Coller School of Management Virtual Summer School 2021 Study Exchange Report / Momoko Amemiya

Coller School of Management Online Summer School Study Abroad Report

■How I studied abroad

In 2019, I had the opportunity to go to Tel Aviv, Israel for work. It was my first time to visit Israel, and it was a very advanced and challenging country. The thing that impressed me the most was the people. There are many start-ups in Israel, and there were so many people who were not hesitant to take on new initiatives. When I was in Israel, it seemed like a lie that I had been troubled by in Japan.

I realized that I had been covering up my own potential, thinking, “Maybe I can do it”. After this experience, I decided to go to graduate school after returning to Japan and knocked on the door of NUCB Business School, a graduate school of management with all the international accreditations such as AACSB (USA), AMBA (UK) and EQUIS (Europe). 　　 When I enrolled, there were only two, but the numerous international partner schools were very attractive. I always tried to study abroad because they had programs including long and short term, but due to the spread of corona, I kept postponing it. However, after taking many of my graduation credits in my first year and learning that this program would be held online, I decided to give it a try.

■ The process of studying abroad

　After I applied in April, I communicated with Tel Aviv University through the administrative office. Since it was my first time to take classes online, there was a lot of confusion. Finally, I decided to take the course in June, and from July to September, I will be taking two classes a total of ten times.

　The biggest problem I had was the time difference. With daylight saving time, I was worried about what would happen if I couldn't log in at the start of the class. Also, the class started at 11:15pm Japan time and ended at 2:45am. I was worried about taking classes late at night in English that I was not familiar with.

　I was able to choose up to three classes. I took two classes that were related to my work. I was tempted to take all three, but after reading the syllabus and considering the assignments and load, I decided to take only two. 　

■ Study Abroad Online Experience

　The classes were excellent. Students were taking classes mainly from Israel, but also from Canada, Hong Kong, Chile and other countries. The teacher was in New York. It was a very refreshing experience to gather virtually and take classes from different parts of the world. Many Israelis like to argue, and they would interrupt the class to ask questions. Also, the content was really cutting-edge examples. 　For example, we considered how the growth of Netflix and Disney changed due to corona. If I had stuck to getting information in Japanese, I would have only been able to get this information in a few more years. 　It was a pity that we could not actually meet and interact with each other before and after the class, so we could not deepen our friendship. Nevertheless, if we focus on the "learning" part, it was a wonderful experience to be able to take the world's most advanced classes in Japan without having to take time off work. I felt that as long as you have the desire to learn, the possibilities are open to the world. 　There was a time when one of my professors noticed the time I was taking class and said to the class, "Everyone, let's give a round of applause to Momoko for taking class so late at night! In fact, it was very difficult when the late night classes and vaccinations coincided, but I thought it was really amazing that the professor was able to create an "atmosphere" in the class in this way even though we couldn't actually meet. I was also very happy, and it made me want to do my best. 　The online classes at Tel Aviv University were held on the Tel Aviv University platform called Moodle. This had a smartphone app and was very easy to use. If there was a problem, such as a server being down, you could ask the support center via WhatsApp and they would respond in real time. It was very advanced. 　I felt that this kind of experience is also unique to online study abroad. It was a class in Corona, and although it was short, it was an experience that greatly influenced my future career development.