The 86th Installment
Enjoy Yourself
by Keiko Shimazu,
Professor, Master Program of Information Systems Architecture
A while ago, an old friend from high school and I were at loose ends, so we got together to talk.
When I was in junior high and high school, and even when I was just out of university and working, I had no idea that I would end up in my present career or environment. I became who I am today because of the many people who hoisted me up and scolded me, rather than pointing things out to me.
I of course am thankful to many people from the bottom of my heart. On the other hand, I have always thought that, if I had been surrounded by a completely different selection of people, my life would have been 180-degrees different. No one can know what will bring happiness or success, nor when one will meet with unhappiness or failure.
“Life is like the Chinese proverb Sai Weng Lost His Horse,”* I pretentiously said to my friend as we started to enjoy a beer.
[*Meaning: When something good or bad happens, you can never say for sure how it will turn out in the end.]
“But Keiko,” she said, “you are walking on the path you said you would back then.” I was rather surprised, then flustered. I realized I had sounded full of hot air and broke out in a nervous sweat. “What did I say back then?” I asked. Responding in the same relaxed tone she’s always had, she told me what my schoolgirl-self envisioned as her future.
I thought that my life had gone in a different direction than planned, but it turns out I was the embodiment of what I had envisioned.
There were, in fact, some unexpected things. The most significant of those would be the faces that have widened my outlook and brought my life depth: my superiors at the organizations I belonged to and the leaders I knew in their respective fields who were making a difference in society, even if I was only vaguely aware of it at the time. Meeting with these people, receiving guidance and learning—that’s how I thought I would become the person I aimed to become. Of course, I was greatly helped by many such seniors, teachers and superiors.
I sometimes regret that I have failed to express sufficient gratitude to these individuals–in particular, Professor Koichi Furukawa, the head of technology for ICOT (Institute for New -Generation Computer Technology) who built the foundations for today’s AI research, gave me very thorough instruction. He would tell me all the time that “You are not aware of your own excellence. You will do great things.” Without his words, I think I would have given up.
I never got the chance to ask him what he thought was excellent about me, as he passed away at the beginning of this year. I am still deeply shocked by his passing and I sometimes lack concentration as a result.
On the other hand, influence has also come from unexpected directions.
One example would be from working students. I have only been at AIIT for a short time, although I previously taught at Keio University’s Graduate School of System Design and Management (SDM). Like AIIT, Keio has a lot of students who already have careers. Some of them worked in businesses that affect the Japanese economy, others played a central role in politics and diplomacy, and yet others had great influence with the top people in industry. So in order to avoid having a biased view of my students, I teach classes wherever possible without referring to their backgrounds.
I have learned a lot from my students, especially in project-based classes and through giving research guidance. More precisely, when I find myself really wanting to be helpful, I learn a lot myself and expand my own world when applying that knowledge.
For example, I learned about the possibilities of using big data in foreign affairs issues and noticed how modeling could be applied to financial markets.
The other influence has come from young students with no working experience at all. Their pure intuition is colorless, unlike the adults who see things through the colored glasses of gains and losses. “I came to see you because I thought I could get a solution to a problem,” said one student, who was holding a handmade satellite the size of a can. I felt some pressure because I had absolutely no experience in aerospace engineering. But now I am involved with designing the system for a three-meter class rocket with a hybrid engine.
The student told me to meet with Professor A at W University. “I think the two of you could do great things.” But I hesitated. I thought Professor A seemed like a bulldozer and that I might get “run over” in the process. But through that professor’s influence and credibility with government officials, I gained a chance to contribute to a national project as an engineer.
When some other students said that I should meet with Professor M at T University, I was in my first year overseeing the project-based learning at AIIT and honestly thought it would be bothersome. But I lost out to their insistence and met with Professor M. Today, that connection led to me being in charge of introducing a global-standard engineering framework for information systems development (my specialty in terms of systems engineering) for the domestic market. This is exactly one of the things that I wanted to accomplish in my career.
No hope or dream can be realized alone. This applies to not only the goal, but also to processes and opportunities.
Great creative energy can be generated when people respect, trust and try to help each other regardless of age, experience or level of influence and work together to contribute to society.
l Meeting people is fun.
l Encountering new environments is also fun.
l You will surely move beyond unexpected events and things that make you feel sad.
l I fully want to enjoy living.
l I want to have even more fun.
l I want to make things even more fun for myself.
This is what I hope for myself.