Mr Jin Tanaka (completed the EU Studies Undergraduate Diploma Programme in Fall 2020)
■ Affiliation at time of completion of the programme: 21st Century Programme, Kyushu University ※completed EU-DP before graduation
I became interested in the EU when I learned that the EU is focusing on environmental issues and promoting renewable energy. As I wanted to learn about the EU interdisciplinarily and complete this programme, I took lectures related to the programme starting in the first year of university. In the EU-DPs, lectures are offered in multiple departments such as the School of Engineering, Agriculture, Law, and Letters. It is a very good experience to be able to learn about the EU from various perspectives, especially about the environmental aspect.
In addition, I made a presentation at the United Nations Environment Conference as the first Japanese youth speaker, and I joined the “The Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN)” held by the United Nations (UN) as the youngest member in the world. As such, I was able to gain valuable experiences by actively participating in a wide variety of international exchange programmes and applying what I have learned in the EU-DPs classes.
If you belong to a faculty which doesn’t provide EU-DPs designated courses, you may need to take more lectures than usual, but the EU-DPs programme is satisfying enough even if you have a lot of difficulties. This programme actually motivated me to take lectures and I was able to earn more than 320 credits in four years.
In this way, EU-DPs provide an opportunity to think not only about the EU but also about connections beyond national boundaries and international frameworks and to actively learn about them. By all means, I do hope you work on your studies and set goals for your university life, and I hope you will have a fulfilling future.