almost every day to buy some food, drink, stationaries, even print things out out. Also, I often get beverages at vending machines every day in Japan. As there was no convenience store, I first imagined my school life at Rice University would be inconvenient. However, this was not true. At Rice University, I found a lot of water fountains everywhere and this is helpful. Also, at the cafeteria, they serve a wide variety of dishes from Mexican food to Chinese food. Also, my mentor told me how to use the printer at laboratory. I realized that I could live without a Konbini.

This week, I also learnt that I was not good at dealing with my negative emotions by myself. As I sometimes could not understand someone who was speaking English fast nor clearly express my thoughts in English, I honestly felt depressed and a kind of loneliness. In Japan, when I feel down, I share my feeling with my mother as she is a very positive person and my close friends. They supported me and helped me to deal with my negative feelings. Living without them, I really started to appreciate what they have done for me. At the same time, I realized this was the best time to step out of my comfort zone. I started to think how to deal with my negative emotions and stay positive when encountering difficulties. I will continue to keep journal and try to grasp what I need to improve on and what I hope to accomplish. This will be helpful to stop being too negative and find concrete plans to cope with my difficulties. I also found myself physically more sensitive than expected. After arriving into Houston, I had a cold. I seldom had a cold even if I was in a cold place and stayed up late at night. Also, last Friday night, I ate half-rotten cucumbers and the following day my stomach was upset. Now I can better understand how changing your environment causes a change in your body. This advice may be helpful for the future participants.

As I spent time at Rice University, I learnt that U.S. focuses more on sustainability of the environment than Japanese society. Having water fountains is one thing to lessen the waste of plastics. Also, they use straws made of paper, not plastic. Not having as many convenience store and few vending machines are also helpful for cutting down electricity. At some cafeterias, they use paper boxes rather than plastic boxes. In Japan, we are becoming more aware of the environmental problem, but some still regard it as somebody else’s problem. I believe these efforts are effective as they are difficult for us to adjust to but are easy to continue and make small but steady contributions to the environment.

As for the orientation program sessions, the “Introduction to Intercultural Communication” was the most helpful for me. Sarah told us that asking questions was better than not asking questions when I do not understand. This impressed me. In Japan, when I was young, my teachers told me “If you have anything which you cannot understand, you should search, think by yourself, or ask your friends before you ask teachers.” I felt that I had to solve my questions by myself and not rely on teachers. Through this, I was able to cultivate the ability to solve problems by myself. However, it was hard for me to tell which question I should solve by myself and which question I can ask to teachers. This led me not to ask teachers so often. As Sarah told us, at the laboratory, my mentor answers my questions without looking annoyed and I am so pleased. Although studying by myself is also important and interesting, solving my questions through discussions with my mentor is also fun to me. This difference between the U.S. and Japan may come from different ways of thinking. In the U.S., as my mentor and Sarah told me, students learn from teachers and teachers also learn from students. On the other hand, In Japan, students learn from teachers, but we do not value the opposite way so much. That is why in Japan, we do not place as much value on discussions between students and teachers so much.

Rice Campus ~ Haruka Sumi

This weekend, as I wanted to get rid of my cold completely, I stayed at Rice University reading papers and walking around the campus. Once I recover from a cold, I plan will visit some museums during our free time. On Saturday morning, I walked to Rice University with Masami and spent almost the whole day at the library. I am happy to study there because if I came here just for sightseeing, I could not enter the library. After going back to the hotel, I went to Target with Masami and Ayaka. Every time I go to the grocery store, I really enjoy looking at the variety of foods. I bought as much fruit as I wanted, as it is much cheaper than that in Japan!!

On Sunday, I went to Rice University and walked around and saw the beautiful nature on campus. Despite it being February, there is a lot of bright colors of grass and I found a tree which had small, white flowers. The beautiful nature on Rice University makes me calm, positive and reminds me of my home university.

