Portfolio
This project is where I design my own learning journey to explore my curiosities and interests freely and draw connections between topics that may seem unrelated at first glance. Here, I will be documenting certain aspects of my journey in hopes that it inspires even just one person to potentially design their own learning rather than taking a traditional path of a fixed 3 year course.
My Experiences
Venture Café
Venture Café is a place where people gather to learn, connect, and share experiences. It involves panel discussions, pitch contests, speakers, as well as the opportunity to network with other participants. The participants are from a wide array of backgrounds, whether they be a student, office worker, venture startup company, or a CEO. It is a place that nurtures connections between individuals to make things happen.
I volunteer as an ambassador at Venture Café Tokyo and Yokohama Connect. There, I help out with the flow of the event, either by being at the reception desk or at the bar counter, as well as connecting some people or introducing them to others to help facilitate a valuable connection. This experience has taught me a great deal about how to connect with others and become more comfortable in social settings.
Global Shapers Community (GSC)
Global Shapers Community (GSC) is a youth collective linked to the World Economic Forum (WEF). There are multiple hubs situated all around the world, and one of them is the Yokohama hub, which is what I am a part of. There are projects that each member is a part of within the hub, and I am a part of the Venture Cafe project, which collaborates with Venture Cafe to host sessions.
GSC brings together young people who are passionate about making an impact and provides a space to foster connections and discussions with like-minded individuals that often come from different backgrounds. GSC has given me a chance to take part in something larger and create connections with people I would likely never had interacted with otherwise.
Activities
On November 27th 2024, I participated in a panel discussion on the topic; "Unleashing the Potential of Youth in Yokohama". This was at Venture Café - Yokohama Connect, and the panel was with a group of 3 other GSC Yokohama hub members.
From March 10th to 15th 2024, me and 4 other school classmates went to Kamaishi, Iwate for our school trip that we designed based on a set budget. We were the first mixed gender group to get approved for this Live Learn Lead Project, and we learned about post-disaster regeneration in the small town that was completely destroyed by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. We managed to time it perfectly so that we would be there for the 3/11 memorial day, and were privileged to have the opportunity to help out at the event.
On November 16th & 17th of 2024, I collaborated with a friend who is an artist, and exhibited at a large scale international art event called Design Festa vol. 60 at Tokyo Big Sight. This was a poetry x art exhibition where there were 6 pairs of poems and paintings, 3 of which were her paintings inspired by my poems, or my poems inspired by her paintings. The collaboration wasn't just cross media, it was cross generational, with a 40 year age gap between the two of us.
The experience of organising this exhibition served to be more demanding and intense than expected, with many learnings for the future.
Between the 3rd and 6th of November 2025, I volunteered at the One Young World summit in Munich, Germany. This included various roles over the duration of the event, including the registration desk, information desk, speaker greeting and guidance around the venue, and the cloak room. With over 2,000 participants from 190+ countries, it was essential that everything ran smoothly and any changes and delays were communicated and dealt with quickly and efficiently. I was often asked to relay information of changes to other volunteer staff, and had to quickly familiarise myself with the venue layout so I would be able to guide and assist any participants or speakers who found themselves lost.
Overall, it was a valuable experience that allowed me to develop my organisational and collaboration skills under pressure, as well as practicing clear communication.
During the last two weeks of November (17th - 30th), 2025, I did a short work experience with Insights. Insights is a company on a mission to facilitate self-awareness for people, teams, leaders and organisations. Over my short placement at Insights, I worked on two mini-projects: one on investigating inclusivity in the workplace with a slight focus on the L&D department, and one on strategy and AI in the workplace. Both of these included conducting (online) interviews with individuals in the company from various different departments, and compiling the findings with my own thoughts into a short presentation at the end of the work experience.
Among the learnings on the topics themselves, I also learned about the process of conducting interviews, as well as the methods for documenting and compiling the qualitative data from those interviews. As an additional challenge, this placement was mostly online, during a period of international travel. The company was based in Dundee, Scotland, and I was able to go in person for the presentation on the last day. However, the rest of it was done remotely, with the first week being from Reading, England, and the second being from a hostel in Edinburgh, Scotland. This meant flexibility and problem solving was essential on my end, having to navigate unfamiliar environments and adapting swiftly to changes while communicating effectively and keeping on top of responsibilities.
Certificates
One of the courses I completed was on Science Communication. I had always been interested in various areas of science, as well as communications and psychology, so I wanted to learn about the ways in which I can put my scientific understanding to use and help others who may not share the same level of passion or understanding, grasp the important discussions happening in our world today.
This course taught me the essentials for breaking down jargon, fact checking my research, and presenting information in an engaging manner. With this, I hope to apply my learning in other future classes to the real world and be someone who can bridge scientists and the general public.
One Young World issued a certificate for all volunteers who assisted in the Munich Summit 2025.
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