On the four days of Friday, January 13, Wednesday, January 18, Thursday, January 19 and Friday, January 20, 2023, we hosted the event “どこでも自習室2023～新年のスタートダッシュ！～／New Year, New Me! Self-Study Room in 2023 ～Where You Can Study Anywhere～” for undergraduate and graduate students from 3 Ritsumeikan campuses. This event aimed to increase study motivation for students through providing an online environment where students could study together in the lead up to the examination period.
This event was conducted with the following schedule: 18:00-18:35 self-study time 1 → 18:35-18:50 break time → 18:50-19:25 self-study time 2 → 19:25-19:30 end of the event. The key points for this event were the 15-minute break time and bilingual support in Japanese and English. The break time included relaxation time and talk session time. During the relaxation time we were able to loosen up together with event participants while stretching and watching a video on mindfulness (meditation), with all of us able to regulate our breathing and relax our bodies and minds. During the talk session time, SSP peer supporters provided study advice in both Japanese and English, such as “how to manage tasks” and “what to do when you are feeling unmotivated,” as well as delivered information that could be used by participants for their studies. In addition, in order to encourage more students to participate in this event, all related publicity information on SNS, slides shared on Zoom, and the content of conversations that took place during breaks were distributed in both English and Japanese.
On the first day of the event, Friday, January 13, sixteen students participated. It was great to see participants turn on their camera and stretch with us during relaxation time, and to see them use the clap and cracker reaction as they left Zoom! As it was the first day of the event, I was a bit worried about us peer supporters being nervous, but we were able to successfully complete the first day with all of us smiling happily from start to finish.
On the second day of the event, Wednesday, January 18, fourteen students participated. Thanks to us chatting amongst ourselves before the start of the event, we were able to proceed with a smile and in a calm atmosphere. Upon checking event survey responses, we were delighted to receive feedback that some participants loved the event and as the event organizers, this made us want to enjoy hosting the remaining two days.
On the third day of the event, Thursday, January 19, ten students participated. The highlights this day were the peer supporter moderator showing perfect time management, and the peer supporter in charge of simultaneous interpreting, swiftly providing the English version of the talk session. During the event, there were some problems with audio and screen sharing due to issues with the Wi-Fi, but thanks to the adaptability of all the peer supporters, the event proceeded smoothly.
On the last day of the event, Friday, January 20, eighteen students participated. As we were lucky enough to have many participants on this day too, we, the peer supporters, were encouraged to make the most of the last day of the event! We especially appreciated the fact that during relaxation time, some participants turned on their camera and did mindfulness, so even through the screen, we were able to see that they were actively participating.
The self-study room event is always a big hit! We were very happy to receive positive comments from participants this time as well, like “I was able to study well because I felt comfortable studying with other students.” We have various other events planned so keep an eye out for them ♬ You can check SSP information on manaba+R, Twitter, and the SSP website, so please take a look!
(Reported by: SSP Peer Supporter (OIC), Sooin)