Initial Reflections on Intercultural Experiences in the U.S. 
At the laboratory, I encountered one of the U.S. core values, “Speed”. My mentor told me that there are two things that researchers did not like at the laboratory. The first thing is to spend a lot of time waiting. In order to lessen the waiting time, he said we should make an effective plan. For example, if I need to culture bacteria for 10 hours, I should start the experiment in the evening. By starting in the evening, I do not have to wait for the bacteria to grow during the daytime. The second thing is to continue the experiment without realizing that there is a mistake. To conduct an experiment precisely, we should check at regular points to see if the experiment is going well or not. Without doing this, we may realize we wasted valuable time and the reagent at the end. These are related to the U.S. core value of working efficiently and effectively and I agree with this value. Time is limited. I believe that it is worth to do experiment or work within the minimum time.

When I talked with my mentor, I also encountered one Japanese core value, “Wa”. My mentor told me that he was going to a meeting in thirty minutes. When I heard this, I thought “He might want to prepare for the meeting. Although I have a couple of questions about the research, I should ask later.” However, at the same time, I remember that Sarah said “people in the U.S. tend to say things directly.”. Therefore, I thought “If he wants to prepare for it, he will say that to me. So, I will try to ask questions now!”. At this moment, I felt strongly this is one of Japanese core values, “Wa”.

Question of the Week
At the restroom, there are a lot of gaps between the walls, the overhead, but also the foot, the front door. Is it common in the U.S.?

Preparing for Research in the U.S. and First Few Days in the Lab

My desk in the lab ~ Haruka Sumi

While I was in Japan, I read three papers that my mentor sent me and I borrowed some books related to my research topic. As I thought some of them would be helpful, I brought them to Houston. Although I did not have enough time to read papers due to my final exams, I read them as much as possible. If I would give advice to future students, I would say that first you should try to understand the general topic before focusing on in-depth study of research papers.

I will never forget my first day in the laboratory. After I met my mentor, Matt, at the welcome lunch he took me to the laboratory and my research started. At that time, I still had a cold and I was nervous. Therefore, when my mentor was teaching me how to use basic equipment at laboratory, I felt like throwing up and ran toward to the restroom. Afterward, I went back to hotel and took plenty of rest. From the next day, I started to make some basic apparatus, SDS-PAGE gel, media of bacteria. I also developed bacteria that are important for my research. My mentor also taught me some experimental methods which were not directly related to my research but were essential for future experiments. It was fun and exciting to me to learn practical techniques. My mentor gave me a desk and showed me how to print out papers. I was happy to be welcomed despite the short period. My research topic is to express and purify the protein which makes the capsid of Human Astrovirus. After that, the purified protein will be crystallized and we will observe the structure.

My mentor is Matt who is a graduate student. He always answers a lot of questions related to not only the research, but also general topics. He always makes time to discuss the research topic which helps me understand the topic more deeply. This week, he told me what is important to do research as a graduate student and what researchers do not like at the laboratory. I enjoyed having lunch with one of the lab members, Xiaotong. She is kind and cheerful. Also, I had an opportunity to talk a little to another laboratory member, Miao, and I asked her about her research topic.

Return to Top

Week 02: First Week at Research Host Lab

I usually leave hotel by 7:30 and walk to Rice University with Masami on. I usually buy breakfast and coffee at the Rice Coffeehouse. Then, I usually work in the lab from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. When my mentor is available, we work together on experiments. Otherwise, I read papers or review what my mentor has taught me during the experiment. Almost every day, I use new equipment and learn new skills when we are doing experiments. On Monday, there is a regular lab meeting and I sometimes eat lunch with my lab members. This is my daily routine.

This week, I asked a lot of questions to my mentor and my lab members. Although I am still working to improve my English skills, I cannot stop asking questions. The experiments I do with my mentor, the more questions I come up with. When I prepare the questions that I want to ask in advance, it is easier for me to explain what I want to say. However, when I suddenly hit upon a question during the experiment, I sometimes make them confused. As my mentor always listens to me patiently, I am find I am now able to make them understand and get an answer.

