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.//