Be a gardener of life

Masao Iwai, Dean of Student Affairs

To all new students of Waseda, welcome!

Putting an end to your entrance exam days, some of you may already be satisfied with just getting into Waseda. However, your school days are only a fraction of your long journey ahead. Please make use of the precious opportunity to be able to study at Waseda and plan your life properly from the moment you set foot in this university.

Life planning is similar to a layout of a garden. A gardener does not take up his tools right away. That is, there is the need to make a blueprint that takes into account not only space but time, like how much a tree will grow in ten years, or what to plant in the shades of such grown trees. If you are to lead a full life, spare plenty of time like the gardener to design a life that foresees your whole life. Your college days could never be too long for that.

When you face hardships in designing your future, hark back to the “Mission” of Waseda University, where the founder’s spirit is condensed. This is a privilege for those studying at Waseda. Soon you will all begin your studies at undergraduate, graduate levels and others. This “Mission” is at the root of the curriculum which you will all follow. Needless to say, the “Mission” is very abstract and of little practical use in itself. You must interpret it on your own. In fact, acting independently on the basis of one’s own thoughts and what one has learned is the true meaning of studying at Waseda. Now that you have obtained the biggest hint to drawing a life plan, the sketch is just about ready. No matter how poor your present garden of life is, it will have turned into a fine garden in a few decades.

“Where can I find the ‘Mission’?” you say. There are several on the campus, but for those who don’t want to go to the trouble of looking it up yourselves, it’s right there in your hands when you open the booklet “COMPASS - students’ guidebook” that you have been sent. For those gardeners who carefully consider their future using the time at Waseda effectively, the University spares no support. I sincerely hope that your life at Waseda will be a meaningful and splendid one!