As for self-learning, I have realized that I tend to be both introverted and extroverted. So far, I thought I was just introverted when thinking about my daily life in Japan. I spend a lot of time at library, and I do not have so many friends although I have a few close friends and Senpai. However, when I was curious about something or my gut feeling told me something, I found myself being very extroverted. I realized this new aspect of myself through spending time at Rice University. Last Tuesday evening, the thunder was intense. While waiting for the BRC Express shuttle, I was curious to know that if this kind of extreme weather was normal or not in Houston so I asked a man who was also waiting for a bus. Unfortunately, he was also new to this university and did not know the answer. However, we enjoyed talking for a while and he told me that his girlfriend was studying Japanese in China. Also, at lab, I was curious to know how graduate students kept their motivation in the long term. I asked this question to five lab members. The answer varied from person to person. One of them told me that not pushing yourself so hard was important. Another told me that having another interest was the key as he worked hard to make money which would be used for his interests. Most of them answered that they were never bored as they got new results and knowledge if they continued to do research.

On Thursday, I went to the Japanese restaurant, Zen Japanese Izakaya with some lab members from a different group. As my desk is in the other lab’s room, I got to know a graduate student form China who had a desk next to me. He planned to go there with his girlfriend and friends and invited me. It was fun to me to meet new people all at once. However, if I would describe my feeling there in a word, “It’s a small world!”. As I talked with them, I found his girlfriend belonged to Prof. Akane Sano’s lab, one of his friends used to go to the university which my brother attends in Japan, and he graduated from the high school in China that one of my Chinese friends also graduated from! I was surprised to find so many links with them. (Wow!  That is a very small world! How neat!)

My first attempt making rice without a rice cooker ~ Haruka Sumi

This weekend, I went to the Houston Museum of Fine Arts. In the Japanese art section, the staff asked me not to carry my backpack on my shoulders as it might annoy others. Although I did not think this would annoy someone as there were not so many people, I felt this sense was Japaneseness. Or this may be common sense in the world – especially in art museums. In Japan, on a train during rush hour, conductors always ask passengers to hold their backpacks in front of them. What she said reminded me of this. On the way back to university from the museum, I used Uber for the first time. When I traveled to Thailand, I was scammed and overcharged almost every time. However, Uber in the U.S. was not like that. The driver drove carefully and even gave me a bottle of water. As I did not want to be overcharged again, I hesitated to use Uber until now. I learnt that “I never know unless I try”. That evening, I cooked rice without a rice cooker. Although it was my first time to cook rice with a normal pan, it was tasty.

 

Research Project Update
My research project focuses on the Human Astrovirus (HAstV) which infects infants and elderly people. HAstV is composed of capsid which is made of protein and an RNA genome. Also, infection of HAstV is controlled by the protease cleavages of the capsid. Therefore, examining the structure of capsid can verify the mechanism of infection. Especially, in my research, I use the protein, VP90 which is not cleaved yet. The goal of the research is to isolate the protein of VP90 and compare the structure with other proteins which are already cleaved or VP90.

The SDS-PAGE in the lab ~ Haruka Sumi

As for the research method, we first cultured bacteria which produced VP90 protein and separated the protein from the bacteria by sonication. After that we purified the VP90 protein by using metal affinity chromatography. At this time, in order to make sure that there was protein, we ran SDS-PAGE and confirmed the existence of protein. Then, we cleaved the His-tag and SUMO which were artificially binned to the VP90 and played a role to purify by metal affinity chromatography. We purified again by size exclusion chromatography and then ran the SDS-PAGE again in order to make sure of the existence of protein. According to the results of SDS-PAGE, the protein concentration was low. Therefore, we decided to make crystal of the protein for X-ray crystallography instead of doing the negative stain for transmission electron microscopy. If we can make crystal, we will ship it to the X-ray crystallography company.

