The annual online gathering for mid- to long-term scholarship recipients was held on December 7, 2024, at 8:00 PM ET. The purpose of the meeting was to foster a friendly and informal exchange of experiences and opinions among awardees, as well as with representatives from donor foundations, FUTI, and UTokyo members. The meeting was attended by ten mid- to long-term scholarship recipients for Year 2024-25, along with: • Ms. Asako Yamamoto, ITO FOUNDATION and ITO FOUNDATION U.S.A. • Ms. Asuka Sakai, Senior Director of the UTokyo Division of External Relations • Mr. Yuichiro Kuwama, FUTI Vice President and CFO • Mr. Yuki Haba, President of the FUTI Alumni Association • Members of the FUTI Scholarship Committee: Nobuko Sakurai, Shig Matsushita, Iwao Ojima, Masako Osako, and Junji Takegami The meeting was chaired by Nobuko Sakurai, Chair of the FUTI Scholarship Committee, who opened with a brief greeting and expressed her gratitude to all attendees. Following her introduction, Iwao Ojima, FUTI President and CEO, delivered a welcome message and provided an overview of the program. Attendees then introduced themselves briefly. The meeting continued with short presentations from each scholarship recipient, followed by Q&A sessions. These presentations highlighted the challenges, inspirations, and fulfillment experienced by the scholars during their studies in the US. A summary of select presentations is provided below. [A UTokyo past student pursuing an MBA at Columbia Business School (CBS)] The past three months since beginning my MBA journey have been incredible. My curriculum so far has focused on core classes, including accounting, finance, marketing, and strategy. These courses have been both challenging and rewarding. Students are divided into groups of about 70, within which we take core classes together. This structure fosters dynamic discussions and has been invaluable for building relationships and exchanging diverse perspectives. Nearly every day, we have guest speakers—industry leaders and changemakers—who share insights on a wide range of topics. Outside the classroom, I am honored to serve in a leadership role for the Japanese Business Association. Additionally, I am actively involved in the Social Enterprise Club and the Women in Business Club. Beyond Columbia Business School, I have been expanding my network and engaging with the local community. For example, I participated in a volunteer activity in Harlem, where we packed food for underserved families. I also joined a women’s network group in New York City and recently attended their end-of-year celebration. These experiences have enriched my life outside of academics and strengthened my connection to the city. Looking ahead to next year, I am excited to take on new challenges, such as pro bono consulting and an internship with a startup. In summary, these first three months at CBS have been transformative. I am deeply grateful for FUTI’s support, which has enabled me to seize these incredible opportunities. [A UTokyo Sophomore Currently at Johns Hopkins University as Part of the USTEP Program] My experience in the US so far has been incredible, as I’ve had the opportunity to pursue three main interests. My first interest is medicine, and I am considering a future career in this field. Although I could have pursued a medical degree in Japan without studying abroad, I decided to come to the US because of my strong interest in its medical landscape and my unique background, having lived in the US for a few years during my childhood. I was also motivated by the potential opportunities of working as a doctor in the US in the future. Studying at Johns Hopkins University—one of the world’s most prestigious institutions for medicine—has allowed me to take significant steps toward this goal. I enrolled in a biology course, which has deepened my understanding of English medical and biological terminology, something I hadn’t been exposed to in Japan, where my courses were taught in Japanese. I’ve also shadowed a doctor specializing in internal medicine on three occasions. Observing how the doctor treats patients from diverse racial and cultural backgrounds has been an eye-opening experience. Additionally, I’ve started exploring research opportunities in genetic medicine, which is my specific area of interest, and have connected with medical doctors and professors, forming meaningful professional relationships. My second interest is linguistics and language learning. At Johns Hopkins, I am taking courses in Korean, Spanish, and French, which have broadened my cultural understanding, particularly of Latin American, Spanish, and French cultures in the US. I also took a course on neurolinguistics, which bridges medicine and linguistics by exploring the brain’s anatomical structures and their roles in language functions. Another course, First Language Acquisition, examined how infants acquire their mother tongue, further enriching my knowledge of this field. My third interest is English debating. I joined the Johns Hopkins Debate Council and have participated in several competitions, including ones at Yale and Harvard. These experiences have allowed me to engage in fascinating discussions on a variety of topics, meet people from diverse universities, and create lasting memories and friendships with fellow debate club members. I am deeply grateful to FUTI for their generous support, which has enabled me to pursue these incredible opportunities. Closing Remarks Yuki Haba, President of the FUTI Alumni Association and a former FUTI scholarship recipient, concluded the meeting by thanking the scholarship recipients for their engaging presentations. He offered words of encouragement to continue their excellent work and emphasized the importance of connecting with FUTI members and other scholarship recipients. He highlighted that fostering these connections was a key motivation behind founding the FUTI Alumni Association and expressed his enthusiasm for getting to know everyone better.Note: Reports submitted to FUTI by scholarship students can be found on the FUTI Recipient Roster page.
