Learning across the Globe

On June 24 we were lucky to be visited by two Rotary Global Scholars who are completing their studies in our District at the University of Essex.

Becoming a Global Scholar

Emma Appleby is from North Carolina in the USA and is studying for an MA in Human Rights, and Misato Kobayashi, from Japan who is studying for an MSc in Conflict Resolution.  They were driven to us by Colin Bennett (President of Colchester Forum) and Colin Brodie (President of Colchester Camulos), the two clubs who are looking after them.  Both described how they became Global scholars, by being nominated by their mentors and being linked up with a Rotary Club in her area which was prepared to sponsor them and apply for a Global Grant to fund their visit.  Both had to pass an interview before being formally accepted by Rotary.

Our Scholars - Emma

Emma spoke first, She is from Asheville. North Carolina in the Blue Ridge Mountains of the USA about 2.5 hours driving west of Charlotte, USA.  Her father is British (from Derby, and still misses a nice cup of tea and a sausage roll.) and mother American, and she has a twin sister. She took a BA in Political Science and Government at the University of North Carolina in Asheville…  While there she did human rights research and was “Head of Production” on an undergraduate Human Rights Journal.

She joined the University of Essex in 2023 at the same time as Misato Kobayashi to do an MA in the Theory and Practice of Human Rights.  She has accompanied this with a part-time research assistant’s job at the University of Essex’s Human Rights Centre Clinic, working on a paper on “Criminalization of Asylum Seekers in the UK”.  Her Dissertation is on “The politicisation of immigration policy in the USA vs, UK.”

Emma ended “I am so grateful for Rotary and to Essex University for allowing me to come here and explore my passion”.

Our Scholars - Misato

Misato followed with a slide presentation which started with a summary of her history and future plans.  Misato was born in Ichinomiya, Nagoya in Japan in 2000, and in 2022 she entered Kobe University to do an MSc in Political Science.  She followed this with an internship at an NGO for Syrian refugees in Japan, and then volunteered working with Ukrainian refugees in Austria and Poland.

She joined the University of Essex in 2023 from where she will return to Japan and continue to study at Kobe University in 2025.  The aim is to become a consultant at KPMG Consulting Japan, and in 2028 to work in humanitarian assistance at the UN or International Organizations.

Nagoya is a city of 2.3 million people (Colchester is 190,000!) and Kobe is 1.6 million.  Both are coastal cities and Nagoya is noted for its food (or Meshi).

Kobe University was founded in 1902 as the Kobe Higher Commercial School before being formally established in 1949 as Kobe University.  It is in a bad earthquake region and suffered severely in the great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995, Japan’s second deadliest earthquake of the twentieth century with over 4,000 people dying in Kobe itself.  One of the consequences of this event was the widening of major roads so that fallen buildings did not block traffic and prevent emergency vehicles reaching those in need, as had happened in 1995.

Both Emma and Misato did themselves proud and presented a most interesting insight into aspects of Rotary’s Global Scholar Programme.