A Land Of Opportunity

The United States - the country which I've ever wanted to visit, is my new year's primary resolution: Next year I may go to the US if I pass the application processes to the graduate school. The United States is called "a land of opportunity". So is it to me.

In the US, I will do the following five things;

(1) I will think and talk more positively about politics.

In Japan I have thought and talked about politics. However, I couldn't be inspired by discussing politics at an intellectual place. At the graduate school which I went to, there were many students who I thought had a lot of knowledge of social science, but it seemed they usually avoided discussing politics with other students. It was likely politer for them not to bring political matters into their discussion. In some cases, it may be politer for them to do that, but in other cases, it may not be. I think an intellectual place like a university should be the free place for political and social discussions.

(2) I will broaden my perspectives on the activities in an international society.

In the US, I'll have many chances to see what I've never seen before. In some cases, I may have to know more what I've never known. In other cases, I may find I've ever done wrong things. My value judge would be changed in an inter-cultural circumstance. I hope I will change myself among many other international students to remain the same myself.

(3) I will devote myself to the researches of economic theory.

I've studied economics for about 5 years at my undergraduate and graduate school. For those years I may have taken a roundabout way to the pursuit of economics: In fact I stopped studying economics and worked for a company at one time. I gave up seeking a career of economist which I had hoped to be because I thought it very difficult to become an economist. Certainly it is very hard to make a living as an economist in any countries other than Japan and the US. But, during my several months of work experience, I came to think the possibility of becoming an economist depends on how firm my will is. I found I had to try as hard as possible.

(4) I try to know more about the US as well as Japan.

When I am in the US, it is waste of time for me not to try to know more about the way of life in the US. I want to know about the life and politics of the US if I can live in the US. This is very valuable chance that I think I will never get again in my whole life. By knowing about the US, I feel I can know more about my home country, Japan. My desire to know more about the US is no less than that to know more about the Japan.

(5) I will make friends who do a research activity with me.

In Japan I couldn't make friends who pursue a research activity with me. Certainly it was because of me: I couldn't find the friends with the same interests as me. Again I try to find the friends who have the same interests and want to learn more from them. I think I always need an open-mined sense and have to have more chances to talk to many other graduate students.

Soon the sun appears and a new year comes to us. I hope a new year will take me to the US, where I will change myself.