One Student's Experience:
The International Students Summit at Tokyo University of Agriculture
by Deanna Nelson
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At the time of her travel, Ms. Deanna Nelson was an MSU senior in Agribusiness Management. She was also a student worker in the Institute of International Agriculture. Deanna participated in the 6th International Student Summit at Tokyo University of Agriculture (TUA) from November 30 - December 1, 2006 |
These are Deanna's impressions of the trip to Japan, TUA, and her participation in the summit:
Attending the ISS was an unforgettable experience for me. I had the opportunity to meet so many wonderful people. Participants included students representing 19 different countries. The topic of this year's summit was "Understanding the Importance of Education and Innovation in Food, Agriculture, and Environment." The participants developed a joint report which will be published and used in future summits.
Participants in the International Students Summit on Food, Agriculture and Environment in the New Century.
Many participating students were from TUA's sister universities abroad, and presented topics on very specific incidents. My presentation topic was on the importance of having food safety education in the United States. During the discussion session of my presentation, I was asked many questions. These included questions on changing consumer lifestyles, trends in fast food, and even ways foreign producers can increase traceability in their food products while keeping costs low. One of the conclusions we reached was that it is important to keep traditions in mind when implementing certain food safety practices.
Yuko Kawasaki and Deanna Nelson.
This experience was very character building and broadened my horizons by learning about different cultures. During our field trips we visit Fukiwari Falls and had traditional Japanese cuisine. We visited the Kawaba village and learned how to make Japanese rice cakes, typically served during New Year celebrations. We also visited an apple orchard. We were allowed ample opportunity to interact with some TUA students as well as the other international student participants to learn about their culture and their language. On our free day we had some sightseeing opportunities. We visited the famous Asakusa Temple, toured the Imperial Palace, and went up to Tokyo Tower. During the week we visited the cities surrounding Tokyo; Shibuya, Harajuku, and Shinjuku.
It was great to see Yuko Kawasaki who was last year's TUA exchange student at MSU. She served as one of our hosts during the summit. I am confident that everyone who participated in the conference has the passion to continue to find solutions to problems that affect our world today. I plan on keeping contact with them for years to come. - Deanna Nelson, Class of 2007
