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Deputy Director, Information Bureau, Riko Exhibition Liaison Committee
Leader of the 2023 Unilab Science and Engineering Exhibition Liaison Committee
Ryoko Tanahashi, 3rd year student School of Fundamental Science and Engineering

In the courtyard of Nishi-Waseda Campus

While studying on campus, students participate in and work in activities that contribute to improving the value of the university. In this article, we will introduce some profiles of students who are involved in the "Student Involvement/Student Jobs" that play such an important role at universities, and how they are involved. In this article, we will introduce the daily life of Ryoko Tanahashi, a third-year student in the School of Fundamental Science and Engineering, who is a member of the Science and Engineering Exhibition Liaison Committee and was involved in Unilab （ユニラブ）activities in 2023.

Q. How did you get started?

We were attracted to the idea of running a school festival (Science and Engineering Exhibition) together with Waseda's three faculties of science and engineering (Fundamental Science and Engineering, Creative Science and Engineering, and Advanced Science and Engineering), and to the idea of creating our own website and app.

In the development of the Riko Exhibition pamphlet app "Aprico," I was involved in creating the "Celebrity Project" page and implementing multilingual support.

The Riko-Ten Liaison Committee also participates in the management of Unilab, a science experiment class held by Faculty of Science and Engineering every summer for elementary and junior high school students. Among the many experiment classes, the Riko-Ten Liaison Committee holds an "Experiment Experience Rally" for first and second grade elementary school students every year, and I also demonstrated it in front of the children when I was a first-year undergraduate. I was attracted to the sight of my seniors organizing an event attended by more than 100 children, and I joined Unilab as a leader when I was a second-year undergraduate.

Q. What kind of activities do you do?

We work every Saturday afternoon to prepare for the Science and Engineering Exhibition to be held at Nishi-Waseda Campus in November, but we also use our free time to prepare for Unilab.

As a leader, I was involved in the 2023 Unilab "Experiment Experience Rally" where five experiments were to be conducted, so I discussed with the chiefs of each experiment to decide the plan and the overall flow. After the plan was decided, I held an information session for the new first-year students of the Science and Engineering Exhibition Liaison Committee who would be working as staff on the day, and then I was busy deciding the flow from reception to dismissal on the day.

A scene from "Make Your Own Super Ball," one of the projects in the "Experiment Experience Rally" held at Unilab in 2023.

Q. Please tell us what you felt through the activities.

Participating in a big event like Unilab in a top position made me realize once again how difficult it is to manage a large number of people. In my usual activities related to the Riko Exhibition, I was developing apps under my senior colleagues, so I was sometimes mentally overwhelmed by the weight of the responsibility of being at the forefront of activities outside of the Riko Exhibition Liaison Committee. However, thanks to the support of the vice-leader and other executives who took the lead with me, I was able to enjoy the activities.

Q. How do you manage to balance multiple things, such as your studies, student job, and student club activities?

I think the most important thing when belonging to various communities is task management. There are always many things to do, such as university assignments, preparation and review for classes, student club activities, part-time jobs, etc. Since my second year, when things started to get particularly busy, I started writing down what I had to do in 15-minute increments on my calendar. By writing things down in detail, I was inevitably forced to think about my schedule for the next one or two weeks, which helped me to get my assignments done early and make appropriate time for student club and part-time jobs.

Q. Please tell us about your future aspirations and challenges regarding your activities.

Since the succession in November last year, I have been serving as the deputy director of the Information Bureau of the Riko Exhibition Liaison Committee. Until now, I was creating the Riko Exhibition pamphlet app "Aprico（アプリコ）" and editing videos, but as deputy director, I am working to improve the work efficiency of the Riko Exhibition Liaison Committee as a whole and managing the system. This is different from my activities at Unilab, but as an executive of the Riko Exhibition Liaison Committee, I am still in a position to bring together a large number of people. I would like to continue to work hard to make this year's Riko Exhibition even better, drawing on my experience so far.

With the executive members of the 2024 Science and Technology Exhibition Liaison Committee. Tanahashi is on the far right.

How I spend my week when classes are in session

During a certain week in the spring semester of 2023, I served as the leader of Unilab. In preparation for Unilab, the Riko Exhibition Liaison Committee also handled matters related to Unilab, and the time I spent on individual work was split between Riko Exhibition and Unilab work, about half and half.