Maho Suda entered Meiji Gakuin University with the dream of becoming an elementary school teacher. “I want to become the kind of teacher who can become close with her students,” she says, “but to do that I need to understand what they’re thinking. I also wanted to learn about the human mind, so Meiji Gakuin was very attractive to me, having a Department of Education and Child Development in its Faculty of Psychology.”
Because her studies will include obtaining a teaching license, Ms. Suda has deepened her learning in many ways during the four years she spent at Meiji Gakuin, not only by studying psychology and education, but also through practical skills such as playing piano, physical education, and arts and crafts, as well as gaining experience in her second year of studies through activities at elementary schools in Yokohama and teacher training at her old school. “As a club activity, I became manager of the long-distance section of the track and field club. In the sense that it involves dealing with people, I think there’s a connection between what I’m learning in the Department of Education and Child Development and my activities as a club manager. For example, I can apply what I learned through my practical training to the care and treatment of athletes. Actually I’m kind of shy, and at first I wasn’t very good at approaching people to talk to them, but I got to know so many people through school activities that I became much better at proactively communicating with others.”
“Communication will also be very important after I become a teacher,” she says, “so I want to work toward becoming better at getting closer to people, hearing what they have to say, and expressing myself in my own words.” Ms. Suda is now in the final stages of reaching her dream of becoming an elementary school teacher. She tells us about her daily life at Meiji Gakuin University and the image of the ideal teacher that she envisions.