Nakada Naoyuki

Question: IDFC What prompted you to apply?

 

—“Reaching out to seize an unexpected opportunity”

 

 

 

 

I first learned about IDFC in September of my first year at university. At a social gathering for university scholarship recipients, Hashimoto, an older student from my high school and the founder of IDFC, introduced it to me. Through high school, I had devoted myself to tennis with the goal of competing in the national inter-high school championships, but unfortunately I was unable to achieve that dream. Feeling that I had reached my limit as a player, I was constantly searching, after entering university, for something new into which I could pour my passion. Until then, I had really done nothing but tennis (laughs), so I had energy to spare. I wanted to keep broadening my horizons, and I thought I would use the agility I was proud of to try anything. That was when the opportunity to join IDFC happened to come my way. At the time, I could not speak English at all and knew nothing about Myanmar, but when I heard about it, I instinctively thought, “This is it!” and immediately answered, “I will go!”

 

 

 

 

Question: IDFC What scenes from it left an impression on you? 。

 

—“I experienced a moment when I changed someone's life”

 

There is a moment I will never forget. On the final day of IDFC2014, we held a workshop for students at the University of Yangon to share with the wider public what we had learned and achieved during one week of activities. That year’s topic was “Career Development,” so IDFC participants and local university students worked together to share our ideas on how to become a good leader through games and physical activities. One girl who took part was deeply moved by our workshop and said, “I want to do activities like this too!” Inspired by the workshop, she volunteered to join the Myanmar-side executive committee for 2016 and went on to handle public relations, just as I did, in the following year’s activities. I was truly surprised. That was the first time I realized that my activities had moved someone. It may have been a small thing in terms of society as a whole, but I believe it had an impact that changed her life. A workshop created by a student like me had moved someone—that moment really gave me goosebumps.

 

 

 

 

Question: IDFC what changes do you think participating in it brought about in you?

 

  —“A successful experience that leads to the next step”

 

The first change was that I became clear about what I wanted to do. At an IDFC preparatory study session, I met a Myanmar person living in Japan who supported refugee camps in Myanmar. Through that connection, I visited a refugee camp myself. There I saw people who had been persecuted by the previous military regime. If the people I had met in Yangon through IDFC represented Myanmar’s visible face, I felt I had now seen its hidden side. I had already been interested in journalism, but this made me strongly want to report on both the visible and hidden sides of things. I put myself forward for the organizing committee and insisted on holding the conference in the regional city of Mandalay in the second year of IDFC. Behind that was my wish to show participants these less visible aspects of Myanmar and encourage them to think more deeply.

 

The second thing is that I became able to take the next step with confidence. I think of IDFC as one major success in my life. As I mentioned in the question above, being able to move someone as a participant gave me confidence, and then creating a program together with Myanmar people as an executive committee member also gave me confidence. And the other IDFC participants were seriously impressive (laughs). There are plenty of students who have ambitions or things they want to do, but everyone there was actively pursuing them. They set their sights high and could speak about their experiences in their own words. Being surrounded by people like that made me want to reach even greater heights myself. I am about to go to the University of Copenhagen in Denmark to study abroad for 1 year, and I want to take on more challenges on my own initiative so that I do not fall behind them. Now I feel like, “Bring on anything!” (laughs).

 

 

Question: Looking Ahead IDFC Please share a message for students considering participating in it.

 

I think IDFC's strength is, above all, the quality of the people who come together. There are people with whom you can seriously discuss your future dreams and goals and the kind of person you want to be. In our usual communities, we do not often talk about those things; it feels somewhat embarrassing, and we hesitate. But at IDFC, there are friends who understand your thoughts, empathize with you, and help you. That is true of participants from both Japan and Myanmar. Honestly, I think it is fine to participate even if you cannot speak English or are not especially interested in Myanmar. Any motivation or reason for joining is fine. That was actually the case for me. (laughs) Of course, you gain the experience of international exchange, but you also find a community where you can talk about your future and always return. I think that is what makes IDFC so good.