Reason Why I Wanted to Go to SILS
» Japanese
by VIRITHTHAMULLA GAMAGE, Dasuni Hasangan (Sri Lanka)
High School: VIDYALAYA (Sri Lanka)
Since my childhood, I had experienced the harsh civil war in Sri Lanka. The war got worse day by day as I grew up. Although I hoped it would end, the conflict continues to the next generation. When I was studying in junior high school, I became interested in Japan. I learned about Japenese culture, values, and people and about Japanese soceity in general. What really caught my attention was the difficult period Japan underwent during and after World War II as well as the great lessons to be learned from Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These studies, in particular, convinced me to make Japan the place to achive my accademic goals.
The atomic attacks left both Hiroshima and Nagasaki severely damaged. The damage caused by the bombs spreaded far and wide, leaving the nation in dispair. However, Japanese citizens’ valiant efforts over the next decades rebuilt their nation stronger than ever before. This encouraged me to come to Japan and study about peace, human rights and politics.
The atomic attacks left both Hiroshima and Nagasaki severely damaged. The damage caused by the bombs spreaded far and wide, leaving the nation in dispair. However, Japanese citizens’ valiant efforts over the next decades rebuilt their nation stronger than ever before. This encouraged me to come to Japan and study about peace, human rights and politics.
As a first step, I began to take up Japanese language as a module in high school. In high school, I was a keen student of Japanese and was elected as the President of the Japanese Society at my school. Also, I was the first student to receive an “A” grade for Japanese in my high school. After graduation, I came to Japan and studied at Tokyo Galaxy Japanese Language Academy before entering SILS at Waseda University.
As I look back on my journey now, I feel that I’ve been so lucky to enter SILS. It is, for me, a dream come true. During the first semester I studied about peace and human rights in a course taught by Mr. Paul BACON. BACON "sensei" 's lectures encouraged me to study international relations in depth. His lectures were both exciting and interesting and covered many topics, including the United Nations Charter. BACON "sensei" 's influence helped me to decide on my graduation thesis topic. I am also interested in politics. I have taken courses in this area such as "Middle East Politics," taught by Mr. SADAMORI Daiji. The course consisted of a lecture followed by a free discussion in which students take part. The main topics of the course were contemporary issues in Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Palestine, etc.
"American Politics" is taught by Mr. David HOLLEY. This course is my favorite of all the courses I have taken at SILS so far. HOLLE "sensei" has increased my awareness of and interest in American politics. In the class, we learned about the new American president and key aspects of his administration’s domestic and foreign policies. By closely tracking developments in Washington and foreign policy issues such as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, this course took a detailed look at the new administration of President Barack OBAMA.
I am currently taking “Contemporary Japanese Policy Making” by Mr. KAMIKUBO Masato. The objective of this course is to give students an overview of the Japanese policy-making process at the state level. To increase understanding of the policy-making process, this course provides foundational knowledge of Japanese politics; the bureaucracy, the party system, the parliamentary system, interest groups, trade unions, relationships between politicians, bureaucrats, and business executives. As part of this course, we are studying the KOIZUMI structural reform of the 2000s as a case study.
My intrest lies with politics and I think it will help me to understand about the world in a deeper sense. SILS has a good choice of courses, which helps us to select the most appropriate subjects that we are most passionate about. The open discussion forums, the friendly lecture panels and the wonderful administration and support staff at the University has most certainly helped me achive what I want to achive in my college life. Therefore, I would like to take this opportunity to recommend SILS for students who would like to gain knowledge beyond text books while specializing in their own field.
Up Date:2010/03/15