Global Journey Blog vol.9 -Yui Ikegami

Hi all,  I’m Yui Ikegami.

I just returned home the other day after finishing my study abroad program in Miami!

I remember my days little by little, having lunch at Sukiya, being shaken by the packed train, and eating my favorite chicken nanban and simmered dishes.

The chicken nanban and egg rice set meal was the best dinner I’ve had for a long while.

One of the reasons I had wanted to go study abroad was to "face myself and change myself," although it was very vague.

“But studying abroad and just spending time with the same mindset as usual would never change me. But how can I change myself?”

But now that I look back, I realize that studying abroad gave me many opportunities to look at myself in a new light.

In the process of taking on various challenges, I was able to seriously face the parts of myself that I had wanted to change.

In this blog, I would like to look back on my study abroad experience and leave you with what I think I have grown into.

My suitcase upon my return. It was a power move with a lot of quirky luggage.

After returning to Japan, I climbed a mountain. It was a good refresher.

Completionism rather than perfectionism

Compared to the first semester, the second semester saw a great increase in the amount of assignments. The difficulty level of the classes has increased, and the number of preparatory assignments given in place of tests has increased.

As has always been the case, when I work on assignments, I want to complete them perfectly.

I often spent hours on small things and ended up with a messy final part due to lack of time.

For example, when writing an introduction, I would worry about every single expression, and by the time I was done, I would run out of time and concentration. By the time I wrote the conclusion, time was running out, and there was a clear difference in quality from the beginning.

This semester, I continued to work on assignments in this style, often spending time until the very last minute before the day's deadline.

Living in such a daily routine, I constantly felt rushed and began to think about the assignment somewhere in my head,
I couldn't concentrate on what was in front of me. It's a huge waste of opportunities.

The perfectionist part of me has always been there. I have never been able to achieve perfection.

Then, I remember that my mother once told me, "By far, perfectionism is better than completionism.”  

Not wanting to push myself mentally any further, I thought again about how I approached my assignments.


First of all, when I started an assignment and lost my way while working on it, I tried to think thoroughly about how I could do it to the best of my ability.

I hired a strict instructor in my head who was always ready to ask questions like, "What are you doing for now?” I tried to keep my mind organized.

And I tried to organize my mind.
I went from digital to pen and paper and tried to eliminate as much fuzziness as possible by using as much paper space as possible. I was able to further clarify my thoughts by explaining them aloud.

One indicator that I feel my efficiency has improved is a class assignment on marketing a certain tourist attraction.

I had to take a small town by myself and think about marketing it throughout the 15 weeks of the assignment.

Until about the fifth week, I spent more than half a day working on the assignment with a vague idea of the theme in my head.

When I changed my approach, I was able to finish the assignment in a few hours, and the increased efficiency gave me more time and mental space to work on it.

Looking back now, I am astonished to think that I was doing this all the time. I'm stunned at myself, but I thought I could finally open up that loophole.

Through this study, I felt that to change even the smallest things, we need to put in the effort and desire to seriously face them.
On the other hand, I came to feel that as long as I do not give up, I can extend myself in the direction I want to go.
I think this has given me confidence for the future.

I would like to continue to face the things I want to change and cherish each learning experience as I continue to grow.

This time, the content was a little deep for me.
I think this blog has given me a good opportunity to look back on my challenges.

To all of you who have read this far and come to know me! Thank you so much!

I look forward to seeing you again in my next blog.