Median Mutiara

The Graduate School of International Development (GSID) is a place where people from many countries explore, pursue knowledge and fill the classes with the vibrancy of critical thought. I was a research student in the Nagoya University Program for Academic Exchange (NUPACE) with a Japan Association for Student Service Organization (JASSO) scholarship when I joined classes and seminars in GSID for the first time. In GSID, and Nagoya University in general, I experienced a lot of excitement about ideas―the light bulb moment. Thus, when I had the chance to go back to Japan with a scholarship from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sport, Science and Technology (MEXT), I did not hesitate to return.
Currently I am in the second year of the doctoral program. I find the program quite flexible yet thought-provoking. It encourages students to be independent researchers. It offers an unpretentious collegial atmosphere enhanced by a diverse range of research interests and projects. Managing our own research independently means being at the forefront of a new problems, participating painstakingly in the exploration, the excitement, and the pains of coining new knowledge. I myself enjoy this perfect combination of discussion, independent fieldwork, overseas dissemination and networking. In addition, I feel very fortunate to have a supportive supervisor. He allows me to broaden and refine my interests, grappling the other sides of the reality, unpopular yet pivotal, about children’s roles and influences in migration, which is at the same time challenging the arduous reality of adultcentrism in the field. With his continuous support, my research project received a prestigious research grant from Fuji Xerox Ltd. and fellowships from universities in Europe that enable me to participate in international courses and conferences. In short, conducting doctoral research in GSID is an enriching experience in the pursuit of intellectual capital advancement.