The second Nitobe College Mentor Forum for the 2021 academic year was held on Saturday December, 18th. Due to the COVID-19 virus, this forum was conducted online using Zoom.

In the Nitobe College for graduate students, specialists making an impact in a wide variety of fields are appointed as mentors. These mentors encourage Nitobe College students to be interested in their future careers, broaden their perspectives, and build networks for interpersonal contacts.

The mentor forum aims to give Nitobe College students a chance to think concretely about their career path after completing their graduate program by allowing them to interact with a mentor, who can serve as an approachable role-model. This forum is held twice a year.

In the first session, seven mentors gave a brief presentation in English about his or her career experience. The theme of these lectures was “Think your career path” Nitobe College students listened carefully and were inspired by the talks given by mentors working on a global level in a variety of fields. This lecture was open to the public and had 61 participants.

The second section consisted of a free question and answer session. Breakout Rooms were set up for each mentor. Students were able to freely move to each mentor’s Breakout Room and ask questions. Students were thus able to receive advice about both their research activities as well as their career path moving forward.

Through their participation in the mentor forum, students were able to gain many helpful insights concerning how they could spend their graduate school years, remain motivated in their study and research, and proceed with their future career design.

We would like to thank all the mentors and participants in this forum for their cooperation.

Mentors and Nitobe College students

Students communicating with a mentor in Mentors’ Meeting section (Wada mentor)