BEYOND Tomorrow Spring Program 2013

2013.04.06

Movie

Report

Overview

BEYOND Tomorrow Spring Program 2013 targets participants of the scholarship programs. The participants spent four days and three nights reflecting on what BEYOND Tomorrow means to them, articulating their personal visions for the future, and defining in detail what their goals are as students. Through interviews with leaders about their own college experiences and discussions with mentors, students reflected on their role in society as Tohoku representatives who overcame adversity and used this program as an opportunity to turn these thoughts into action.

Objectives

This program gathered participants from every BEYOND Tomorrow scholarship program, and over the course of four days and three nights, they had discussions to achieve the following objectives:

1. To understand the purpose of BEYOND Tomorrow and to reflect on their role as future leaders from Tohoku
2. To come together as a group and build trust among the participants that they will all contribute toward Tohoku’s future

This program, in its second year, aims to offer BEYOND Tomorrow’s scholarship students an opportunity to reflect on the meaning of the scholarship programs, which focus on providing not only financial assistance, but also a comprehensive educational experience to cultivate leaders from the disaster-affected regions.

Dates・Venue

Dates：March 15-18, 2013 Venue：National Olympics Memorial Center、Hatonosu Bungalow

Participants

BEYOND Tomorrow College Scholarship Program Participants: 15 students (Scholars)

Targets high school students affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake, who hold global perspectives and aspire to be active both domestically and abroad. Targets students who plan to be enrolled in universities, junior colleges, and various other schools for the April 2012-March 2013 school year. A comprehensive leadership program that provides scholarship. Participants were selected based on essays and interviews.

BEYOND Tomorrow Tohoku Future Fellows Program Participants: 13 students (Fellows)

Targets high school students affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake, who hold global perspectives and aspire to be active both domestically and abroad. Targets students who plan to be enrolled in universities, junior colleges, and various other schools for the April 2013-March 2014 school year. A comprehensive leadership program that provides scholarship. Participants were selected based on essays and interviews.

BEYOND Tomorrow High School Study Abroad Program Participant: 1 student

Schedule

Day 1	Opening Session Guest: Akie Abe, First Lady of Japan Speaker Session “When I was Twenty, Part 1” Haruo Miyagi President, ETIC. 3.11 and BEYOND Tomorrow, Sharing of experiences, Past Activities Discussion① “What we should do now as leaders of Tohoku” Choir Rehearsal, Practice for Words of Departure Dinner & Tour of Tokyo
Day 2	Dialog in the Dark: Team Building and Dialogue among the students through activities in the dark Hatonosu Bungalow: Dinner, games, and discussion
Day 3	Discussion② “One Year Action Plans” Speaker Session “When I was Twenty, Part 2” Yutaka Arai Senior managing director, Great East Japan Earthquake Recovery Initiatives Foundation SOFTBANK CORP. CEO’s Office Developing Action Plans Dinner with Mentors Choir Rehearsal, Presentation Preparation
Day 4	Breakfast (Eggs’N Things) Closing Plenary ＆Lunch

Program Highlights

Discussions with Leaders

“You have all survived the Great East Japan Earthquake – a catastrophe of unprecedented scale – and have received the opportunity to participate in this program. As such, I believe that you have a mission, a destiny to fulfill.”

Akie Abe　First Lady of Japan

“Gather your friends and start your own story. Have the courage to immerse　yourself in it. It does not matter if you make mistakes, anger others, and become sad while you are young. Do not be afraid of failure.”

Yutaka Arai Senior managing director, Great East Japan Earthquake Recovery Initiatives Foundation SOFTBANK CORP. CEO’s Office

“I hope that as participants of BEYOND Tomorrow, you can share in your grief and come out with a bond and a trust that is even stronger than before.”

Shinjiro Koizumi, Member, House of Representatives

“We have the freedom to make so many choices that it’s a waste to live a life confined by social conventions.”

Haruo Miyagi　President, ETIC.

Discussion “Action for Tohoku”

Participating students, hoping to mature as leaders through BEYOND Tomorrow, developed action plans that can be accomplished because they are students from Tohoku. Two years after the disaster, countless challenges continue to plague recovery efforts while the disaster is said to be fading from the public memory. They discussed late into the night what they could do based on their experience of the disaster first-hand.

Resource Person （Scholars’ resource） Koumei Ishikawa Research Division Manager, ETIC.

Resource Person (Fellows’ resource) Masanao Ishihara BEYOND Tomorrow Intern

Team Building | Hatonosu Camping

With the hope of bringing students from the 2012 and 2013 scholarship programs together, participants from last year planned the two-day camping trip during the program. At the peaceful camp grounds, students shared food, played group games, and talked about their future aspirations.

Closing Plenary

The program that spanned four days and three nights came to an end with a closing ceremony, where the students presented their action plans. Last year’s participants combined forces with this year’s new participants to deliver a heart-filled presentation. They pledged to come together to continue to build on the platform that is BEYOND Tomorrow, and on that note, the rich, discussion-filled Spring Program came to a close.

Student Speeches

Why is it important to continue to speak out about the disaster? Why are we here among our peers from Tohoku and having these discussions? After overcoming their concerns and hesitations, the students spoke their hearts out.。

Presentations

The students were split across three themes – “Collaboration with businesses,” “Activities arising from Tohoku,” and “Dialogue-based activities” – created, and presented an action plan based on what they would like to pursue over the next year.

Supporters

Great East Japan Earthquake Recovery Initiatives Foundation