To complete the research, I will need the skill to set up the SDS-PAGE and make the SDS-PAGE gel, to use the centrifuge, sonicator, incubator and crystal screening machine. Also, I will need the skill to prevent contamination. For example, when I load sample on SDS-PAGE gel, I need to change a tip of Pipetoman every time. Also, if I use some tubes, I should label them. As some chemicals or proteins are not stable at room temperature, I need to understand the property. If they are unstable, I must keep them at cold room.

Return to Top

Week 03: Interview With Female Researchers

This week, I interviewed three people in my lab. First, I talked with an international undergraduate student, Camille. She is from the Sorbonne University in France and is pursuing a Bachelor’s degree of Social Science and Biology. She is good at studying science and she feels that science is a useful field. Currently, she is studying at Rice University for one year as an international exchange student. She chose her undergraduate university in France as she could take two degrees there and it is a world-renown institution. She is also planning to pursue a Master’s degree in both Social Science and Biology and, ultimately, a Ph.D. in Biology. As she likes diversity and several fields of biology such as immunology, public health, and epidemiology, she hopes to use the ERASMUS system which allows students to study in many countries among the European Union (EU). She has previously had a 6-week internship experience at lab in France. Comparing her experiences between France and in the U.S. in terms of the diversity, gender, research field, she said there was not a big difference. One slight difference she told me was that in France people more often interacted with other lab members. They had meetings with other lab groups together and they also often joined symposiums to connect new people and collaborate with other lab people. as for biology, she thinks there are many female students. However, there is still a stereotype such as “In STEM, there are not so many women.” She feels this stereotype may prevent young female students going into science fields.

Second, I talked with a post-doc at Rice University. She completed her Ph.D. in China. She pursued her Ph.D. as she was interested in biology and she thought the higher degree she took, the more opportunities she would have when choosing a job. When she entered graduate school, she chose a university which was close to her hometown because she wanted to stay close to her family. As for her career as a post-doc, her supervisor recommended her to work at Prof. Tao’s lab at Rice University as her supervisor and Prof. Tao were collaborators and knew each other. She told me that these types of connections was an important factor as she applied for her position at Rice University thanks to her supervisor. Comparing her graduate life in China with her post-doc life in the U.S., she said it was very similar, except for the diversity. In China, there is less diversity than in the U.S. She likes the diversity here and that is why she is doing research in the U.S. She gave the following advice to young female students who are looking to pursue degree in STEM. “If you like to do research, do not hesitate, just keep on doing it. There are a lot of opportunities for women to take these days. Also, it is common for experiments to fail in science. However, if you try several times, you will find a better way and understand the experiments more deeply.”

Lastly, I talked with Prof. Tao. She told me that the more time you spent on research, the more new results you would get. That means doing research is demanding. She also talked with me about how she manages family and research. According to her, doing research efficiently is the key. If she works efficiently, she will not worry about the research when she takes time at home to spend with her daughter. Some women do quit their careers when they get married or have a baby. However, Prof. Tao continued her career. She said the reason why she kept her career was that she was stubborn, and strict with herself. At the same time, she is patient and positive. Although she admits that being a female scientist has some difficulties when having a family or raising children, she thinks this experience is also worthwhile for her career. She said she learnt how to be more patient and the importance of making mistakes through parenting. I found her positiveness when she shared this with me.

In my home university, there are many female students who study biology. About 50% of students majoring biology are women. Through the interview, I learnt this tendency did not only occur in Japan, but is also true in China, France, and the U.S. However, when it comes to doing research as a career, I realized female researchers had more things to balance, such as getting married or raising their children, when deciding whether to continue their career that is typical for male researchers. Therefore, among researchers, there may not be so many female researchers; even in biology. At least while I am a student, I do not need to worry so much about any disadvantages of being a woman. As for their motivation, they all had something in common. They are persistent. They truly understand that research takes a lot of time to reach results. I realized this is the key to enjoying research in the long term.

