From former students

"ABF(*) was game changer for my career and my life" If you have couple days to mingle in Korea with one of the top students from Yonsei university, what would you do? Eat Samgyupsal? Drink Makgeolli? That’s awesome idea (because I did that as well) but what about meeting Korean entrepreneurs and feel the vibe of Asian venture businesses? At the ABF, I met awesome entrepreneurs in Korea through this trip and as a result, I’m now working for a fast growing Korean startup called VCNC. So, you never know what’s gonna happen so stay PCP and stay global!

The lecture "Japanese Financial Market and Institution" is one of the best lectures in Keio University. You can learn the problem of Japanese financial market and institution’s inefficiency through this lecture and can get the basic idea of economics. Furthermore, you can touch the various points of view toward "Japan" in the lecture because not only Professor Yoshino gives us a lecture, but also some world-wide famous professors give us. It must be a great experience for you to attend such a great class. However, it sometimes requires us to have a fundamental knowledge on Japanese financial market because the lecture covers some detail points. You need to study it by yourself, otherwise you may not understand the contents. Though we should study hard to understand the contents, it should be the students’ duty and I believe this lecture gives us the knowledge which we cannot study on books.

Throughout my four years in Keio University, my last two years in Professional Career Program would have been the most important as PCP provided me with the tools necessary to embrace my current job with PETRONAS, a national Malaysian oil company.

PCP taught me to be accountable in my work as under the professors I have worked with (i.e. Professor Kazumi Matsuoka, Professor Sahoko Kaji and Professor Ruth Fallon), I am constantly challenged to make sure that any information I use for my academic papers are obtained from reliable sources and documented properly. The level of scrutiny that I faced prepared me for my current Risk Management job portfolio as on a daily basis, I have to make sure that the informations I provide are all reliable and verifiable.  

The various courses that PCP offered also enable me to gain various perspectives on the different aspects of the global economy. The courses on International Economics, especially Development Economics allowed me to view the world beyond the usual advanced economies. New Challenges for the Japanese Economy course was also very insightful as we were taught about the various challenges from a practitioner’s perspective. Professor Kaji’s Open Macroeconomics was perhaps the most challenging course I have taken in Keio University as it was the one course where you have to make sure you have your economic fundamentals right, mathematics foundation solid and attention level high.   

In summary, there is a perfectly good reason why PCP is called Professional Career Program. It is a very good program if you are willing to have your priorities straightened and commitment level consistent.

When I entered the university, I had huge trouble with English. However, last year I worked in Panama for a year (3rd year of my career) and now I’m working in Germany and using English in daily work. And I feel that I could not obtain such precious experience without 2 years at PCP. Actually, I got 2 big things from the experience of PCP.

First one is "The confidence to use English" I imagine many people feel shame to speak English, and actually I felt so before. However, it’s not because "you cannot speak English" but because "you are not confident to use English". The experience at PCP and HEC removed such feelings and brought me the confident to use English.

Second thing is "Well motivated friends".  

I strongly believe no one can maintain high motivation and make the effort alone continuously, and also believe friends are the ones who give me the POWER when my motivation is going down. All of my friends I met at PCP and HEC are well motivated and making the great effort towards their target. And such friends gave me huge POWER and helped me a lot. Needless to say, I still keep in touch with them and be sure that they are my lifelong mate.

PCP made me change to challenge difficulties. Even though I was not good at speaking English at that time, I decided to join PCP as I wanted to broaden my horizons and to study environmental/resource economics using English. It was, of course, not easy for me to study economics and to communicate with foreign students in English since I was born and grew up in Japan. Due to my friends in PCP, I did not give up and did encourage myself to do my best. After graduating from Keio University, I chose to study environment/natural resources from the viewpoint of science and engineering at graduate school. I strongly believe that I could decide to enter the school of engineering because PCP always made me to challenge difficulties. After receiving a Master of Engineering, I fortunately got an opportunity to utilize my speciality skills at work, and to challenge difficulties on the job is always on my mind.

"PCP expands my horizon"  

I did not have a very good idea of what I wanted to do, when I entered university. This changed completely during my second year. I became in charge of planning and executing a symposium for students from around the world. There I met students who were ‘enjoying economics 120%’, and was inspired by them. I wanted to be like them, and that was why I chose to join PCP. In PCP classes, I can learn international economics with a flexible approach, alongside highly motivated classmates. I think my possibilities for the future expand, by learning in PCP.

Exchange student, HEC

I feel very lucky to have had the opportunities to study abroad for one year at HEC School of Management. I suppose every experience abroad has it’s own unique set of challenges based on your desires or expectations. One of the things that stroke me the most was the fact that there were so many different ways of expressing ones thoughts and ideas.

I had read in many books and articles and knew that the western people are assertive and self-confident when it comes to class participation. However, it was very unexpected that the way of expressing their ideas differed among countries and regions.

It was a very big challenge for me to make contribution during class discussions and activities. To be honest, I could not reach a satisfactory level in performance through my entire exchange.

However, I was lucky to have the chance to notice that it is the practice and experience that enhances self-expression.

And now from my experience, I can understand why PCP enhances the importance of self-expression.

I am working at a Japanese securities company now. When I graduated from PCP and started working, I was very surprised that the Japanese society had not caught up with the global stream. I appreciate the PCP program from which I learned English presentation skill and economics concept. They are very useful as I expected and sympathized with the principle of educating global human resources when I was a student. I chose the current stock-market job because I could enjoy feeling the world economy’s dynamism.

Now I realized that many Japanese are "brilliant but not be able to explain in English" or "able to speak English but not in a suitable position". Given the experience of meeting international people who are fluent in several languages and who have a hungry spirit, I keep in mind not to be supposed to swallow a fixed idea.

I am looking for an opportunity to get MBA, sent abroad by the company. I would like to be the global-type Japanese who has both domestic and international views and to broaden activity fields. Also, I am looking forward that more students graduate PCP and we expand our network for the people being active globally.

Exchange student, the University of Melbourne

I am currently studying abroad in Melbourne and living in a dormitory with students from a variety of cultures and backgrounds around the world.

At first, I had no idea what other students were thinking. But through my life here I have gradually come to understand their values, ways of thinking, daily activity and perception. These experiences broadened my horizon greatly. However, I also realized that there were problems that all Japanese people faced: the language barrier and cultural differences.

I have met more than 20 Japanese business people working in Melbourne. It was a great experience to talk to people working abroad and to hear about their perspectives on the Japanese economy. Everyone said that although all Japanese people had great capabilities, they could not make the most of their ability in the international field because of the language barrier and cultural differences.

When I told them about PCP, they said that we were really lucky to have an opportunity to join such a great educational program. There is no other university which provides such a great English education, so I strongly recommend that you should take this opportunity. No matter how capable you are in Japan, you cannot be competitive in a global community if you do not have enough skills in English. I sincerely hope all of you join this program to broaden your horizon and become competitive internationally.