My name is Chie Hirata, and I am a sophomore student at ICU. I plan to graduate in March of 2017.

The liberal arts system at ICU is one of my favorite things because I have many interests and I am allowed to take a variety of different classes before  choosing a major. I am sure that it will be a hard decision next March!

Before participating in Global Link, I also struggled with thinking about my future career. The most interesting thing for me personally is French Literature. However, I am fairly certain that I would like to work in media in the future.

For me, Literature requires that I think about my life while media requires that I think about society. There is a tension between the two of them that I have found very interesting and, through the JICUF Global Link program, I have been able to consider this tension more deeply through my internship at Nippon Television International Corporation (NTV IC).

Now, I am working at NTV IC in New York City as an intern. NTV IC is a subsidiary company of Nippon Television Network, Japan’s largest and oldest commercial network. Its viewership is about 4-5 million, as well as being an official sister network to NBC News in Japan.

As an intern, I am in TV production and work as an assistant to the location coordinator. The most significant role of my work is figuring out what is going on in society, in my case in New York City, and sharing it with everyone who watches our program. The work is tough because I have to browse the internet for long periods of time to find ideas, places, or any other information which other people may not know about, but is worth spreading.

This experience available through Global Link has allowed me to gain valuable insight into the unique industry that is media and made me realize that I do not need to focus specifically on media or communication for the rest of my time at ICU. I believe that the most useful thing I can do is to embrace my passion for Literature and use that as a tool to develop my mind as I follow my career goals toward Media and Communications.

Albert Camus, the French writer who I really love, said “Forever I shall be a stranger to myself.” and I understand the true meaning of this after these past few weeks participating in the JICUF Global Link program. Through the work I do at NTV IC and also the other activities of this program – like visiting the Japanese Ambassador to the UN at the Permanent Mission of Japan, and being in the great outdoors during a weekend retreat in NJ – I have had the opportunity get better acquainted with things that are strange and unusual to me. I have learned more about my interests and myself this summer and figured out there are some things I just can’t do without while there are others I am OK with just trying once. If you are looking for a one-of-a-kind perspective changing experience, I strongly recommend getting involved with this Global Link program.