Research Project Update
On Tuesday, I went to Bioscience Research Collaborative (BRC) building with my mentor to observe my mentor’s experiment. He used cryo-EM to observe the structure of protein. When I first saw the machine, I saw how difficult it is to use. My mentor followed a series of complicated procedures, freezing a sample in advance, washing the electron microscopy with liquid nitrogen, and so forth. Although, this time I will not use the machine, it was very interesting to see the procedure.

As for my research, I mainly observed whether the crystal was made or not by using an optical microscope this week. During my mentor’s absence from Wednesday, Prof. Tao suggested that I do the experiment again by myself. I wanted to do it but I could not. Frankly speaking, I had no confidence to do the whole process safely on my own. My experimental procedure is still complicated for me and only doing it with my mentor once was not enough for me to do it by myself alone. So, I tried to find other things which I could do by myself safely. I shadowed another lab member and observed his experiment and made my poster draft this week.

Return to Top

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

Through my experience in the Tao Lab, I found two rules that affect how lab members interact. First, lab members do not blame others. At our lab meetings, even if a lab member has not made good progress due to some problems or mistakes, no one blames her or him. Lab members discuss possible solutions together rather than complain about the failure or mistake. I felt their way of communication was positive. Second, lab members do not interfere to others in terms of the research so much. Except for the lab meeting, I seldom saw them talking about their research topics with each other. I feel that at the lab, they basically focus on their own research projects. My mentor told me that this lab’s atmosphere was independent and the atmosphere varied depending on the professor.

In the final week, I started to do my experiment again with my mentor. Unfortunately, the experiment was not finished by this Friday. At the same time, I started to organize what I wanted to share at the poster session. The more I thought about what I wanted to talk to the audience about, the more I learned what I myself did not understand clearly. Therefore, I asked many questions of my mentor through this week. By clarifying my questions, I gradually wrapped up my research and the poster.

Poster presentation with my mentor ~ Haruka Sumi

At the poster presentation, I was amazed at how fast one and a half hours went by. What Sarah told us before the poster session was completely true. It was so fun to talk to the visitors to my poster about my research that I never felt tired from standing and speaking while the session. I just concentrated on talking about my research in an easy and understandable way. I was surprised that I won the third prize for ‘Best Poster Presentation’. I never thought I would win an award and this increased my motivation for studying in my field. Through the poster session, I learnt that observing my audience was important to know if they were familiar with my field and how much they were interested in my research. If I figured out these points easily, I could adjust whether I would give a general or specific talk. In the future, I hope to improve my conversation skills to attract the audiences. I learnt that just telling my research sometimes make audiences bored. In order to make them interested, I realized I needed to learn more presentation skills.

Receiving my poster presentation award from Sarah ~ Haruka Sumi

As our four weeks in Houston comes to an end, I will miss the peaceful atmosphere at Rice University. There is a lot of nature everywhere on campus and the staff at Rice University was so nice and kind to me. As I had a routine in the morning before going to the lab, I met same cleaning staff and sales staff at the Rice Memorial Center every day and I enjoyed small talk with them. Also, I will miss my mentor. He shared a lot of information with me which was related not only to the experiments, but also general topics such as how to decide about my career. Also, he was patient with my failures. When I made SDS-PAGE gel, a basic step in my experiment, I failed to make it a few times. But he was never irritated and told me “It’s no big deal.” I was relieved to hear his words. When I asked same question again and again, he answered me without being annoyed. When I become a mentor in the future, I want to be patient like him.

Arabian food with Ozaki-sensei ~ Haruka Sumi

After the poster session, I ate Arabian food with Ozaki-sensei. She kindly gave me some tips to make myself grow as a person and perceive things positively. What we talked about was very interesting to me. I realized that people who faced some difficulties or had a wide variety of experiences can look at the big picture. Now, I can only focus on the things right in front of me. If things are challenging, I am at the mercy of them. However, if I see the challenging things as a part of the bigger picture or just a small part of my entire life, I will feel better and tackle them positively. It is my goal as a person to acquire this skill at this stage.

