The STEP Signature Project that I took part in was the “Public Health Perspectives: Japan” study abroad. The program consisted of special lectures in Tokyo about different public health concerns in Japan, as well as a trip across the country to learn about many other ways in which health in Japan has been impacted.
I lived in an 1100 square foot box my entire life. This journey broke down one of those walls. I learned a lot that went past soundbites and textbooks. Listening to the stories of people who were at the forefront of tragedies in Japan and seeing these places with my own eyes changed how I view the world around me. Everything wasn’t so black and white anymore. Problems that once seemed simplistic now seem complicated. Taking into account every perspective raises new questions to be asked and new things to be learned. While it can be a lot to take in, it makes the world feel refreshingly small.
I talk a lot about how the people I met and first hand experiences broadened my view of the world and introduced me to new perspectives. While in Japan, I had the pleasure of meeting students at the University of Tokyo who I ended up talking to quite a bit during my stay. While Japan is a society that consists of various unspoken rules that revolve around respect and family values, each person in Japan has as unique perspectives as any given individual in America. We sometimes would go to group dinners and just chat about our lives, while there were certainly differences between us, every college-aged student seemed to struggle with a lot of the same things that I did or that my peers did. It made it easy to make friends a world away because we could find common ground where previously I thought there might not be any.
The theme of meeting individuals that challenged my previous knowledge continued as the trip went on. At one point, we went to Hiroshima. While in Hiroshima, we visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and Park. There was a woman that spoke to us there that gave us paper cranes that she had made. Even though she was over 60 years old, she learned English so that she could tell her story to as many people as possible and teach more people about what had happened on August 6th, 1945, in Hiroshima. She gave the story of her mother and it was truly enlightening. She did not point fingers and blame the United States for the tragedy. She simply wanted no more wars. I think as Americans we are often taught that the bombing at Hiroshima saved millions more lives by ending the war. That is not the story that she told. While I am not attempting to affirm or deny any claims surrounding that notion, I have invited in a new perspective. People on the other side of the world saw a different story and that is important.
One more perspective from my journey that I would like to talk about was the visit to Okawa Elementary School. The story of Okawa Elementary School is seldom told, but it carries so much meaning. During the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, Okawa Elementary School was caught beneath the waves and so were the students that attended the school. Of the 78 students that were there that day, only 74 survived the tsunami. A loving father whose daughter was lost that day showed us around the remains of the school. It was indescribable and it was heartbreaking. That man showed so much grace though. He knew that indecision on the part of the faculty of the school had attributed to his daughter’s death that day. He did not point fingers though. He did not place blame. He said near the end of the tour that he knew that those teachers were like any other; they wanted the best for their students. A perspective like his is hard to grasp in the midst of tragedy. We are quick to point fingers and let anger overtake our thinking. While surely he felt anger, he also realized that the situation at hand was so much bigger than him. He kept saying to think of the future, that when people see Okawa Elementary School they should think of the future. We have to strive every day to look towards the future in the midst of tragedy so that anger doesn’t bog us down and cloud our thoughts. The grounds of Okawa Elementary School now stand as a memorial to those children lost and of the future to come.
Okawa Elementary School
All of this, and many other experiences, led me back here: home. They have no shelf life. They last a lifetime. One day I hope to become a physician. At that point in my life, these experiences will be my best ally. They will give me the wisdom to take in all perspectives, even challenging my own. This I hope will lead to a better quality of care for my future patients and a deeper understanding of my field. When I meet new people along the way, whether that be a colleague, a patient, or a next door neighbor, I’ll remember how even though we have our differences, the world is refreshingly small. I do want to be clear though. I don’t have to wait until I have any particular degree in order to start using the knowledge that I gained during my time in Japan. They are life skills after all. I’m sure I have already utilized them many times over since coming back without even realizing it. I know that I can expect to continue to utilize them again and again well into my career and whatever may lie past that.