Ryoya Koike

Engineer, Project manager, Student

I am passionate about broadening my perspective to serve others. I first felt the need to elevate my perspective to live for others when I was in high school. During my high school years, I participated in a study abroad program in the Philippines. We studied the local language and practiced Soran Bushi, a Japanese cultural performance, to bring joy to the people there. When we visited an orphanage in the Philippines, although we had studied Tagalog beforehand, we could not communicate with the people there in basic communication because they neither speak Tagalog nor English. I also thought that I could please them even when they did not understand my language, so I performed a card magic trick, only to find that they could not understand the numbers on the cards and were not pleased. From this experience, I came to realize how powerless I was and how I had only been able to see things from the perspective of my own life and I learned that it is important to broaden my perspective to contribute to others. When I visited a slum near the Smoky Mountains, I saw with my own eyes people whose daily lives were in danger due to infectious diseases and starvation. This led to my decision to become a doctor and give treatment to those who need help. I believe that being a doctor comes with the responsibility to constantly update my knowledge and improve myself, and only by doing so can I contribute to people and society. I believe that by keeping our minds open, we can ultimately enrich people's lives. TEDx is a great place to share ideas not only in one field but in many fields. By organizing TEDx in Hiroshima, a city with diverse backgrounds, not only myself but also all participants can learn about the unknown world together. I am convinced that TEDx will create a community of people with diverse perspectives, and this will help to solve current social problems in various fields.