Return to Top

Final Research Project Overview

Haruka Sumi with her mentor, Matt, in the Tao Lab.

Research Poster (PDF): “Express and Purify the Capsid Protein (CP) of Human Astrovirus (HAstV) VP90⁷¹⁻⁷⁸² to uncover the structure of CP”

My research was to study the human astrovirus; one of the main causes of gastroenteritis for infants and the elderly. I worked in Prof. Tao’s lab and Matt was my mentor. The goal of my research was to uncover the structure of the capsid protein (CP) of human astrovirus. If we can reveal the structure of CP in human astrovirus, this can assist us in designing vaccines and medicines that can prevent infection. In order to uncover the structure of the CP, we chose the following procedure:

  1. Express the CP of human astrovirus in bacteria
  2. Purify the CP by metal affinity chromatography to separate it from contaminant proteins
  3. Load SDS-PAGE to confirm the existence of the CP
  4. Purify the CP again by size exclusion chromatography to make it purer
  5. Load SDS-PAGE to confirm the existence of the CP

After step 5, the protein had a low concentration. Therefore, we changed the next step, from our original plan to observe CP using a transcript microscope to using X-ray crystallography. We tried to make crystal of the CP and shipped them to an X-ray source to understand the structure of CP at atomic level. However, we could not get a good crystal by Friday as this process takes a long time.

We discussed why the concentration was low. One of the reasons is that we cannot optimize the procedure yet. There are many reagents which are likely to affect the protein yield. So, we changed the amount of one reagent and tried the procedure again. As we did not finish this experiment by the last day, we do not yet know whether this change had a positive effect or not. However, I learnt that the process of research is not guaranteed and it takes a long time to find out the best procedure.

Future steps for my research include:

  1. Optimize the procedure in order to get high molecular weight of CP.
  2. Prepare it by negative staining to observe it by transcript electron microscopy
  3. (If the CP is observed,) use cryo-EM which is a method to observe the protein at atomic level

Return to Top

Week 05: Science & Technology Policy Study Tour

Sightseeing in Philadelphia ~ Haruka Sumi

This week, we visited many places including Lehigh University, Factory LLC, the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), the U.S. – Japan Council, and JAXA DC for seminars and site visits. In each place, I met many people with different backgrounds. Through talking with them, I realized that they were proud of their jobs. They seemed to enjoy their work and I found that their attitude towards work was ideal for me. I hope to be like them when I start working.

The most meaningful lecture for me was “Examining your Strengths Finder Results” at Lehigh University because it helped make my strengths clear to me. Also, this result is helpful to increase my confidence. Among the five strengths, “Futuristic” was especially true of me. As I am indecisive, I cannot narrow down choices easily. In other words, I often think if I take this choice, what will happen next or in order to take that choice in the future, what do I need to do now? For example, I am not sure which country to go and which university to enter as a graduate student. Therefore, I will prepare for the qualifications not only for universities in Japan, but also for universities in other countries in order to have as many choices until I finally make up my mind. I realized this was a futuristic orientation and one of my strengths.

Smithsonian American Art Museum ~ Haruka Sumi

During our time in Washington, D.C., I went to the Smithsonian American Art Museum. The museum was huge and a large quantity of paintings and sculptures exhibited there. I was surprised to know that it was free, and I could come very close to pictures as it was not very crowded. Also, I enjoyed the food in DC. There are different types of restaurants. One of my favorite restaurants was “CHOPT” which sells fresh chopped salad. In Japan, although I can find many vegetables at supermarkets, I cannot easily find shops which sell tasty salads. Therefore, I often went to CHOPT whenever we had dinner or lunch was on my own. I hope “CHOPT” will expand their business in Japan!

