Mr. Mukiri Samuel Gateri, a graduate of the English Degree Program at the School of International Studies (SIS) in the 2021 academic year, talks about what the SIS offers.

Mr. Gateri founded a ready-mixed concrete company in his native Kenya in September 2021 while still in university and had continued to work primarily online as a director. After graduation, he returned to Kenya to focus on running his business with his brother and other team members.

1. Why did you choose to study at the SIS?

I have two main reasons. The first reason is I really wanted to study in English even though I was in Japan and studied Japanese. English is my first language, and I was afraid if I took my university classes in Japanese, I wouldn’t have the ability to fully understand classes at first. The second reason is I wanted an international environment. I grew up in Kenya, but I went to an international school from the 4th grade, so I always feel comfortable with people from different backgrounds. Also, I saw the KGU offers exchange programs we can get to meet a lot of people from all over the world. That was a part of the main attraction for me.

2. What do you think were good points about studying at the SIS?

I really enjoyed, of course, the international environment and the fact we could interact with Japanese students and get to know each other. I did create good friendships here. I remember we took Management A class in our first year, and the professor did a very good job of mixing the groups with Japanese and international students so that we always got a chance to share our opinions. Outside of the class, there were the Global Lounge and the different events from the Center for International Education and Cooperation (CIEC), where I could communicate with other students. Even under the COVID situation, we could still have discussion sessions online. The SIS actively offers opportunities for discussion so we can participate in sharing our opinions.

3. What was the most memorable/impressive class and the hardest class at the SIS?

The most memorable classes were on accounting, including Introduction to Financial Accounting, because the topic was what I am passionate about, and those classes were very interactive. The professor made sure that he got to involve everyone in the class.
In Japanese Art B class, I found it very interesting to learn about Japanese art history, and I learned how to organize my presentations in a visually appealing manner. I think it‘ll help me in my business. One of my more difficult classes was Theories and Debates in the Studies of Int'l Relations I took in the first year. I found it very hard to understand the texts then, but I got used to it, and at the end of the day, I really enjoyed the instructor’s style of teaching, so I took her other classes.

When I went back to Kenya in 2020, suddenly, because of the COVID, I became unable to come back to Japan for almost one year. I was online for everything, including taking the university credits, but I tried to think about the situation more positively. That was one reason I started the current business. The business is still very young, and we have a lot of things to figure out. So that’s why I need to go back to my country after graduation. But Japan is my second home now, so in the future, maybe I’ll find a Japanese partner who is interested and continue that way.