Congratulation: Our students won the 1st, 3rd and Judges’ Special Prize at the 17th Yamanashi International Student Speech Contest.

  The 17th Yamanashi International Student Speech Contest was held on Saturday 19th December at the Yamanashi Prefectural Library. 10 international students studying at universities in Yamanashi Prefecture took part in the contest.

  This year’s theme was “Words that changed me” and each student gave a speech of about five minutes, sharing their own experiences. In the midst of the coronavirus outbreak, the students took time out from their daily lectures to prepare a manuscript and practice their speeches. The speeches were broadcasted simultaneously online and the venue was fully equipped to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.

  As a result of the judging, Ms. MURASHOVA ANASTASIIA (Russia), a first year student of the Faculty of International Liberal Arts, won the first prize, Mr. WANG Yiyuan (China), a third year student of the Faculty of Business Administration, won the third prize, and Mr. TZU Siyu (China), a first year student of the Faculty of Law, won the Judges’ Special Prize.

  The chairperson of the organising committee said, “This year again, the students of the organising committee had a lot of meetings to decide the theme, prepare and run the event. And today we heard the word ‘Kizuna’ from many people. I would like to thank them for entering the competition in this difficult situation. I am sure that this speech will be a good memory. I hope that you will not think badly of this situation brought about by Corona, but go on thinking in a good and positive way. I hope you will join us again next year. The President of the Jury said, “It was a truly wonderful speech. All of the speeches were very moving and heart-warming. I hope you will continue to challenge yourself positively in Yamanashi and fall in love with it even more.

  It is not easy to speak your mind in a foreign country, in your own language, in front of so many people. First of all, I would like to applaud you for deciding to participate in such a difficult situation. Your desire to communicate has definitely reached the whole audience. Each and every one of you was very motivated and did a great job. After the speeches, there was a social event where the students had the opportunity to try to make balloon art, taking into account their social distance, and they were able to actively interact with students from other universities.

  Students were able to challenge themselves to do one thing at a time, being proactive about things, and getting to know many international and Japanese students through the exchange events, which was the best asset of all.

  The smiles on everyone’s faces after the speeches were memorable.