After I finally arrived at Narita airport, my patience which I had cultivated in the U.S. was tested unexpectedly. To get home from Narita airport, I needed to change train lines three times. When I was on a first train, it suddenly stopped due to an accident. It would usually take at least five hours to get home, but because of the delay it I realized it would take longer. At this time, I remembered my research experiences at Rice University. I fully understand that everything can fall behind schedule rather than going as planned. Therefore, I kept calm and thought about my days in the U.S. till the train begun to run.

Return to Top

Final Report

Thanks to TOMODACHI STEM program, my motivation was improved. After going back to Japan, I started to join laboratory tours in some universities to know more about their research topics and discover which topic I am most interested in. I am surprised to find myself more active and positive than before joining this program. Here, I would like to share the most significant things which I learned in the U.S. that gave me the power to be active. The importance of uniqueness. In the future, in order to find new things in my field or do experiments from a new perspective that only I can do, I realized that I needed to identify my uniqueness. To identify and cultivate my uniqueness, I found there are three ways.

The first way is to find my strengths. Before this program, I tended to focus on what I could not accomplish or what I still needed to improve. This tendency contributed improving my weakness in a good sense. However, in a bad sense, this would just make me an average person who does not have amy big weak points nor good points and made it difficult for me to find my strengths. This means I may have seemed unconfident in myself or I may underestimate my strengths in graduate school interviews or job interviews. Now I have realized that although it is important to find my flaws, it is equally important to find my strengths to identify my uniqueness. When I took the CliftonStrengths, I was surprised to know that I had five key strengths. At the same time, I understood these strengths helped me being unique in the future and decided to enhance them.

The second way is to accept not only success but also failure positively. My friend told me that “I try to appreciate even the failure because the failure is also my precious experience.”. In terms of the progress of science, success is much more desirable than failure. However, I realized that in terms of identifying my uniqueness, failure is worth no less than success because failure point is different depending on the person even if we do a same experiment. I mean that my setbacks and what I conceive to overcome are also a part of my uniqueness. Without them, my uniqueness will not appear clearly.

The last way is to connect with many people. By interacting with many people, I can learn about other’s uniqueness. Although I cannot copy other’s uniqueness itself, if their habits or perspective suits me, I can take this in. Also, when I get stuck, I believe I need to seek out new ideas which comes from the fusion of my thoughts and other’s thoughts. Therefore, I think communicating with others is important to update my uniqueness and to breakthrough my own difficulties.

I may not find have found this significant key for my future goals if I had not participated in this program. I really appreciate this program and people who supported us. I believe future participants will also find something which helps them reach their future goals through this program.

Return to Top

Tips for Future Participants

Pre-Departure Tips: The Pre-Departure Webinar is useful to understand the basic information of the U.S. You can learn about the weather in Houston and Washington D.C., the hotel, Rice University, and information about the other participants. .

Working With your Research Lab Tips: Asking questions is essential to show that you are interested in the field and you have enthusiasm for the research. I wrote down my questions to convey them to my mentor clearly.

Language Study Tips: Your listening skills will improve through your stay in the U.S. I believe as long as you try your best to express what you think, people will hear you out.

Living in Houston and Rice University: Please be careful of the cars when you go to the university or go back to the hotel on foot and are crossing the street. The FLO Paris at the Pavilion on campus was best place for me to take a break. The gelato is also tasty!

What to eat in the U.S.?: If you like fruits, I recommend to buy cut fruits at supermarket. There are always variety of fruits, watermelon, mango, blueberry, pine, orange, apple etc. Also, avocado is really good. I hope you will try them once.

Other tips: You should bring enough masks and medicines. It is dry in the hotel room during the flight. Mask will help you prevent getting a sore throat. As the environment completely changes, your physical condition can also change. In that case, you should take enough medicines to enjoy your stay in the U.S.

Return to Top

[:]