Nice to meet you, note, and the excitement of the second day of CoSTEP [Diary 2022/10/09]

Starting with an excuse

Today is my first time using note as an individual. I finally bit the bullet and finished registering. It's a simple task once you actually do it, but it took me seven months to get around to that simple task.

Why did I start today? It's because I have the motivation for note and for writing a diary. Today, on the second day of the CoSTEP elective B practical training, Mr. Yoshida from the Reconsideration Editorial Department gave me a push, and I finally made up my mind to create my own account. I hope this motivation lasts, but I wonder if I can really keep it up. Well, I don't want to overthink it; I just want to start with the mindset of writing things down so I don't forget the busy, fast-paced days.

In the first place, I have never been able to keep a diary. The five-year diary I got from my parents served as a place to vent when I was feeling unstable, but there is absolutely no record of the fun times. (The book cover was made of pigskin, so it must have been a pretty expensive diary...) Well, I thought that's just what a diary was, but since coming to Hokkaido University, the desire to write about myself has gradually sprouted.

My goal is to post every day. It's fine if it's long or short. I plan to write about what happened that day, things from the past, and things I want to keep a record of.

Now, to the main topic.

As for what happened today, I was in the CoSTEP elective B practical training from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. During this three-day weekend, I was cooped up, listening to lectures and working on turning a press release I chose into a science news article for high school students. Today was the middle day of that.

I was dissatisfied with the draft of the science news for high school students that I had created before the training. However, after listening to the lectures, doing various exercises, and exchanging opinions through peer reviews and group discussions, the parts where I had been stuck were suddenly filled with new ideas. As I incorporated those ideas and created the text, I felt like the text, which had looked gray, was gradually gaining color.

In particular, what I was conscious of in today's activities was the "storytelling" of the text. Until yesterday, I felt a sense of discomfort in the connection between the facts of the press release and the paragraphs I wanted to write. However, when I got feedback from my group, I was given an idea I hadn't thought of: what if I swapped the two paragraphs? When I listened to the lecture afterward, Mr. Yoshida brought up my favorite show, Game of Thrones, and emphasized the importance of its story. I took this as a sign to be bold and change the story, so I changed it significantly. Then, lo and behold, it became incredibly easy to read.

The CoSTEP instructors had threatened me quite a bit on the first day, saying, "You'll start getting incredibly tired from the second day on." But honestly, I don't have time to be tired. That's how excited I am about the encounters in front of me, and I'm incredibly surprised by my own changes. Well, I'm writing this now, but maybe I'll be exhausted tomorrow. Or maybe the soup curry I had for lunch was good? The oyster soup curry at Kokoro, spice level 7, was the right choice.

Perhaps people need to share on social media because it's an easy way to tell their own stories. Furthermore, it's understandable that readers feel like they are peeking into the life stories of others that they wouldn't normally know, and end up getting hooked on reading them. Whether it's writing or one's own life, in the end, it's all about the "story."

There is still a lot I want to write, but I'll end it here for today so I can continue in the future. It's also important to save some energy so I can write even if I'm exhausted tomorrow.

Today's thought