Design Your Own Life
A Message from Seya Rumiko
Seya Rumiko sent us a message. She talks about the moment when she came across the photo of Rwandan refugees. What did she feel? How did the photo affect her life?
I remember the exact moment I decided to work for peacebuilding in war-affected countries. I was just about the same age as you, who are reading this textbook right now—third year in high school. I was pessimistic about the whole society.
It was just after the bubble economy ended. The Japanese economy was deteriorating, the employment rate had dropped, and news about political corruption was frequently reported by the media. It was spring of my final year in high school, but I was still unable to decide what I wanted to do in the future. I could not figure out whether I should continue studying or what I would major in. I was worried about whether my family was financially capable of sending me to the university. I felt powerless.
Then I saw the photograph that changed the way I viewed the world and my life. It was a picture of a family in a Rwandan refugee camp. That family did not even have the basic human right to live. Even their deaths would go unrecorded. I felt powerless, but this family was truly without any power or any choices. I was complaining about my life without realizing that I could change it if I made the effort. I had plenty of opportunities and potential. I could change my life if I just made the effort.
I stopped complaining and made up my mind to do what I could for people suffering from conflict. The family in that photo gave me the incentive to change the way I looked at the world.
My message to you is the same message I got from that photo of the refugee camp: See yourself and the world in a different light. You too are a high school student just like I was then. You too have plenty of options and unlimited potential. What you make of your life is entirely up to you. This is the key point to remember: You are the designer of your own life.
A Message from Seya Rumiko
Seya Rumiko sent us a message. She talks about the moment when she came across the photo of Rwandan refugees. What did she feel? How did the photo affect her life?
I remember the exact moment I decided to work for peacebuilding in war-affected countries. I was just about the same age as you, who are reading this textbook right now—third year in high school. I was pessimistic about the whole society.
It was just after the bubble economy ended. The Japanese economy was deteriorating, the employment rate had dropped, and news about political corruption was frequently reported by the media. It was spring of my final year in high school, but I was still unable to decide what I wanted to do in the future. I could not figure out whether I should continue studying or what I would major in. I was worried about whether my family was financially capable of sending me to the university. I felt powerless.
Then I saw the photograph that changed the way I viewed the world and my life. It was a picture of a family in a Rwandan refugee camp. That family did not even have the basic human right to live. Even their deaths would go unrecorded. I felt powerless, but this family was truly without any power or any choices. I was complaining about my life without realizing that I could change it if I made the effort. I had plenty of opportunities and potential. I could change my life if I just made the effort.
I stopped complaining and made up my mind to do what I could for people suffering from conflict. The family in that photo gave me the incentive to change the way I looked at the world.
My message to you is the same message I got from that photo of the refugee camp: See yourself and the world in a different light. You too are a high school student just like I was then. You too have plenty of options and unlimited potential. What you make of your life is entirely up to you. This is the key point to remember: You are the designer of your own life.